A Q&A With A Vacuum Cleaner Salesman
How do you sell a $3000 vacuum?
Just Cheer, Baby
The cheerleader who sued the Raiders for failure to pay minimum wage.
Who's Behind Newsweek?
The secretive group that owns the venerable magazine.
Up, and Away
The author goes in search of his father’s days as a member of an elite club of sport parachutists.
Mattathias Schwartz has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and Harper's.
"I figure it's like digging through a wall with a spoon: if you spend enough time at it eventually you get to the other side."
Thanks to TinyLetter and Audible for sponsoring this week's episode.
The Church of Warren Buffett
At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha.
Haverford Hoops!
The story of a very bad basketball team.
Swingers
Bonobos are celebrated as peace-loving, matriarchal, and sexually liberated. Are they?
The Certainty of Donald Rumsfeld
“Unfortunately, after having spent 33 hours over the course of a year interviewing Mr. Rumsfeld, I fear I know less about the origins of the Iraq war than when I started.”
Planet Pam
A profile of Pamela Anderson.
The Dead Zoo Gang
Over the last several years, millions of dollars worth of antique rhino horns have been stolen form collections around the world. The only thing more unusual than the crimes is the theory about who is responsible: A handful of families from rural Ireland known as the Rathkeale Rovers.
The Boy Who Ran
On the life and death of Avonte Oquendo, a 14-year-old autistic boy who disappeared in October after walking out of his New York City school.
Previously: Robert Kolker on the Longform Podcast.
Good Ole Boy, Johnny Cash
A mid-career profile of Johnny Cash.
The Wolf Hunters of Wall Street
How Brad Katsuyama, a trader at the sleepy Royal Bank of Canada, discovered that the stock market was rigged and assembled a team to change it.
Adapted from Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt.
'Uncle Leland'
Leland Yee was a career San Francisco politician known for championing open government and gun control. For the last few years, he was also the main target of an elaborate undercover investigation, during which he traded political favors for cash, tried to sell $2 million worth of weapons to a medical marijuana kingpin and worked closely with well-known Chinatown gangster named Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow.
Life and Death at His Fingertips
Watching a brain surgeon at work.
The Rolling Stones Disaster at Altamont: Let It Bleed
A post-mortem.
He Remade Our World
Dick Cheney and the political history of warrantless surveillance.
Why Can’t I See You?
On the experience of having a stroke.
To Live and Die in America
The murder of an Iranian band in Brooklyn by one of their own.
Previously: Nancy Jo Sales on the Longform Podcast.
His Own Path
Race and major league pitcher Chris Archer.
Collections Sponsored
The Longform Guide to Karen Russell
A collection of our favorite writing by Karen Russell, including short stories and her lone foray into journalism, "The Blind Faith of the One-Eyed Matador," a Longform Best of 2012 pick. Russelll's new novella, </em>Sleep Donation, is out now.
The Interpreters We Left Behind
The fight to grant asylum to the translators who worked—and sometimes fought—alongside U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Murders at the Lake
In the summer of 1982, three Waco teenagers were savagely murdered for no apparent reason. Four men were ultimately charged with the crime. One was executed, two others were given life sentences, and a fourth was sent to death row only to be released after six years. They all may have been innocent.
Reston On His Laurels
James Reston’s problematic proximity to the powerful.
