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.
How to Build a Perfect Refugee Camp
Why do Syrian civilians in a Turkish camp live in relative luxury?
Sponsored
The Longform Guide to Optimism in the Second Machine Age [Sponsor]
A collection of hopeful stories about technology curated by MIT's Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, authors of New York Times bestseller The Second Machine Age. Featuring articles by John Maynard Keynes, Clive Thompson, Garry Kasparov and more.
Why Oliver Sacks is One of the Great Modern Adventurers
The neurologist explores the mystery of hallucinations.
Chris Christie's Entire Career Reeks
“The problem with Christie isn’t merely that he is a bully. It’s that his political career is built on a rotten foundation.”
David Kushner, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, has written for The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Wired and The Atavist.
"The minute you see an incredible character, you know. The only thing I can compare it to is bowling, not that I'm much of a bowler. On the few times I've thrown a strike, you know it before it hits the pins."
Thanks to TinyLetter and ProFlowers for sponsoring this week's episode.
In the Darkness of Dick Cheney
“And yet we live still in Cheney’s world. All around us are the consequences of those decisions.”
Can Wendy Davis Have It All?
A tale of ambition, motherhood and political mythmaking in the race for governor of Texas.
How Colleges Flunk Mental Health
An investigtion into higher education’s treatment, and often punishment, of mentally ill students.
Sponsored
Sponsor: "The Second Machine Age"
Our sponsor this week is The Second Machine Age, the New York Times bestseller that Kevin Kelly calls "the best explanation of the technology revolution yet written."
From Google's autonomous cars to machines that can diagnose diseases more accurately than doctors, MIT's Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee—two thinkers at the forefront of their field—reveal the forces driving the reinvention of our lives and our economy. Drawing on years of research and up-to-the-minute trends, Brynjolfsson and McAfee identify the best strategies for survival and offer a new path to prosperity.
A fundamentally optimistic book, The Second Machine Age will alter how you think about issues of technological, societal, and economic progress.
Buy your copy today:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • iBookstore • Indiebound • Powell's
