Search Results for: The Nation

How Christian Were the Founders?

Longreads Pick

Conservative activists on the Texas Board of Education say that the authors of the Constitution intended the United States to be a Christian nation. And they want America’s history textbooks to say so.

Published: Feb 11, 2010
Length: 33 minutes (8,405 words)

The Running Back, The Cheerleader And What Came After The Greatest College Football Game Ever

Longreads Pick

The magic carpet ride began for Boise State with the unbelievable finish to the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, but what became of the heroic prince and the beautiful princess who waltzed into a nation’s embrace that night? How did their fairy tale turn out?

Published: Dec 28, 2009
Length: 13 minutes (3,404 words)

Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy

Longreads Pick

Erik Prince, recently outed as a participant in a C.I.A. assassination program, has gained notoriety as head of the military-contracting juggernaut Blackwater, a company dogged by a grand-jury investigation, bribery accusations, and the voluntary-manslaughter trial of five ex-employees, set for next month. Lashing back at his critics, the wealthy former navy seal takes the author inside his operation in the U.S. and Afghanistan, revealing the role he’s been playing in America’s war on terror.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Jan 1, 2010
Length: 23 minutes (5,995 words)

Is There Such a Thing as Agro-Imperialism?

Longreads Pick

The American scientist was catching a glimpse of an emerging test of the world’s food resources, one that has begun to take shape over the last year, largely outside the bounds of international scrutiny. A variety of factors — some transitory, like the spike in food prices, and others intractable, like global population growth and water scarcity — have created a market for farmland, as rich but resource-deprived nations in the Middle East, Asia and elsewhere seek to outsource their food production to places where fields are cheap and abundant.

Published: Nov 16, 2009
Length: 17 minutes (4,485 words)

Did Christianity Cause the Crash?

Longreads Pick

America’s mainstream religious denominations used to teach the faithful that they would be rewarded in the afterlife. But over the past generation, a different strain of Christian faith has proliferated—one that promises to make believers rich in the here and now.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Dec 1, 2009
Length: 45 minutes (11,337 words)

Endless Summers

Longreads Pick

Throughout his dazzling but controversial career—top World Bank economist, Treasury secretary, Harvard University president, and now head of the White House National Economic Council—Larry Summers has been his own worst enemy.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Dec 1, 2009
Length: 32 minutes (8,239 words)

100 European Hotels Under $150

Longreads Pick

Over the last three years, thousands of readers have posted comments about their favorite hotels on the roughly 1,500 destination guides found on the Travel Web site. For this special issue, “Fall in Europe,” we used that database to research and then select 100 hotels that we feel represent some of the best bargains for travelers headed to one of 14 European cities in the next few months.

Published: Oct 11, 2009
Length: 9 minutes (2,334 words)

Dear President Bush,

Longreads Pick

Americans want, and need, to move on from the debate over torture in Iraq and Afghanistan and close this tragic chapter in our nation’s history. An open letter to President George W. Bush

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Oct 1, 2009
Length: 35 minutes (8,752 words)

LeBron’s Band of Brothers

Longreads Pick

In an excerpt from his new book, the NBA’s biggest star recalls the team that made him: five kids who challenged themselves, one another, and their community, going all the way to the bittersweet final game that would make them National Champions.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Sep 1, 2009
Length: 33 minutes (8,458 words)

The Dan Brown Code

Longreads Pick

Six years ago, Dan Brown was a failed songwriter and a middling author desperate for a big break. Well, he got it. His book The Da Vinci Code became the most popular novel ever, transforming the New England native into an international celebrity.

Source: Boston Magazine
Published: Mar 1, 2003
Length: 25 minutes (6,435 words)