My fifth yearly list of favorite websites includes a combination of original content and curators who point out interesting original content.
Along with my 2012 list, 2011 list, 2010 list and 2009 list, these are the blogs I most recommend to friends, family, and blog readers, and constitute my favorites.
Feel free to add your own favorite website in the comments.
13.7: Cosmos & Culture
This NPR blog examines where science and society intersect.
notable posts:
The Ironic Success of Experimental Philosophy
When Animals Mourn: Seeing That Grief Is Not Uniquely Human
Biographile
A Random House blog that focuses on memoir and biography.
notable posts:
A Life Beyond Miracles: What You Didn't Know About Helen Keller
We Remember Everything: The Legacy of Nora Ephron
Bryton Taylor: A Food Literature Blog
Bryton Taylor shares recipes and meals inspired by books.
notable posts:
Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter Tea Party Unbirthday Cake
Cannery Row: Beer Milkshake
Hazlitt
Hazlitt is another Random House blog, dedicated to publishing "great writing on everything," and impresses with both its articles and breadth of topics covered.
notable posts:
How Phantom of the Paradise is the Daft Punk Story
Sartre and the Boyfriend Philosophers
Longreads
In an age where everyone is a curator, Longreads stands out by consistently recommending smart essays, fiction, and interviews.
notable posts:
Viewing and Reading List: The Wisdom of Mr. Rogers
Reading List: Summer Camp
Maura Magazine
Every issue of the weekly magazine (available as an iOS app) edited by former Village Voice and Idolator music editor Maura Johnston is filled with well-written and informative pop culture goodness.
notable posts:
The Road To "Amygdala"
Taking Time
Nautilus
Nautilus is a new online literary science magazine, featuring essays, investigative reports, and even fiction.
notable posts:
The Genome in Turmoil
Where Uniqueness Lies
The New Inquiry
Whenever asked about my favorite website, I immediately respond "The New Inquiry" for their exceptional writing and criticism.
notable posts:
Beyond Belief
Soundtracks for Virtual War
One True Thing
One True Thing is a blog at Psychology Today that features interviews and essays by writers that examines finding truth in fiction as well as everyday life.
notable posts:
Interview with Author Caroline Leavitt: Is This Tomorrow
Jennifer Gilmore, Author of The Mothers, on Adoption
Other People podcast
Brad Listi's Other People podcast offers some of the finest literary interviews, two every week.
notable posts:
Julie Sarkissian
Sam Lipsyte
Words Without Borders
Every month, Words Without Borders publishes eight to twelve new works by international writers, centered on a single theme.
notable posts:
February 2013 - International Graphic Novels: Volume VII
July 2013 - Iran's Postrevolution Generation
also at Largehearted Boy:
Blogs to Read in 2012
Blogs to Read in 2011
Blogs to Read in 2010
Bloggers to Read in 2009
52 Books, 52 Weeks (weekly book reviews)
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Atomic Books Comics Preview (weekly comics highlights)
Book Notes playlists (authors create music playlists for their book)
Daily Downloads (free and legal daily mp3 downloads)
guest book reviews
Largehearted Word (weekly new book highlights)
lists
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Soundtracked (composers and directors discuss their film's soundtracks)
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from the week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists