Search Results for: The Nation

The Answer Is No

Longreads Pick

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is no longer just a popular governor; he has become a national Republican star. His focus on fiscal issues and his reluctance to wade into the culture wars—during his gubernatorial campaign, he declined Sarah Palin’s offer to stump for him—have endeared him to members of the GOP’s sane wing. “The breakthrough he’s scoring in New Jersey is hugely promising,” says David Frum, a conservative writer who fears that the Republican Party is being swallowed by the tea party.

Published: Nov 22, 2010
Length: 20 minutes (5,135 words)

The Fresh Air Interview: Jay-Z

Longreads Pick

GROSS: You know how a lot of hip-hop artists, when they’re on stage they kind of like grab their crotch?

JAY-Z: Yeah. I have a great explanation for that. … When you get up there [on stage] you feel naked, right? So when you feel naked what’s the first thing you do? You cover yourself. So that bravado is an act of I am so nervous right now and I’m scared to death. I’m going to act so tough that I’m going to hide it. And I have to grab, you know, my crotch. That’s just what happens.

Source: NPR
Published: Nov 16, 2010
Length: 35 minutes (8,891 words)

‘God Help You. You’re on Dialysis.’

Longreads Pick

A change to the Social Security Act granted comprehensive coverage under Medicare to virtually anyone diagnosed with kidney failure, regardless of age or income. Taxpayers now spend more than $20 billion a year to care for those on dialysis — about $77,000 per patient, more, by some accounts, than any other nation. Yet the United States continues to have one of the industrialized world’s highest mortality rates for dialysis care. Even taking into account differences in patient characteristics, studies suggest that if our system performed as well as Italy’s, or France’s, or Japan’s, thousands fewer patients would die each year.

Source: ProPublica
Published: Nov 9, 2010
Length: 22 minutes (5,603 words)

Everyone Hates Ticketmaster — But No One Can Take It Down

Longreads Pick

Ticketmaster didn’t come to rule an industry by suffering interlopers. Over the past 30 years, the company has killed or eaten nearly every competitor: Ticketron, TicketWeb, TicketsNow, Paciolan, and Musictoday. And a potent combination of top artists, venues, and long-term ticketing deals makes Ticketmaster one Goliath well positioned to crush a whole army of Davids.

Source: Wired
Published: Nov 1, 2010
Length: 8 minutes (2,204 words)

The D.I.Y. Foreign-Aid Revolution

Longreads Pick

It’s not only presidents and United Nations officials who chip away at global challenges. Passionate individuals with great ideas can do the same, especially in the age of the Internet and social media.

Published: Oct 20, 2010
Length: 19 minutes (4,756 words)

Balance

Longreads Pick

Five men, one room, and a national crisis. The Esquire Commission to Balance the Federal Budget — Bob Packwood, John Danforth, Bill Bradley, Gary Hart and Lawrence O’Donnell — will now report its findings.

Source: Esquire
Published: Oct 13, 2010
Length: 18 minutes (4,644 words)

Later

Longreads Pick

What does procrastination tell us about ourselves?

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Oct 11, 2010
Length: 14 minutes (3,574 words)

The Murderers of Mexico

Longreads Pick

How to write about Mexico’s drug war? There are only a limited number of ways that readers can be reminded of the desperate acts of human sacrifice that go on every day in this country, or of the by now calamitous statistics: the nearly 28,000 people who have been killed in drug-related battles or assassinations since President Felipe Calderón took power almost four years ago, the thousands of kidnappings, the wanton acts of rape and torture, the growing number of orphaned children.

Published: Oct 28, 2010
Length: 18 minutes (4,689 words)

Das Racist: ‘We’re Not Racist, We Love White People: Ford Trucks, Apple Pies, Bald Eagles’

Longreads Pick

last week Das Racist’s new mixtape got a glowing review and a score of 8.7 out of 10 on pitchfork, and a coveted Best New Music designation, and then the next day i was in central park seeing Pavement and when Pavement was finished playing, i texted Himanshu, one of the rappers in Das Racist, to see if i could ask him some questions.

Source: The Awl
Published: Sep 28, 2010
Length: 22 minutes (5,721 words)

The Unconsoled

Longreads Pick

A writer’s tragedy, and a nation’s. Profile of David Grossman

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Sep 27, 2010
Length: 41 minutes (10,302 words)