The Hit Man’s Tale
How an honors student became a hired killer.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Haida's Story"
An excerpt from Murakami's forthcoming novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.</a>
For a daily short story recommendation from our editors, try Longform Fiction or follow @longformfiction on Twitter.
The Race to Stop Africa’s Elephant Poachers
Hunting people who hunt elephants.
The Ambush at Sheridan Springs
How Gary Gygax, a semi-employed shoe repairman, built and lost the Dungeons & Dragons empire.
The Girl in the Window
A profoundly neglected 6-year-old gets a new home.
The Social Laboratory
On Singapore’s attempt to create a more harmonious society using mass surveillance and data analysis.
Dr. Matthew's Passion
A profile of a doctor fighting Ebola in Uganda.
Fall to Earth
Shirley Dygert had never jumped before. Dave Hartsock jumped for a living. Neither of them knew what to expect when the parachute failed.
How Did Bob Dylan Get So Weird?
“After listening to him since I was a kid and seeing him live for—gulp—nearly 40 years, I think I’m beginning to figure it out.”
Collections Sponsored
The Longform Guide to Miraculous Survivals
A collection of picks about people in impossible situations — lost at sea, trapped under boulders, infected with incurable diseases — who somehow survived.
Inspired by Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival, Laurence Gonzales's unforgettable account of a United flight that went down 25 years ago and the 184 souls who lived to tell the story.
The American Room
Behind the nation’s closed doors, with YouTube.
Brin-Jonathan Butler has written for SB Nation, ESPN, and The New York Times. His new book is A Cuban Boxer’s Journey.
"He smiled at me and just to make small talk, I said, 'You know, you’ve got this gold grill on your teeth. Where did you get that from?' And he said, 'Oh, I just melted my gold medals into my mouth.' And I thought, 'I think I’ve got a story here.'"
Thanks to TinyLetter, WW Norton & Company and Open Road Integrated Media for sponsoring this week's episode.
Gold In The Mud
The story of imprisoned boxer James Scott, who contended for the light heavyweight title by staging fights inside Rahway prison.
The Transgender Crucible
CeCe McDonald, a homeless trans teen in Minneapolis, was charged with murder for defending herself. Then she became a folk hero.
Diary: Guantánamo
Accused of being part of a terror cell at age 12, Gitmo’s youngest prisoner recounts his life
The Interpreter
Has a remote Amazonian tribe upended our understanding of language?
An Idiot in Exile
Johnny Damon, after baseball.
In Ferry Deaths, a South Korean Tycoon’s Downfall
On the cult founder, business magnate, pseudonymous internationally shown artist and ferry owner Yoo Byung-eun, who was found dead in the brush amidst empty liquor bottles.
The New Face of Richard Norris
The postscript to a miracle.
Piety and Perversity
On the palm trees of Los Angeles.
Blind Ambition
Erik Weihenmayer has climbed Mount Everest, raced across the Moroccan desert, and is about to kayak the Grand Canyon’s deadliest rapids—all without being able to see.
The Unforgotten
The people who go missing while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, and the people who attempt to identify their remains.
Did Michele Williams Get Away With Murder?
On the “black widow” of Keller, Texas.
Pepper Pilgrimage
A gardener in Newark, NJ tries to grow the world’s best peppers.
Prized But Perilous Catch
Exploring the depths of the abalone black market.
