How John Updike Turned Everything in His Life to His Advantage in Fiction
A local reporter set out to profile the celebrated writer. He ended up lampooned in The New Yorker.
Excerpted from Updike.
The Hugo Problem
The downfall of Hugo Schwyzer, feminist.
The 2014 National Magazine Awards Finalists
Feature Writing, Reporting, Essays and Criticism, Public Interest — a full list of the articles nominated today.
Previously: Our picks for the best of 2013.
Nakamoto's Neighbor: My Hunt For Bitcoin's Creator Led To A Paralyzed Crypto Genius
The Bitcoin ghostwriter who wasn’t.
Tavi Gevinson is the founder and editor-in-chief of Rookie.
"I just want our readers to know that they are already smart enough and cool enough."
Thanks to this week's sponsors, TinyLetter and Atavist Books.
A Fight Is Brewing
The creators of some of the most distinctive craft beers in the world are identical twins from Denmark. They also can’t stand each other.
Previously: Jonah Weiner on the Longform Podcast.
Wild Obsession
The perilous attraction of owning exotic pets.
The Chaos Company
Embedded with G4S, the world’s largest private army.
In Your Heart You Know He’s Nixon
On the campaign trail with Richard Nixon.
Being the Son of a Nazi
What Rüdiger Heim learned about his father.
Excerpted from The Eternal Nazi.</p>
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Sarajevo: The Crossroads of History
Revisiting the street corner where Franz Ferdinand was shot.
Sinkhole of Bureaucracy
In an old mine an hour north of Pittsburgh, 600 federal employees manage paperwork for the government’s retirement system. By hand. On paper. Without computers. The same exact way they always have.
Monsterwellen
What caused the worst shipping disaster in maritime history?
Is There Hope for the Survivors of the Drug Wars?
On the post-prison lives of several men in West Baltimore.
Sacred and Profane
On the FBI's failed negotiations with David Koresh and the Branch Davidians in Waco.
Previously: Malcolm Gladwell on the Longform Podcast.
For Jared Remy, Leniency Was the Rule Until One Lethal Night
The son of a Red Sox legend, his trail of violent attacks runs back to his teen years. So does the line of judges who somehow saw fit, time and again, to give him one more chance. Now he’s on trial for murder.
Flying Upside Down
An engineering team races to create a next-generation computer.
The first installment of The Soul of a New Machine.
'On Va Tuer Les Demons' ('We Will Kill the Demons')
On children accused of sorcery in Congo.
Pixel and Dimed
On (not) getting by in the gig economy.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Birthday Cake"
A forgotten birthday cake sets off a chain of unexpected events.
For a daily short story recommendation from our editors, check Longform Fiction or follow @longformfiction on Twitter.
The Man Who Loves To Hate
On Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps, who died this week.
Bullfighting Is Not a Sport — It is a Tragedy
A report from ringside in Spain.
To Russia With Love
"For 20 beautiful years, my homeland was open and (kind of) free. Now, I fear, it’s closing back up."
Previously: Keith Gessen on the Longform Podcast.
Animal Instinct
How a group of vigilante cat-lovers seeking the hooded figure who suffocated a kitten in an internet video found a sadistic killer.
