Government jobs helped thousands of Black families move into the middle class. Now, increasing calls for government privatization are pushing them back out.
Current Events
Posted inCommentary, Current Events, Discussions, Podcasts
Editor’s Roundtable: Fans, ‘Grams and Installment Plans
Longreads editors discuss recent stories in Inc., The Cut, and The Baffler.
Posted inCrime, Current Events, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
How Thailand’s Rich Escape Prosecution
Thailand’s criminal justice system is plauged by an accepted double standard, where corruption prevails.
Posted inArts & Culture, Culture, Current Events, Essays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
McDreamy, McSteamy, and McConnell
Congressional fan fiction is real, it’s glorious, and it might be reshaping our political world.
Posted inNonfiction
Hot for Teacher
When a student in her writing workshop submits a piece suggesting his character could ‘take’ a teacher just like her ‘atop her desk,’ Courtney Zoffness is flooded with memories of men touching her against her will.
Posted inCommentary, Current Events, Discussions, Podcasts
Editor’s Roundtable: Better Than Working for a Symphony Orchestra (Podcast)
Longreads editors discuss stories in The Baffler, The New York Times Magazine, and the Kenyon Review.
Posted inNonfiction
How Google Discovered the Value of Surveillance
In 2002, still reeling from the dot-com crash, Google realized they’d been harvesting a very valuable raw material — your behavior.
Posted inArts & Culture, Culture, Current Events, Essays & Criticism, Feature, Media, Nonfiction, Story
When American Media Was (Briefly) Diverse
An economic downturn in 2008 shuttered numerous publications and further marginalized people of color in an already minimally integrated industry. But in the 90’s and early-aughts, multicultural publications flourished, providing an alternative model for journalism that bears remembering.
Posted inNonfiction
The Geography of Risk
Americans have built $3 trillion worth of property in some of the riskiest places on earth, so why do taxpayers have to pay for the hurricane damage to rich coastal communities?
Posted inCommentary, Current Events, Discussions, Podcasts
Editor’s Roundtable: Time Well Spent (Podcast)
Longreads editors discuss stories in Jezebel, Governing, and The New Yorker.