Snapshots of the Underground
Moe Tucker narrates her time drumming in the Velvet Underground.
Sponsored
Sponsor: "Little Failure" by Gary Shteyngart
Our sponsor this week is Little Failure, the new memoir by Gary Shteyngart. Already a New York Times bestseller, Little Failure tells the story of Shteyngart's American immigrant experience, moving back and forth through time and memory with self-deprecating humor, moving insights, and literary bravado. The result is a resonant story of family and belonging that feels epic and intimate and distinctly his own.
Mary Karr called Little Failure "a memoir for the ages." The Millions dubbed Shteyngart the "Chekhov-Roth-Apatow of Queens." And Nathan Eglander said the book is so honest "Dr. Freud would be proud."
Buy Little Failure today or read an exclusive excerpt on Longform.
Sad YouTube
Finding personal stories buried deep in the YouTube comments.
In The Name Of Love
How “Do What You Love” devalues actual work.
What Grantland Got Wrong
On the problems in “Dr. V’s Magical Putter.”
Aspen and the End of Snow
How the ski town of the super-rich is responding to global warming.
On Breaking One's Neck
A physician reports on his own catastrophic injury.
The Longform Guide to Pills
A collection of picks about the pills we swallow and the people who make them, take them and sell them.</p>
Eagle Scout. Idealist. Drug Trafficker?
To his friends and family, Ross Ulbricht was a compassionate, warm soul known for random acts of kindness. To the F.B.I., he was Dread Pirate Roberts, the mastermind behind the Silk Road who was willing to order hits to protect his black market operation.
Going the Distance
A profile of Barack Obama as he turns toward the finish line.
"Hoop Dreams": An Oral History
Twenty years after its premiere, the filmmakers and subjects look back at “the great American documentary.”
The Campaign That Rocked Washington
An unlikely bipartisan alliance attempts to get Yes into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
This Is What It’s Like to Be at War With Your Body
One man’s quest to have a healthy leg amputated.
Darkness in August
“There is only one given: On the afternoon of August 16, a 22-year-old from Australia named Christopher Lane, who had come to America to go to college and play baseball, went out running and, without warning or knowing why, was shot to death in Duncan.”
The Writer and the Puzzle: Richard Ben Cramer Couldn't Crack A-Rod
On the legendary journalist and the book he never finished.
Is This Thing On?
Why audio never goes viral.
Runner, Interrupted
What happens when a runner loses his feet?
The First 48 Makes Millions Off Imprisoning Innocents
What happened when 21-year-old Taiwan Smart became the target of both police and a reality TV show.
Here Comes Everybody
What accounts for the gender gap in literary criticism?
George Saunders has written for The New Yorker and GQ. His latest collection of short stories is Tenth of December.
“Maybe you would understand your artistry to be: put me anywhere. I'll find human beings, I'll find human interest, I'll find literature. And I guess you could argue the weirder, or maybe the less explored the place, the better.”
Thanks to TinyLetter and Audible for sponsoring this week's episode. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to audiblepodcast.com/longform.
Dr. V's Magical Putter
The very complicated life of Dr. Essay Anne Vanderbilt, who once built a very good golf club.
Update: Grantland has published a pair of responses to the reaction to this story, "What Grantland Got Wrong" by Christina Kahrl and "The Dr. V Story: A Letter From the Editor" by Bill Simmons.
Palace Intrigue
François Hollande campaigned as “Monsieur Normal,” but after taking office as France’s President, a single tweet exposed his twisted 20-year love triangle.
Why I Bought A House In Detroit For $500
“After college, as my friends left Michigan for better opportunities, I was determined to help fix this broken, chaotic city by building my own home in the middle of it. I was 23 years old.”
The Collateral Damage of a Teenager
What adolescence does to adolescents is nowhere near as brutal as what it does to their parents.
An excerpt from All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood.
Sabre Rattler
How a rogue p.r. man pulled a fast one on professional hockey.
