As another year at the Globe Magazine draws to a close, we decided to run the numbers to determine the most popular stories we published in 2016. Of the more than 600 columns and features we produce each year, these 10 drew the most attention from you. As always, we thank you for reading — and can’t wait to show you what we’re cooking up for 2017.
1. The college debt crisis is even worse than you think
Published at the start of graduation season, this deep dive by staff writer Neil Swidey chronicled students struggling under crushing debt in a system stacked against them. Swidey’s story quickly struck a chord with everyone from millennials coping with loan payments to Gen Xers and boomers trying to figure out how to afford sending kids to college.
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2. “When you find my body”: The last days of Gerry Largay
In a December 2014 cover story, writer Kathryn Miles first chronicled the tale of a 66-year-old grandmother who had disappeared in the Maine wilderness while hiking the Appalachian Trail. Largay’s body was finally found after more than two years, and this heart-wrenching follow-up was an account of her tragic last days — lived with courage and grace — and how close searchers had come to finding her.
3. These wealthy neighbors have been at war for nearly 25 years
After keeping tabs for years on this long-running feud in a beachfront enclave in Beverly Farms, we finally decided to write the story. Neil Swidey delivered an August feature that made for the ultimate beach read: a yarn full of intrigue, ego, and piles of cash. Some readers said the piece gave them new appreciation for their own quirky neighbors, who can only seem mild by comparison.
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4. Where did ISIS come from? The story starts here
Countless stories have chronicled the rise of ISIS and its reign of terror, but no other piece has so insightfully explained the group’s origins as this one by the tireless Neil Swidey (we’d say that even if he didn’t work here). Neil paid a visit to Paul Bremer, once the Bush administration’s point man in Iraq, and explored the unintended consequences of US involvement there.
5. Boston’s 50 best new restaurants
On a lighter note, we’re proud that readers turn to us for recommendations about where to find the best dining that this world-class food town has to offer. In our annual Best of the New issue, Globe foodies offered up suggestions for the greatest new restaurants in the area, from taco and pizza joints to upscale French bistros and oyster bars.
6. Fearless Katie Nolan speaks hard truths about sports on “Garbage Time”
How fearless is Katie Nolan? Fearless enough to spit beer at a very expensive camera during her cover shoot. Nolan, a Framingham native and host of the Fox Sports 1 show Garbage Time, has earned a reputation for taking on issues too little discussed in pro sports, like domestic abuse in the NFL. “I just felt irresponsible going to sleep at night as a woman working in sports who wouldn’t speak to an issue that needed to be addressed,” she told Globe writer Chad Finn in this must-read for sports fans.
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7. 10 years later, did the Big Dig deliver?
For our first issue of 2016, former Globe reporter Anthony Flint revisited his old beat for a frank and revealing assessment at how the Big Dig succeeded and how it failed. After enduring three decades of work and cost overruns, readers felt strongly about this one and let us know in the heated comments below the online version of the story.
8. Bill Simmons doesn’t hold a grudge. No, really
For a June issue, Chad Finn convinced superstar sports guy (and noted hothead) Bill Simmons to sit down for a rare long interview. Simmons sheds new light on his ugly split with ESPN and brings readers behind the scenes of his much-anticipated new HBO talk show Any Given Wednesday. For the record, it’s not our fault the show was canceled after four months.
9. Doctors like me tell you to eat less meat. It’s about time you start listening
One of the frequent contributors to our Perspective column is Dr. Sushrut Jangi, a gastroenterology fellow at Brigham and Women’s with a knack for writing about health care issues in a plain-spoken and powerful way. In this essay, he makes the case for why you really — really! — should eat more veggies.
10. Top Spots to Live: 10 Boston-area communities where the market is soaring
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Hang around any Greater Boston cocktail party long enough and the conversation will inevitably turn to real estate. In the latest edition of our annual Top Spots to Live issue, we crunched the numbers on the cities and towns that are booming in the state.
Some stories continue to attract readers for months and even years after their original publication date. (And some stories, like “The secret world of the Dunkin’ Donuts franchise kings,” just never go away.) Here are the top three previously published stories for 2016:
1. Why food allergy fakers need to stop — From October 2015, another Neil Swidey investigation calls out people who pass off dietary preferences as allergies and the surprising consequences they’ve wrought.
2. What is it like to be poor at an Ivy League school? — It’s not easy being a high-achieving, low-income student on an elite college campus, as writer Brooke Lea Foster showed in this April 2015 story.
3. Can we please stop pretending marijuana is harmless? — As Massachusetts moved toward legalizing marijuana, Dr. Sushrut Jangi’s October 2015 column asked readers to remember the risks, especially for young people.
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