“Jon Corzine had never had anything to do with the futures business, had never run a public company, and hadn’t worked on Wall Street for a decade. His time there had ended badly. But by any reasonable standard, the former Goldman chief seemed almost embarrassingly overqualified. Says Flowers: ‘It seemed like we had more CEO than company.’”
The history of American whaling.
A multi-part series exploring Louisiana’s role as “the world’s prison capital.”
A profile of Hector Xavier Monsegur, aka Sabu, a hacker star of Anonymous and resident of a New York City housing project.
She was a thirteen-year-old from the Chabad Lubavitch community who would dip into a barbershop bathroom to swap her orthodox clothes for those of a streetwalker. Her pimping and rape allegations against a group of black men in their twenties, repeatedly recanted and then reaffirmed, would send the D.A.’s office into disarray.
A profile of fashion designer Nudie Cohn, who made clothing for Elvis, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, and others.
A profile of the Against Me! frontman.
The untold story of steroids in baseball.
Uncovered letters reveal ties between the literary magazine and the CIA’s Congress for Cultural Freedom.
The controversy surrounding the death of Uche Okafor.
A profile of Fleshlight inventor Steve Shubin.
On conspiracy theories in sports, from the ‘85 NBA draft lottery to Michael Phelps’ gold medal performance in the 100-meter butterfly.
The author recounts playing herself – best-selling author Sloane Crosley – on an episode of “Gossip Girl.”
A profile of filmmaker Michael Haneke.
“It’s 7:30 a.m., and already the congressman and I are covered in blood.”
How Sherry Hunt soaked the banking giant.
“Adaptation is one explanation of how a lot of executives stay alive. As the fish in the Silurian rivers began to develop swim bladders in order to live in shoal waters, so American executives have developed certain compensating features. The process can be observed particularly in the big cities where conditions are the most trying. Executives have developed an insensitivity to noise, an uncanny time sense (needed in commuting), and an attunement to the city’s terrifying rhythms. Instead of trying to escape the phenomenon of modern life they fling themselves at it.”
It’s a club “filled exclusively with people who do not want to be members.”
A profile of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was sentenced to 50 years today after being convicted of committing crimes against humanity.
On the difficult, “god-like” decisions faced by parents of transgender children.
On the rise of DIY genetic engineering.
A Yale student on why nearly a quarter of her classmates will end up working for Wall Street.
On the escape of hundreds of insurgents from Kandahar’s Sarposa Prison through a tunnel dug from the outside, and an unlikely suspect: the jail’s former warden.
“I turned to see Eva padding around the room, naked, dipping a small plastic wand into the bottle of bubble soap she’d bought at the market… Sometime in the far future, when I was lying on my deathbed, I said, this was the moment I wanted to remember.”
On the relationship between travel and photography.
Sponsored
Is the century-old Jewish-Leftist alliance ending?
For much of the 20th century, the radical and revolutionary left played a huge role in defining how the rest of America saw Jews and how Jews saw themselves. In an essay for Tablet Magazine, literary critic Adam Kirsch considers whether that linkage is over.
For information about sponsoring Longform, click here.
