[fruffy]

New-Yorker-style long-form articles are a different reading experience compared to an article intended to deliver factoids. These articles are not meant to just deliver news. They are meant to be immersive and also educational. They end up being long-winded because they paint a more comprehensive picture of a particular topic's history, outlook, and also the proponents and detractors involved. The descriptions of the people are intended to give you sense of their mentality and what drives them to champion or fight the article's topic.

Quality can also vary wildly of course. Tight writing also applies to long-form. You do not want to end up meandering.

[curiousObject]

At their best, they are art. They’re more than a transfer of raw information. They are an extreme compression format.

Sometimes they fall far short of that goal

I think I agree with you

[tremorscript]

Agree. It is also the mindset.

If I am reading Gauss, my mind wants to process facts immediately.

If I am reading the New Yorker, my mind would like to wander a bit.

It all depends on what you are reading.

A new yorker style article explaining for loops in a programming language. Yeah nobody wants that.

[defrost]

Coming soon to McSweeney's : Gore Vidal's unpublished memoirs of iterative exhaustion during that summer on Fire Island.