Here at the Cut, we are in constant conversation about the subjects that matter most to our readers — politics, work, money, relationships, style, and parenting, to name just a few. Our mission is to make journalism that’s relevant to you in all your complexity, to bring you stories you’ll want to share in your group chat. This year, we continued the conversation about what it’s like to be Black in fashion, most notably with Tahairah Hairston’s Fashion Issue feature on what went wrong at Pyer Moss and Law Roach’s sit-down with editor-in-chief Lindsay Peoples to discuss his sudden retirement from celebrity fashion styling. There was trend reporting, too: Matthew Schneier on the new wave of weight-loss drugs, Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz on the cosmetic treatments everyone’s begging their derms for, and Elizabeth Passarella on the downsides of “gentle parenting.” From intel on royal drama to Maggie Smith’s moving reflection on the end of her marriage, these are the articles you spent the most time with in 2023.
This list, which is measured by total collective minutes of audience engagement, is just a small sample of the work the Cut puts out, alongside New York’s print edition and its five other digital sites and growing portfolio of newsletters. For more of all of it, be sure to sign up for the Cut’s daily newsletter and subscribe to New York.
20.
Maya Kowalski’s $211 Million Verdict
By Dyan Neary
In October 2022, The Cut published “What Happened to Maya,” which follows a 10-year-old girl who went to the emergency room complaining of mysterious, excruciating pain. Her story became the basis of the Netflix documentary Take Care of Maya, and on November 9, 2023, after suing Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg for false imprisonment, medical negligence, battery, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other harms, Maya’s family was awarded over $200 million. Read the story …
19.
This Is What a Real Housewife Looks Like
By Matthew Schneier
Jenna Lyons spent 27 years at J.Crew, where she became one of America’s most famous designers. And then the phone stopped ringing. For our Fall 2023 Fashion Issue, she spoke with features writer Matthew Schneier about her next chapter as Real Housewife of New York and beauty mogul. Read the story …
18.
The Juiciest Coronation Drama Has Nothing to Do With Meghan and Harry
By Allie Jones
Remember the coronation? That was this year! We were mostly in it for the drama, and there was plenty to be had. Outside the Meghan and Harry of it all was a dark horse: Rose Hanbury, Marchioness of Cholmondeley. So who is she? Read the story …
17.
Dirty Soap
By Emilia Petrarca
The Laundress was the nice detergent on the market … until the company issued a recall after reporting “elevated levels of bacteria in some of our products that present a safety concern.” Here, writer Emilia Petrarca digs into what likely happened to cause the contamination in the first place and talks to customers who believe the product gave them rashes, bumps, and much worse. Read the story …
16.
The Return of the Marriage Plot
By Rebecca Traister
Social scientists, pundits, and politicians are once again solemnly advising American women and men — but especially women — to get married for their own happiness. Naturally, everyone wanted to know Rebecca Traister’s thoughts on the subject. Fortunately for us, she wrote this essay. Read the story …
15.
The Rise of the Accidentally Permissive Parent
Elizabeth Passarella
If you’ve managed to avoid the parenting discourse over the past few years, allow executive editor Genevieve Smith to recap: “Gentle parenting is the shorthand term for a style of parenting in which children’s tantrums and misbehavior are approached with kindness and empathy … It sounds easy enough, but as Elizabeth Passarella discovered, doing it right requires a lot of parental self-management and dedicated time.” Do it wrong, and you can end up an accidentally permissive parent. Read the story …
14.
An Exhaustive Guide to Scandoval
By Tariro Mzezewa
It was the biggest reality-TV story of the year, and blogger Tariro Mzezewa kept readers apprised of every new development. Read the story …
13.
A Century of the New York ‘It’ Girl
In 2023, New York’s annual “Yesteryear” Issue was dedicated to the New York “It” girl. First we define “It,” then we highlight 151 captivating women who had “It.” Read the story …
12.
Another Rough Day for Ben Affleck
By Danielle Cohen
He’s got a Mercedes and a cigarette and an iced coffee from Dunkin, but he’s not having a good day. Ben Affleck reached new levels of of existential dread while trying (and failing) to parallel park. Staff writer Danielle Cohen couldn’t look away, and neither could you. Read the story …
11.
Erewhon’s Secrets
By Kerry Howley
Kerry Howley reports on how Erewhon, a high-end health-food chain, became the most cultish grocery store in Los Angeles. She reveals an unlikely history, which includes Japanese utopians, corporate glow-ups, and a Hailey Bieber smoothie. Read the story …
10.
The Big Dissolve
Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz
In the Spring Fashion Issue, senior writer Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz officially declares the end of the age of filler: Everyone’s scooping out their face now. Read the story …
9.
A World Without Men
By Anna Louie Sussman
The women of South Korea’s 4B movement aren’t fighting the patriarchy — they’re leaving it behind entirely. Anna Louie Sussman traveled to the country and spoke with more than a dozen 4B adherents to hear what they had to say about boycotting men. Read the story …
8.
Inside the ‘Horned Up’ Office Culture at ABC News
By Angelina Chapin
Good Morning America co-hosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes’ affair was a topic of much discussion this year. Here, features writer Angelina Chapin aimed to tell the stories of some of the junior staffers who were put on blast in the tabloids for having affairs with Holmes. She quickly learned that Holmes was not an outlier but part of a larger cultural problem at the company. Read the story …
7.
My Marriage Was Never the Same After That
By Maggie Smith
This excerpt from Maggie Smith’s memoir ran as part of “It’s Over,” a series about what divorce looks like now. In it, she recalls the poem that changed her life in more ways than one. Read the story …
6.
The Promise of Pyer Moss
By Tahirah Hairston
Kerby Jean-Raymond was one of fashion’s most celebrated young designers, but today his brand is nearly nonexistent. For our Spring 2023 Fashion Issue, Tahirah Hairston talks to fashion insiders about what happened to all that squandered promise and potential. Read the story …
5.
‘I’ve Been Suffering For Years.’
By Lindsay Peoples
In March, image architect Law Roach posted on Instagram a stamp graphic of one word: “Retired.” The caption read, in part, “The politics, the lies, and false narratives finally got me.” Roach sat down with Cut editor-in-chief Lindsay Peoples to talk about what those politics look like from the inside and what the future holds for him now that he is, as he says, “free.” Read the story …
4.
The Fleishman Effect
By Caitlin Moscatello
In a city of Rachels and Libbys, Fleishman Is in Trouble had a lot of moms spiraling. Read the story …
3.
Adorable Little Detonators
By Allison P. Davis
Friendships survive bad dates, illness, marriage, fights. But babies? Features writer Allison P. Davis on how nothing tests adult relationships like when some friends have kids and others don’t. Read the story …
2.
Life After Food?
By Matthew Schneier
Back before everyone on social media knew their Mounjaros from their Wegovys, Schneier explored how increasingly popular semaglutides like Ozempic might change our entire complicated relationship to food itself. Read the story …
1.
Do You Know How to Behave? Are You Sure?
A century has passed since Emily Post published her first guide to manners, and we needed help. So we polled colleagues, friends, and writers about the situations that induce the most anxiety in us. The result is an obsessive, slightly neurotic list of 194 new rules of etiquette — a modern-day guide on how to exist in society. Read the story …
