Longform Article Stream Tumblr

Mother’s Boys

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:21:27 -0500

In court and visiting prison with the parents of young Russian Nationalists who’ve killed.

Left Behind

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:36:27 -0500

How Yvette Vickers, a B-movie starlet who had appeared in Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, ended up mummified in her Los Angeles home last year.

The Book of Jobs

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:06:09 -0500

The Book of Jobs:

What it means to stay true to the Steve Jobs brand.

Maureen Tkacik | Reuters | Feb 2012

A Question of Identity

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:21:37 -0500

A Question of Identity:

On the “unfair significance” of Jeremy Lin.

Jay Caspian Kang | Grantland | Feb 2012

KINSHASA

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:08:29 -0500

KINSHASA:

Kinshasa was a magical place for young party-goers in the 60s. But outside the capital rebel armies led by foreign mercenaries engaged in ruthless war. “Mad Mike” Hoare proved to be too much for Che Guevara:

Che spent his days waiting in the mountains for the rebel leader Laurent Kabila to turn up. He gave the rebels classes in how to be “new men” but they laughed at him, he got dysentery, he lost his pet monkey, and then Kabila finally arrived but was completely drunk. Che Guevara gave up any hope of creating a revolution. He wrote Fidel Castro a despairing letter. In it you can feel the 20th century dream of transforming oppressed people into new kinds of powerful beings quietly dying away.

Adam Curtis | Adam Curtis Blog for the BBC | OCT 2009

Resurrecting The Champ

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:06:10 -0500

Resurrecting The Champ:

A newspaper writer’s attempt to solve the mystery of a homeless man who claims to be a once-famous boxer.

J. R. Moehringer | LA Times Magazine | May 1997

Cable: A Caucasus Wedding

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:06:38 -0500

Cable: A Caucasus Wedding:

The lavish display and heavy drinking concealed the deadly serious North Caucasus politics of land, ethnicity, clan, and alliance.

In a cable brought to light by Wikileaks, the Ambassador to Russia describes a raucous three-day Dagestani wedding attended by Chechnya’s president Ramzan Kadyrov.

William Burns | The Guardian | Aug 2006

Absent Things as if They Are Present

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:06:27 -0500

Absent Things as if They Are Present:

A history of erasure as literature.

Jeannie Vanasco | The Believer | Jan 2012

Anatomy of the Great Adderall Drought

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:06:20 -0500

Anatomy of the Great Adderall Drought:

Last Fall, America’s favorite focus drug suddenly went into short supply.

Kelly Bourdet | Motherboard | Feb 2012

The Comedians, The Mob and the American Supperclub

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:06:48 -0500

The Comedians, The Mob and the American Supperclub:

It didn’t matter if these clubs were in Cleveland, Portland, Corpus Christi or Baton Rouge—if it was a nightclub, the owners were the Mob. For a good forty years the Mob controlled American show business.

Kliph Nesteroff | WFMU | Feb 2012

Listening to Books

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:06:14 -0500

Listening to Books:

An essay on audio books.

Maggie Gram | N+1 | Feb 2012

America is Bull

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:51:15 -0500

America is Bull:

On the rodeo.

Jeanne Marie Laskas | Esquire | Jan 1999

Party Crasher

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 07:36:33 -0500

Party Crasher:

A profile of Ron Paul.

Kelefa Sanneh | New Yorker | Feb 2012

Between Roses in Mumbai

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:36:08 -0500

Between Roses in Mumbai:

The story of a young man on the run in the slum he dreams of escaping.

Katherine Boo | NY Review of Books | Feb 2012

60 Lives, 30 Kidneys, All Linked

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:51:54 -0500

60 Lives, 30 Kidneys, All Linked:

The stories of a record-setting chain of transplants.

Kevin Sack | New York Times | Feb 2012

How I Killed My Mother

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 08:51:21 -0500

How I Killed My Mother:

Exploring the relationship between authors and their parents.

It mattered to her that she could have, or might have, been a writer, and perhaps it mattered to me more than I fully understood. She watched my books appear with considerable interest, and wrote me an oddly formal letter about the style of each one, but she was, I knew, also uneasy about my novels. She found them too slow and sad and oddly personal. She was careful not to say too much about this, except once when she felt that I had described her and things which had happened to her too obviously and too openly. That time she said that she might indeed soon write her own book. She made a book sound like a weapon.

Colm Tóibín | The Guardian | Feb 2012

The Forgetting Pill Erases Painful Memories Forever

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 09:36:34 -0500

The Forgetting Pill Erases Painful Memories Forever:

“In the very near future, the act of remembering will become a choice.”

Jonah Lehrer | Wired | Feb 2012

Gone Fishing

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 09:06:26 -0500

Gone Fishing:

A profile of New York chef and fisherman David Pasternack.

Mark Singer | New Yorker | Sep 2005

How First Baptist’s Robert Jeffress Ordained Himself to Lead America

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:06:44 -0500

How First Baptist’s Robert Jeffress Ordained Himself to Lead America:

Before I met Robert Jeffress, I wanted to hate him. Jeffress is the conservative preacher who made national headlines in October, when he called Mormonism a cult. He’s the senior pastor at First Baptist Dallas, the oldest megachurch in America, and I am certainly not a Baptist. He endorsed Rick Perry for president, and I’m definitely no fan of Perry’s. As a matter of fact, Robert Jeffress and I probably disagree on every major political and religious issue. And yet, I really, really like him.

Michael J. Mooney | D Magazine | Jan 2012

Gaudi From The Grave

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:21:29 -0500

Gaudi From The Grave:

Contemplating Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia church, as the controversial finishing work is completed.

Stephen Crittenden | The Global Mail | Feb 2012