The Secrets of the 80-Year-Old Chinese Runway Model
How did an obscure artist who survived the Cultural Revolution become a viral sensation and suddenly the surreal, sexy center of Fashion Week?
Sarah Menkedick is a freelance writer and the founder of Vela. Her upcoming book is Homing Instincts: Early Motherhood on a Midwestern Farm.
“I’d been rejected a ton of times—I had that 400-page thing that never became a book. So there were plenty of epic rejections that felt catastrophic. And I’d sort of arrived at this point where I was like: I’m living in my parents' cabin, and I’m pregnant, so whatever. Fuck it. I’m gonna write whatever I want to write.”
Thanks to MailChimp and Blue Apron for sponsoring this week's episode.
The NBA Is Lucky I'm Home Doing Damn Articles
The NBA’s most “irrationally confident” player tells his story.
Reverend Resistance
A profile of Rev. William Barber II, who gave one of the most memorable speeches at last summer’s Democratic National Convention and is now leading the Christian protest against the White House.
E. B. White: The Art of the Essay No. 1
"I’m not familiar with books on style. My role in the revival of Strunk’s book was a fluke—just something I took on because I was not doing anything else at the time. It cost me a year out of my life, so little did I know about grammar."
Pat Riley's Final Test
He has been in the NBA for 50 years. He’s won nine championships. And he can’t walk away.
The Genesis of the Gang
On how a childhood spent in New York City’s tenements led a 15-year-old boy to be convicted of murder.
Why We’ve Removed Longform from the App Store
As of this week, Longform has been removed from the App Store. (We’ll also be pulling it from the Google Play store.) Previously downloaded versions will cease to update shortly.
We’re proud of what the Longform App achieved. Combined, the Longform App and longform.org have sent over 100 million outbound links to publishers since 2012. We were featured in the App Store and consistently held a Top 10 spot in the News section while the app was being actively developed, eventually racking up over half a million downloads.
For more on why we removed Longform from the App Store, read on here.
"Did Your Father Die?"
To be a second-grader contending with violence.
My Life As a Failed Artist
Decades after giving up the dream for good, an art critic returns to the work he’d devoted his life to, then abandoned — but never really forgot.
The Living Disappeared
Argentina’s grandmothers are still searching for the stolen babies born in the dictatorship’s secret prisons.
Comey Tried to Shield the F.B.I. From Politics. Then He Shaped an Election.
“There wasn’t anything normal about this.”
Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die
Bill Conradt, a well-known prosecutor, never arrived at the house in Murphy, Texas, where police and a crew from NBC’s To Catch a Predator were waiting. So the crew, along with a SWAT team, went to Conradt.
Literature’s Arctic Obsession
The greatest writers of the nineteenth century were drawn to the North Pole. What did they hope to find there?
This Lawsuit Goes to 11
The creators of This is Spinal Tap, the most influential mockumentary ever made, have been paid almost nothing. Now they are suing for $400 million.
Excerpts from 'Bones in the Desert'
From the Translator’s Note:
Just over two weeks ago, on April 3, the renowned Mexican writer and investigative journalist Sergio González Rodríguez unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack at age 67. [His book] Bones in the Desert is a far-reaching investigation into the still-unsolved murders of hundreds of women and girls in the communities surrounding Mexico’s Ciudad Júarez, on the US border with El Paso, Texas. In the years since its publication in 2002, Bones in the Desert has left an indelible imprint on the modern literature of the Americas, both through its own merits and its foundational influence on Roberto Bolaño’s 2666. In crafting a fictionalized version of Ciudad Júarez, Bolaño collaborated directly with González Rodríguez, relying on him for substantial “technical help” in answering questions about the nature of the murders, and eventually including him as a character in the novel.
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The Twilight Zone
An excess of people and an excess of desert.
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No Longer a Girl
The hallmarks that would come to characterize the official narrative surrounding the serial murders were already being established.
Get a Real Degree
The relationship between creative writing programs and modern fiction.
Our Climate Future Is Actually Our Climate Present
An essay about what we’ll lose, and what we’ve already lost.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Say, She Toy"
A black android faces horrible human racism, sexual assault and realities; NSFW.
The Longform Guide to Weed
Stories from our archive about how marijuana is grown, bought, sold, smuggled, and smoked.
Brought to you by Stoner, a new podcast from Longform co-founder Aaron Lammer featuring conversations with creative people about their experiences with marijuana. Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts.
The Heart of Whiteness
An interview with Rachel Dolezal.
David Grann is a staff writer at The New Yorker. His new book is Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.
“The more stories I reported over time, the more I just realized there are parts of the story I can’t always get to. You know, unless this is a reality show and there’s 18 cameras in every room, and people [talk] before they sleep, and maybe you have some mind-bug in their brain for their unconscious, there are just parts you’re just not gonna know. You get as close as you can. And so the struggle to me is to get as close as I can, to peel it back as close as I can, but understanding that there will be elements, there will be pieces, that will remain lingering doubts.”
Thanks to Stamps.com, Squarespace, and MailChimp for sponsoring this week's episode.
Jonathan and Aaron
Flashbacks from the life of Aaron Hernandez from the person who knew him best, his older brother Jonathan.
End Pain Forever
Imagine you felt like your skin was always on fire. Imagine you couldn’t even feel a bone break. The genetic link between those two extremes could hold the key to ending physical suffering.
"This Is a War and We Intend To Win"
The rise and fall of a violent underground anti-racist group.
