The Man Without A Mask
How Cassandro, who wrestles in drag, became a star Mexican luchadore.
I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not
The bumpy rise of Saturday Night Live’s first star.
The Most Popular Articles of the Week
A professional quarterback who lost a battle with his weight, a hermit who lived off the grid for nearly 30 years and a spy who went far too far — the week's top stories on Longform.
Brave and Afraid and Heading Down the Longest Road
One man’s battle with mental illness.
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Brave and Afraid
“He was an ebullient boy, quick to laugh and easy to love. And then, at 17, the shadow fell. A devastating diagnosis of mental illness. Trouble, hospital, home, into the depths again. Now, sustained by his mother’s unimaginably patient love, he aims to make his way back.”
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Days of Crisis, Compassion
“There may be a more exhausting journey than that of the mentally ill, their families, and their caregivers. But for those locked in the cycle of hopes raised and dashed, it’s hard to imagine what it could be.”
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Desperately Guarding Hope
“No matter how he hates them, Michael Bourne has finally decided to stick with his meds. They may save his life, but at the price of not feeling fully alive. It is a cruel calculus, for him and for many.”
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Songs of the Dead: An Homage"
Scenes from a local bar in winter.
For a daily short story recommendation from our editors, try Longform Fiction or follow @longformfiction on Twitter.
The Bro Whisperer of Bustle
Bryan Goldberg’s site for women was widely mocked when it launched a year ago. Today it has 15 million readers per month and some of its harshest early critics are on the payroll.
Id Girls
On Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, the duo behind Broad City.
The Hedge Fund and the Despot
The Wall Street firm that bailed out Robert Mugabe.
A 'Silent Mass Disaster'
When adults like Billy Smolinski go missing, it’s hard to get the authorities involved.
Bill Cosby's Untold Story
On the comedian’s relationship with his son and how it changed the course of The Cosby Show.
Last Tango in Kabul
While war raged across Afghanistan, expats lived in a bubble of good times and easy money. But as the U.S. withdraws, life has taken a deadly turn.
The Witness
A profile of Michelle Lyons, who viewed 278 executions as both a local reporter and a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Ben Anderson is a war journalist and documentary filmmaker for Vice News. His latest book is The Interpreters.
"You're surrounded by people who are so poor. Maybe their family members have already been killed. And they still can't leave. So compared to that, I can't really take the idea that I've suffered and that I need stop and go to a spa for a few days. I can't take that idea that seriously. Compared to them, it feels like I am leading an almost privileged existence."
Thanks to TinyLetter and GoDaddy for sponsoring this week's episode.
The Interpreters
The full text of a 20,000-word ebook on the interpreters who worked alongside American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their fates once they were no longer of service.
Inside Pablo Escobar's Private Prison
In exchange for his surrender, the top Colombian drug lord was allowed to build his own jail, complete with a disco, jacuzzi, and waterfall. Now 23 years later, it’s a home for the elderly.
Evaporated
On the trail of Austin Tice and the late James Foley, freelance journalists who were kidnapped in Syria in 2012.
“O, Excellent Air Bag”
On the highly enjoyable, nearly fatal first experiments with laughing gas in late 18th-century London.
Going It Alone
Elias Pompa is the lone deputy in one of the poorest counties in Texas. He is also at the center of the U.S. border crisis.
DIY Diagnosis
Kim Goodsell had a pair of rare diseases. Doctors didn’t have the time to look for a link. So she taught herself genetics and found it herself.
The Watts "Manifesto" & the McCone Report
On the anger that led to the Watts Riots of 1965, the mistakes made during those six days in August, and how little changed afterward.
The French and Indian War in Pittsburgh: A Memoir
On a childhood fascination with the mid-18th century battle.
The Spy Who Loved Me
In 1984, Jacqui met Bob Lambert at an animal-rights protest. They fell in love, had a son. Then Bob disappeared. It would take 25 years for Jacqui to learn that he had been working undercover.
The Most Popular Articles of the Week
A classic profile of Thelonious Monk, a look at Edward Snowden's life in Moscow and a dispatch from Ferguson — the week's top stories on Longform.
Let’s Be Real
On Cops, cop movies and Ferguson.
Kim Dotcom: From Playboy Entrepreneur to Political Firebrand
A profile of the Megaupload founder, who has started a political party in New Zealand as the U.S. continues to fight for his extradition.
