Our Picks
The Shadow Doctors
An underground network of medical workers and trauma surgeons in Syria, led by David Nott, aims to spread medical knowledge as the Syrian government strives to eradicate it.
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Source: New Yorker
Published: June 28, 2016
Length: 23 minutes (5992 words)
The Reluctant Memoirist
Kim spent more than a decade researching and visiting North Korea before writing a book about teaching English to the sons of North Korea's ruling class. Despite the amount of reporting she had done, her publisher decided to market the book as a "memoir," making it difficult for Kim to find recognition as a investigative journalist.
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Source: The New Republic
Published: June 27, 2016
Length: 11 minutes (2777 words)
The Day My Brother Took a Life and Changed Mine Forever
I grew up idolizing my brother. Then he killed a man.
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Source: The Marshall Project
Published: June 28, 2016
Length: 21 minutes (5496 words)
Cost of Living: Escaping the Maze of Medical Debt
A suicide survivor, the five-figure medical debt that followed her out of the hospital, and her own experience in patient care and hospital billing. What costs are actually necessary?
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Source: VQR
Published: March 31, 2016
Length: 14 minutes (3623 words)
They Loved the Church. They Loved Each Other More.
In November 2015, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made a change to the Mormon Handbook that would force LBGTQ members to choose between their religion and their sexuality: Those in “same-gender marriages or similar relationships” were now considered apostates. O’Neil tells the story of Garett Smith and Kyle Cranney, a couple who ultimately chose their devotion to each other over their commitment to the church—and who plan to marry in October.
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Source: Esquire
Published: June 24, 2016
Length: 15 minutes (3939 words)
The Year of Numbered Rooms
"Station Eleven" author Emily St. John Mandel on an interminable book tour, starting a family, and coming to terms with an adopted country that has guns -- lots of guns. "That day there were two school shootings, in different states. That night I lay awake in Room 627 while the baby fluttered and kicked. Please be okay, I thought. I know I can’t save you from every danger but just come to us safely, my beloved, my daughter, and we’ll try to protect you in this terrifying country."
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Source: Humanities Magazine
Published: April 22, 2016
Length: 9 minutes (2411 words)
11,431 Rape Kits Were Collected and Forgotten in Detroit. This Is The Story of One of Them.
Clark weaves the story of Ardelia Ali’s 1995 rape—one of 11,431 Detroit cases in which the rape kit had been left untested—into a profile of Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy, who took on the testing of those kits and the prosecution of perpetrators as a personal mission. Worthy, both the first woman and first African American to hold her position, is a rape survivor herself. Her commitment to women brave enough to report what happened to them is rooted, in part, in her own regret for not going to the police after her own experience, leaving her rapist free possibly to attack other women.
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Source: Elle
Published: June 27, 2016
Length: 29 minutes (7297 words)
Bill on Bill
Legendary New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham died this weekend. In this 2002 article for the Times, Cunningham writes about how he got his career started.
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Source: New York Times
Published: Oct. 27, 2002
Length: 12 minutes (3200 words)
Celebrating Pride: The Work We Have To Do
You will read about the queer and trans people in the American prison system. You will learn about their relationships, their mistreatment and some of their needs. You will read about the exclusive language of sex education and healthcare, particularly menstruation. You'll read the stories of contemporary playwrights, musicians, political commentators and others as they reminisce about their first gay clubs. You'll see that queer communal spaces can be inefficacious, yet remain so, so important.
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Source: Longreads
Published: June 26, 2016
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Our favorite stories of the week, as chosen by the Longreads editorial team.
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Source: Longreads
Published: June 24, 2016