Below, our favorite stories of the week. Kindle users, you can also get them as a Readlist.
Sign up to receive this list free every Friday in your inbox.
* * *
1. The Rookie and the Zetas
Joe Tone | Dallas Observer | April 1, 2015 | 27 minutes (6,940 words)
How the Feds took down a drug cartel’s horse-racing empire.
2. Unfreed
Robert Kolker | The Marshall Project | April 7, 2015 | 22 minutes (5,603 words)
A clerical error freed a man from prison 88 years early—and then sent him back five years and eight months later after he found a stable job and started a family. This story was co-produced by Matter.
3. The Great Cocaine Treasure Hunt
Daniel Riley | GQ | March 31, 2015 | 28 minutes (7,206 words)
A man finds a million dollars’ worth of cocaine washed up on a beach and buries it. A group goes in search of it years later.
4. The Assistant Economy
Francesca Mari | Dissent | April 7, 2015 | 17 minutes (4,432 words)
The low-paid labor that keeps our most accomplished artists and leaders running on time.
5. When in Roma
Peter Simek | SB Nation | April 8, 2015 | 33 minutes (8,400 words)
Two American owners are discovering the frightening passion that rules Italian soccer.
Get the Longreads Weekly Email