We’ve Reached ‘The End of Antibiotics, Period.’

An interview with Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, associate director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about entering a new era in which bacteria is resistant to antibiotics:

The more you use an antibiotic, the more you expose a bacteria to an antibiotic, the greater the likelihood that resistance to that antibiotic is going to develop. So the more antibiotics we put into people, we put into the environment, we put into livestock, the more opportunities we create for these bacteria to become resistant. …We also know that we’ve greatly overused antibiotics and in overusing these antibiotics, we have set ourselves up for the scenario that we find ourselves in now, where we’re running out of antibiotics.

Author: Editors
Source: Frontline
Published: Oct 26, 2013
Length: 36 minutes (9,234 words)

Your Contributions Will Keep Longreads Running. Here’s How to Help

For more than four years, Longreads has spotlighted outstanding work from the best publishers and writers in the world. Your contributions are critical for us to continue our work. Here are two ways to help:

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Thank you for your continued support!

Author: Editors
Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 12, 2013

The Best Civil Rights Stories

As the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington approaches next week (August 28), Longreads has teamed up with Al Jazeera America’s “America Tonight”to collect the best civil rights stories.

We want your help: Share your favorite stories below in the comments, and we’ll spotlight some of your picks next week. They can be historical texts, stories from the archives, or newer reporting and essays.

Author: Editors
Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 19, 2013

Video Pick: BBC Documentary on the Early Days of Queen and Freddie Mercury

Our video pick of the day, from 2011.

Author: Editors
Source: Longreads
Published: Jul 22, 2013

Video Pick: The Journey of Transgender Rocker Laura Jane Grace

If you’ve been following Longreads for a while, you may have seen this excellent Rolling Stone story from last year by Josh Eells, “The Secret Life of Transgender Rocker Tom Gabel”, about Against Me! singer Laura Jane Grace’s transition.

This MTV House of Style short reveals more about her life, and the small things she’s discovered with regard to clothing, makeup and style. And as Grace notes at the end of the clip, “A lot of tips I picked up were from other trans women on the Internet… When I was 14 years old if I was watching House of Style watching a transsexual being interviewed and talking about that, it would have completely changed my life. I would have felt saved.”

Author: Editors
Source: Longreads
Published: Jul 20, 2013

Video Pick: The Detroit Bus Company

A mini-documentary on one resident who took matters into his own hands after the city killed its light-rail plans. Plus: Detroit stories from the Longreads archive, from Mother Jones, GQ, Los Angeles Review of Books and Guernica.

Author: Editors
Source: Longreads
Published: Jul 18, 2013

Longreads Member Exclusive: The Faithful Executioner (Excerpt), by Joel F. Harrington

For this week’s Longreads Member Pick (sign up here to receive it), we’re excited to share an excerpt from The Faithful Executioner, a book by Joel F. Harrington, Professor of History at Vanderbilt University, published this year by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Author: Editors
Source: Longreads
Published: Jul 11, 2013

Your Support Is Critical. If You Like What We Do, Consider Becoming a Longreads Member

As a Longreads Member, you'll get full text and ebook versions of our latest recommended stories, plus you'll help pay writers and publishers, and support this service. The Longreads team is working on bringing new features to the site, working with writers to bring you more terrific stories, and we have more exciting new perks planned for members.

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Author: Editors
Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 28, 2013

College Longreads Pick of the Week: ‘When NCAA Schools Abandon Their Injured Athletes,’ by Meghan Walsh, UC Berkeley

Every week, Syracuse University professor Aileen Gallagher and Longreads highlight the best of college journalism. This week’s pick is “When NCAA Schools Abandon Their Injured Athletes,” by Meghan Walsh, who is a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Journalism School.

Author: Editors
Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 26, 2013
Length: 18 minutes (4,670 words)

Reading List: 18 Deep Interviews with Great Writers

Kevin Smokler is the author of Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books you Haven’t Touched Since High School, an essay collection on the year he spent rereading 50 canonical texts from high school English class as a 39-year-old adult:

“Out of everything shared in the #Longreads community, I particularly love the interviews. I even created my own hashtag (#deepinterviews) and you can find my most recent picks here.

“And when it comes to authors, a great interview can completely reframe a book that you’ve read a thousand times, or give you the onramp into an writer’s work you haven’t yet experienced. Here are five of my favorite sources and recent discoveries for outstanding author interviews.”

Author: Editors
Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 25, 2013