Acid Trap
How warming and acidifying oceans endanger the entire marine food chain.
The Dark Power of Fraternities
An investigation into America’s Greek system.
Tom Steyer: An Inconvenient Billionaire
“If we do nothing, we’re dead! We’re toast!”
On Not Going Home
An Englishman’s eighteen years of exile-by-choice.
Wil S. Hylton, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, is the author of Vanished.
"I despise the fucking nut graf. I think it's a joke, a cop out. The story probably should be about something larger than itself but if you have to tell people what that is, you've failed from the beginning. If they can't find it, you didn't put it there and you shouldn't be beating them over the head with it."
Thanks to TinyLetter and The Fog Horn for sponsoring this week's episode, and to the Writing Department at the University of Pittsburgh for hosting.
36 Hours On The Fake Campaign Trail With Donald Trump
Over the course of 25 years, he’s repeatedly toyed with the idea of running for president and now, maybe, governor of New York. With all but his closest apostles finally tired of the charade, even the Donald himself has to ask, what’s the point? On the plane and by the pool with the man who will not be king.
Seduced and Abandoned
The dissolution of Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng’s marriage amidst evidence of her affairs with Tony Blair and Eric Schmidt.
Trophy Slaughter
Inside the criminal operation illegally buying, selling and killing tigers – and selling their meat at the local butcher.
That Chop on the Upbeat
Investigating ska’s moment of conception.
The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life
“I guess what you post on Facebook matters.” An 18-year-old faces 10 years in jail for a sarcastic threat on Facebook.
What I Saw When I Crashed a Wall Street Secret Society
The first known infiltration of the finance fraternity Kappa Beta Phi.
Excerpted from Young Money.
Sexual Assault at God's Harvard
On the culture of abuse and coverup at Patrick Henry College.
The Disappeared
On the increasingly dangerous situation for journalists in Syria.
Sponsored
Sponsor: "What It Takes" by Richard Ben Cramer
In honor of Presidents' Day, our sponsor is one of the great pieces of political reporting in American history: What It Takes, Richard Ben Cramer's masterful account of the 1988 presidential election.
With a level of access impossible to imagine today, Cramer delves into the personal, intimate lives of the key candidates as he seeks to understand the drives, passions, egos, and failings that transform an individual into a president. Cramer goes particularly deep on Joe Biden, then 47 and making his first presidential run. Here is an extended excerpt of that section.
When Richard Ben Cramer passed away last year, we collected his greatest articles in this Longform guide. But What It Takes is his masterpiece, a book that exposes the emotional reality of politics and defined modern campaign reporting.
Figures in a Mall
Spending time with the Tonya Harding Fan Club in the wake of the assault on Nancy Kerrigan.
Leaving Reality
Life after The Real World.
Out Route
The bleak final season of Tony Gonzalez’s Hall of Fame career.
Gravy Boat: My Week on the High Seas With Paula Deen and Friends
“Everyone on the boat is racist and nice. Including me.”
The Brief, Wondrous Life of Zina Lahr
The story of an intensely creative young artist.
Longform Fiction Pick of the Week:"The Unknown Soldier"
An actor, fresh from prison, attempts to reconnect with his son in 1950s California.
For a daily short story recommendation from our editors, check out Longform Fiction or follow @longformfiction on Twitter.
Marrakech
A dispatch from Morocco.
Kill the Past
The murder of a rapper amid the rise of Greece’s fascist party.
Welcome to Bakersfield, California
How a disgraced principal-turned real estate mogul helped cause the global financial crisis.
Why Are So Many Farmers Killing Themselves?
“An Indian farmer has committed suicide every half hour since 2001.”
Why Abercrombie Is Losing Its Shirt
The rise and fall of a teen fashion empire.
