The Long Ride to Riyadh
Taking a taxi across the Saudi desert.
Taking a taxi across the Saudi desert.
Dave Eggers New Statesman May 2014 45min Permalink
The writings of Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik are a copy-and-paste hodgepodge of “jeremiads against the scourge of cultural theory, lists of atrocities perpetuated by Muslims, and pages of derision of ‘female sluts,’ but also Wikipedia articles about sugar beet farming and investment tips.”
Rachel Monroe Los Angeles Review of Books May 2014 10min Permalink
A Little League season in Camden, New Jersey, where the murder rate is 17 times the national average.
Kathy Dobie GQ May 2014 25min Permalink
Transporting an instrument after a death in the family.
Ellis Avery The Morning News May 2014 10min Permalink
The saga of Naji Mansour.
Nick Baumann Mother Jones May 2014 25min Permalink
Cory Booker, Chris Christie, and Mark Zuckerberg had a plan to reform Newark’s schools. They got an education.
Dale Russakoff New Yorker May 2014 45min Permalink
Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali, 20 years after their final fight.
William Nack Sports Illustrated Sep 1996 25min Permalink
Will Vinton created the California Raisins, coined the term “claymation” and had a firm making $28 million a year in the late 1990s. By 2002, he was out of a job, replaced by a failed rapper who had gone by the name “Chilly Tee” and also happened to be the son of Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
Zachary Crockett Priceonomics May 2014 20min Permalink
An interview with Miley Cyrus.
Tavi Gevinson Elle Apr 2014 15min Permalink
A young woman with a rare condition navigates El Paso.
Karolina Waclawiak Hazlitt May 2014 Permalink
The Muay Thai fighters of Klong Prem.
Matthew Shaer Men's Journal Apr 2014 15min Permalink
A profile of Uruguay President José Mujica, a former revolutionary who’s been shot six times, was imprisoned for 14 years and, since taking office, has shunned the presidential mansion in favor of a small farm while legalizing gay marriage, abortion and marijuana.
Krishna Andavolu Vice May 2014 15min Permalink
"Caught between the dealers and the cops in Hazleton, Pa., is a woman with a bad habit."
Previously: Susan Dominus on the Longform Podcast.
Susan Dominus New York Times Magazine May 2014 30min Permalink
On the search for migrants lost at sea and the families left behind.
Caroline Moorehead Intelligent Life May 2014 25min Permalink
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The hedge funders who tried to give away a fortune anonymously.
Zachary R. Mider Businessweek May 2014 15min Permalink
How the Third Reich was founded on a conspiracy theory.
Richard J. Evans London Review of Books May 2014 20min Permalink
How medically induced hypothermia could save lives.
Frank Swain Mosaic May 2014 15min Permalink
An oral history of the 2002 Western Conference finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings.
Previously: Jonathan Abrams on the Longform Podcast.
Jonathan Abrams Grantland May 2014 1h5min Permalink
On the murder of a popular bar owner in a ghost town near the Mexican border.
Rachel Monroe Outside May 2014 20min Permalink
Michael Lewis has written for The New Republic, Vanity Fair and The New York Times Magazine. His latest book is Flash Boys.
“When you're telling a story, you're essentially playing the cards you're dealt. ... Sometimes the hand is very easy to play. Sometimes the hand is difficult to play. At the end, I just try to think, ‘Is there anything I would have done differently?‘ ‘Is there any trick I missed?’ If I don't have the feeling that I missed something big, I feel happy about the book.”
Thanks to TinyLetter and Audible for sponsoring this week's episode.
Show notes:
May 2014 Permalink
In northern Nigeria, radical Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram is facing a vigilante backlash from armed teenagers with nothing to lose.
Alex Preston GQ (UK) Feb 2014 25min Permalink
How P. Rajagopal, the founder of one of the world’s largest vegetarian restaurant chains, got away with murder.
Rollo Romig New York Times Magazine May 2014 20min Permalink
A cancer doctor on losing his wife to cancer.
Peter B. Bach New York May 2014 25min Permalink
A history of the celebrity profile.
Anne Helen Petersen The Believer May 2014 30min Permalink