Author Archives
Behind the Longreads: Dan Zak on the Nun and the Nukes

We asked Washington Post reporter Dan Zak how he stumbled upon “The Prophets of Oak Ridge.” Here’s his account:
“This story happened because a generous colleague, Dana Priest, pitched it downstairs to my area of the newsroom. She had finished a series on the country’s aging nuclear arsenal and a shorter news story on security lapses at the site in question, and she thought this nun might make a good feature story. So I started to report it out, because how could I not? A nun? Nukes? Sign me up.
“In October I had lunch with Sister Megan in Rosemont, Pa., where she was convalescing after wrist surgery, and I was kind of spun around by the precise way she lives: With utter intent and compassion. What had been billed as a kind of Keystone Cops episode (old folks bumbling into a nuclear facility) took on this new, almost primal logic in my mind after talking with her. After reading the transcript of a confounding congressional hearing on the break-in and having long phone chats with the activists’ lawyer about the legal knots of the case, I started envisioning a broader, longer piece that would attempt to wrap its arms around the past, present and future of the country’s nuclear identity—and all the legal, bureaucratic and theological complications therein.
“By the end of January, when I called the security guard who was first to respond to their intrusion, I knew that the story was riddled with paradox but felt like a classic, simple parable. The trick was to narrate the parable without sacrificing the nuance or paradox that governs the real world. I’m not sure I was successful, but I thought it was worth a shot.”
(Photo by Jonathan Newton/Washington Post)
→
“Schizophrenic. Killer. My Cousin.” Mac McClelland, Mother Jones
→
Happy 10th Birthday, The Believer!

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, The Believer has just published a handful of classic stories for the first time on the web, and they were nice enough to share them with the Longreads community. Enjoy:
Eddie Vedder Interviewed by Carrie Brownstein (June 2004)
“Crimes Against the Reader” (Rick Moody, April 2005)
“Transmissions from Camp Trans” (Michelle Tea, November 2003)
“Welcome to the Almost Cult-Like Fan-World of American Women’s Pro Basketball” (Stephen Burt, May 2005)
Zadie Smith Talks with Ian McEwan (August 2005)
Longreads Guest Pick: Meaghan O'Connell on Ted Thompson and the Making of a Novel

Meaghan O’Connell is the editor-in-chief of meaghano.com:
“I regard novel-writing with a heady combination of awe and dread, so when debut novelist Ted Thompson wrote about his book’s eight (eight!) year journey to completion last week, I opened it in a tab and walked away from my desk immediately. ‘The Evolution of a First Novel’ is as fascinating as it is generous, and takes us along as his book about a retired Connecticut divorcee went from plausible deniability, to short story, to MFA application, to self-doubt, despair, long dog walks, and longer grant applications. The story ends as all real stories should, with an air of peaceful resignation and a book deal. The people mentioned (Thompson most of all, I suppose) seem to be from a bygone literary era, but aren’t—or so we’ll keep hoping. I took from it what is either a reminder, a threat, or a revelation, depending: that people will forgive you when you get in your own way, and make way for you when you get out of it.”
***
What are you reading (and loving)? Tell us.
Our Longreads Member Pick: Watch Dog, by Kerri Anne Renzulli & Narratively

This week, we’re excited to share a Member Pick from Narratively, the New York-based (and Kickstarter-backed) storytelling site that launched last fall and has been featured on Longreads in the past.
“Watch Dog,” by Kerri Anne Renzulli, will be published in a two weeks, and they were kind enough to make the story available early to Longreads Members. Renzulli, a journalist and Columbia grad student, investigates the difficult task of training guide dogs for New York City—and helping develop relationships between the dogs and their future owners.
Support Longreads—and get more stories like this—by becoming a member for just $3 per month.
Illustration by Laura McCabe
Celebrating Four Years of Longreads

Longreads just celebrated its fourth birthday, and it’s been a thrill to watch this community grow since we introduced this service and Twitter hashtag in 2009. Thank you to everyone who participates, whether it’s as a reader, a publisher, a writer—or all three. And thanks to the Longreads Members who have made it possible for us to keep going.
To celebrate four years, here’s a rundown of some of our most frequent #longreads contributors, and some of their recent recommendations:
#1 – @matthiasrascher
The Master of Nasty – A homage to Raymond Chandler. j.mp/12wOiOZ #literature #longreads
— Matthias Rascher (@matthiasrascher)
#2 – @hriefs
“A House on the River.” @esquiremag #longreads on how Bill Petit put his life back together after losing his family bit.ly/ZhAM1U
— Howard Riefs (@hriefs)
#3 – @roamin
In John They Trust / Smithsonian Magazine ow.ly/khqNh #longreads #cargocults
— roamin (@roamin)
#4 – @jalees_rehman
Now, Without Any Further Ado, We Present … The Digital Public Library of America! #longreads @dpla fb.me/23mV5kHft
— Jalees Rehman (@jalees_rehman)
#5 – @LAReviewofBooks
“Jonathan Rosenbaum is one of our keenest observers of contemporary ‘film culture.’” | Goodbye, Cinema: owl.li/kap1b #longreads
— LA Review of Books (@LAReviewofBooks)
#6 – @TheAtlantic
‘Going to the woods is going home’: John Muir on his beloved Yosemite Valley theatln.tc/11eVFYo #EarthDay #longreads
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic)
#7 – @nxthompson
Dick Cheney and the bureaucracy vs a satellite and climate science. @popsci #longreads popsci.com/technology/art…
— Nicholas Thompson (@nxthompson)
#8 – @faraway67
On the Brink of Extinction: A Closer Look at Endangered Species bit.ly/10HzpHP #extinction #environment #longreads
— Barbara Mack (@faraway67)
#9 – @PocketHits
“The Tyranny of the Taxi Medallions.” @priceonomics bit.ly/120veIK #MostSaved #longreads
— PocketHits (@PocketHits)
#10 – @legalnomads
Your Sunday reading, all in one place: top 5 #longreads of the week: bit.ly/13IAxzt
— Jodi Ettenberg (@legalnomads)
#11 – @brainpicker
Wow. Mapping marine ecologist Bob Paine’s academic family tree j.mp/XeBMxt From @edyong209‘s ace #longreads j.mp/XeBNS9
— Maria Popova (@brainpicker)
#12 – @LineHolm1
Pulitzer winner 2013, feature writing is @nytimes‘ “Snow Fall” – recommended #longreads pulitzer.org/works/2013-Fea…
— Line Holm Nielsen (@LineHolm1)
#13 – @Guardian
.@guardiang2: Norwegian prison where inmates are treated like people gu.com/p/3e298/tw #longreads
— The Guardian (@guardian)
#14 – @stonedchimera
When an American learnt by spending a summer at an Indian Call Center bit.ly/QDnA1m . Essential reading from Mother Jones. #Longreads
— Sairam Krishnan (@stonedchimera)
#15 – @MosesHawk
An anthropologist joins the ranks of the under appreciated sanitation workers of New York City. bit.ly/15Cupsp #longreads
— Moses Hawk (@MosesHawk)
#16 – @James_daSilva
Unearthing the Complete and Total Disaster That Was ‘The Chevy Chase Show’ | Splitsider splitsider.com/2013/04/uneart… #longreads
— James daSilva (@James_daSilva)
#17 – @chrbutler
Inspiring WIRED profile of Primer director Shane Carruth: bit.ly/ZbkgdJ #longreads
— Christopher Butler (@chrbutler)
#18 – @eugenephoto
Enjoying this: how to spend 47 hours on a train and not go crazy. nytimes.com/2013/03/03/mag… #travelreads #longreads
— Eugene (@eugenephoto)
#19 – @jaredbkeller
All is not well at the @todayshow nym.ag/ZNIUoh #longreads tip @mediagazer
— Jared Keller (@jaredbkeller)
#20 – @morgank
True Crime: How a Mysterious Beaumont, Texas, Murder Was Solved | Vanity Fair vnty.fr/ZI48bb #longreads
— Potato Crypts (@morgank)
#21 – @dougcoulson
Curses! Archduke Franz Ferdinand and His Astounding Death Car | Past Imperfect blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2013/0… via @smithsonianmag #longreads
— Doug Coulson (@dougcoulson)
#22 – @LaForgeNYT
Grizzly Bear Members Are Indie-Rock Royalty, But What Does That Buy Them in 2012? | New York Magazi… lgrd.co/OzjhpQ #longreads
— Follow @Palafo (@LaForgeNYT)
#23 – @stephen_abbott
Let’s Get Physical: The Psychology of Effective Workout Music by @ferrisjabr scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id… via @aeonmag cc @biobeatslive #longreads
— Stephen Abbott (@stephen_abbott)
#24 – @venkatananth
<opInside Ajmal Amir Kasab’s mind. “What turned a village boy to a cold-blooded killer” #longreads by @barneyhenderson – telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews…
— Venkat Ananth (@venkatananth)
#25 – @weegee
#deepinterviews called “liberating the essay.” Really called “Written for Kevin” bit.ly/ZyQsbn #longreads (cc: @kimthedork)
— Kevin Smokler (@Weegee)
→
“Paying for Finn: A Special-Needs Child.” Jeff Howe, Money Magazine.
Behind the Longreads: Antonia Crane on 'Yellow,' Our Latest Member Pick

(photo by teejayfaust, Flickr)
This week’s Member Pick is “Yellow,” a story by Antonia Crane about the days following the death of her mother. The piece will be featured in Black Clock #17 this summer and is adapted from her forthcoming book Spent. We asked her to tell us how the story first came together:
“‘Yellow’ actually began as a love letter to Cheryl Strayed’s essay ‘The Love of My Life’ (The Sun, Issue #430) which begins ‘The first time I cheated on my husband, my mother had been dead for exactly one week.’ I had become fixated on that essay because in it, Strayed’s palpable sorrow contained a sexually reckless rhythm that I related to as a dancer and sex worker. My own mother died of cancer two months into grad school and I was raging with grief. At that time, I quit my half-assed personal assistant jobs and chose to sit in the dark for two years at ‘Pleasures.’
“A lifelong dancer and athlete, I was more comfortable hurling my body at the world than eating or buying toothpaste. I remember that I could go strip or meet a client for money, but I could not remember to pick up toothpaste no matter how many times I wrote in on my hand with a black Sharpie. I came home one afternoon to a Walgreens bag on my doorknob with Crest in it and bawled.
“Strayed’s essay modeled the utensils I sought to stir up my own concoction of rage and loss that was tearing at my skin. I’m grateful she allowed me to cook in her kitchen. I was mourning my mother. I was dancing; and I wrote like a motherfucker.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.