Longform

  • Podcast
  • Best Of
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
  • Archive

    • Sections
    • Publications
    • Writers
    • Tags
  • Random Article
  • Contact

    • podcast@longform.org

Writers

Alec MacGillis

Crime Politics

What Philadelphia Reveals About America’s Homicide Surge

There are many explanations for the rise in killings in U.S. cities, including the pandemic and the choices made in response to it. In Philadelphia, the causes, the human costs — and the suffering — are particularly stark.

Alec MacGillis ProPublica Jul 2021 40min Permalink

Health

The Lost Year: What the Pandemic Cost Teenagers

In Hobbs, New Mexico, the high school closed and football was cancelled, while just across the state line in Texas, students seemed to be living nearly normal lives. Here’s how pandemic school closures exact their emotional toll on young people.

Alec MacGillis ProPublica Mar 2021 Permalink

The Students Left Behind by Remote Learning

Has a desire to keep the coronavirus out of schools put children’s long-term well-being at stake?

Alec MacGillis ProPublica Sep 2020 35min Permalink

Business

How Dollar Stores Became Magnets for Crime and Killing

Discount chains are thriving — while fostering violence and neglect in poor communities.

Alec MacGillis ProPublica Jun 2020 30min Permalink

Business

After the Crash

The case against Boeing.

Alec MacGillis New Yorker Nov 2019 25min Permalink

Crime

The Tragedy of Baltimore

How order collapsed in an American city.

Alec MacGillis ProPublica Mar 2019 30min Permalink

Business Religion

Billion-Dollar Blessings

How Jerry Falwell Jr. transformed Liberty University, one of the religious right’s most powerful institutions, into a wildly lucrative online empire.

Alec MacGillis ProPublica Apr 2018 30min Permalink

Politics

How Washington Blew Its Best Chance to Fix Immigration

Three years ago, the Republican-led House was close to reaching a compromise on immigration. This is the story of what went wrong.

Alec MacGillis ProPublica Sep 2016 30min Permalink

Crime Health

The Last Shot

How Vivitrol, a little-known anti-addiction drug, became the mandatory treatment for opioid abuse in drug courts across the United States.

Alec MacGillis ProPublica Jun 2017 30min Permalink

The Beleaguered Tenants of ‘Kushnerville’

Baltimore-area renters complain about a property owner they say is neglectful and litigious. Few know their landlord is the president’s son-in-law.

Alec MacGillis ProPublica May 2017 25min Permalink

Politics

How Paul Ryan Convinced Washington of His Genius

Rise of the wonk.

Alec MacGillis New Republic Sep 2012 15min Permalink

History

The Original Underclass

“Poor white Americans’ current crisis shouldn’t have caught the rest of the country as off guard as it has.”

Alec MacGillis The Atlantic Aug 2016 20min Permalink

Business Politics

The Patriot

Philanthropist and private equity mogul David Rubenstein is lauded for his patriotic donations, including half the cost of repairing the Washington Monument. He also helped save a controversial tax break billionaires love.

Alec MacGillis ProPublica Mar 2015 30min Permalink

Politics

The Unelectable Whiteness of Scott Walker

The formative years of the Republican star.

Alec MacGillis New Republic Jun 2014 30min Permalink

Politics

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.”

Alec MacGillis New Republic Feb 2014 30min Permalink

Politics

Scandal at Clinton Inc.

Doug Band gets close to, then falls out with, Bill and Hillary.

Alec MacGillis New Republic Sep 2013 35min Permalink

Politics

The Permanent Candidate

What makes Rick Perry run?

Alec MacGillis The New Republic Oct 2011 30min Permalink