My Evil Dad: Life As A Serial Killer’s Daughter
“‘Why does my dad have duct tape by his pillow?’”
Battle for the Senate: How the GOP Did It
An inside look at the Democratic infighting and Republican gameplan (“Obama, Obama, Obama”) that led to the midterm landslide.
Jake Halpern has written for The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine and is a contributor to This American Life. His latest book is Bad Paper: Chasing Debt from Wall Street to the Underworld.
"I test out my stories on my kids. You should be able to tell any story, now matter how complicated, to a seven-year-old in a way that they understand. If you can't, that probably means that either a) you're telling the story wrong or b) it's not really a story."
Thanks to TinyLetter and Bonobos for sponsoring this week's episode.
The Sea of Crises
A sumo wrestling tournament. A failed coup ending in seppuku. A search for a forgotten man. How one writer’s trip to Japan became a journey through oblivion.
Inside the Vigilante Fight Against Boko Haram
On Nigeria’s citizen vigilantes who’ve banded together to fight Islamist terrorists.
Like Something the Lord Made
Vivien Thomas was paid a janitor’s wage, never went to college, and still became a legend in the field of heart surgery.
Striving for a Climate Change
A profile of law professor Dan Kahan, “one of the best-known unknown academics in the country,” who wants to close the communication gap between scientists and the public.
New York’s Most Sensational Jewel Heist
Fifty years later, the men who stole priceless gems from the Museum of Natural History recall the crime.
The Myth of Chinese Super Schools
What the Chinese education system can teach America about relying on test scores as the main metric of success.
The Pierre Omidyar Insurgency
The story, so far, of First Look Media.
Collapse
Witnessing one of deadliest landslides in American history.
The Duke of Doubt
A profile of Chris Rock as he makes one last attempt to jump from standup to leading man.
This Week's Most Popular Articles in the Longform App
A murderous grandma, a master counterfeiter, and a notorious teenage drug dealer in Detroit — the most read articles this week in the new Longform App, available free for iPhone and iPad.
Charlie Manson’s Home on the Range
George Spahn and his California ranch, before and after the Manson family showed up.
Marathon Man
The strange case of Kip Litton, road race fraud.
Stephen King: The Rolling Stone Interview
The author on why he belives in God (“It makes things better”), the perils of writing high (“Annie Wilkes is cocaine, she was my number-one fan”) and what he thinks of other writers (“Hemingway sucks, basically”).
Why Innocent People Plead Guilty
A judge on the history and injustice of the plea bargain in America.
The Longform Guide to Memory
This guide is sponsored by Dear Thief, the new novel from Samantha Harvey. A letter to an old friend, a song, a jewel, and a continuously surprising triangular love story, Dear Thief is about the need for human connection and the brutal vulnerability that need exposes. And it is about how we remember, or fail to remember, our stories.
The Sunday Telegraph called Dear Thief "an incandescent vision of hope and acceptance." The Guardian said it's "a heady, elegiac combination of eroticism and loss, loathing and rapture."
Fiction Pick of the Week: "How to Identify Birds in the Wild"
A story of bird and human patterns.
For a daily short story recommendation from our editors, try Longform Fiction or follow @longformfiction on Twitter.
Dunkin' and the Doughnut King
Ted Ngoy overcame poverty and escaped genocide, made a fortune off doughnuts and gambled it all away. Now he’s back on top, with hundreds of shops in California, but under attack from Dunkin’ Donuts.
The Perfect App for Weekend Reading
Have you tried the new Longform App for iPhone and iPad? It's totally free and the absolute best way to read our picks—including our first app exclusive, "The Trials of White Boy Rick," an incredible tale available free only the app.
Selling the Bro Dream
Is Vemma an energy drink, the new Amway or a pyramid scheme taking advantage of college kids? Maybe all three.
The Exacting, Expansive Mind of Christopher Nolan
The Interstellar director and the art of the blockbuster cult film.
Why Would Someone Steal the World’s Rarest Water Lily?
The thin moral line between collecting and stealing plants.
Free To Go
To save himself, a basketball recruit testified against his mother.
