The Battle for the #SoulofOakland

How the brutal beating of a poor black man at an Oakland Whole Foods became a symbol of the city’s gentrification struggle.

Source: BuzzFeed
Published: Oct 17, 2015
Length: 22 minutes (5,633 words)

Out of Darkness

How two psychologists who had previously devoted their careers to training US troops to resist abusive interrogation tactics teamed up with the CIA to devise a torture program and experiment on human beings.

Author: Noa Yachot
Source: ACLU
Published: Oct 16, 2015
Length: 22 minutes (5,633 words)

The Lonely Death of George Bell

Nearly 50,000 people die alone in New York each year. A majority of them have friends and relatives who learn about their passing and make funeral arrangements, but a small number don’t have anyone in their lives to mourn the end of their lives. George Bell was among this tiny group.

Published: Oct 17, 2015
Length: 34 minutes (8,712 words)

Get to Know the National Book Award Finalists for Nonfiction

Several of this year’s nominees have been featured on Longreads before (see: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Adam Johnson, Noelle Stevenson), and this reading list features the five nonfiction nominees. The winner will be announced on November 18, 2015.

Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 18, 2015

The Big Comeback of Benjamin Hochman

A narrative-driven, very human profile of a St. Louis sports columnist.

Published: Oct 16, 2015
Length: 27 minutes (6,863 words)

How Doctors Take Women’s Pain Less Seriously

A trip to the ER reveals the sexism inherent in emergency treatment.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Oct 15, 2015
Length: 10 minutes (2,553 words)

How the Bronx Came Back (But Didn’t Bring Everyone Along)

The borough that once symbolized urban decline is now safer than ever, and perhaps even gentrifying—but most Bronxites’ lives are still precarious and mired in poverty.

Published: Oct 15, 2015
Length: 18 minutes (4,661 words)

Manhunting in the Hindu Kush

The Intercept examines secret documents on drone strikes. “During a five-month stretch of the campaign, nearly nine out of 10 people who died in airstrikes were not the Americans’ direct targets. By February 2013, Haymaker airstrikes had resulted in no more than 35 ‘jackpots,’ a term used to signal the neutralization of a specific targeted individual, while more than 200 people were declared EKIA — ‘enemy killed in action.'”

Source: The Intercept
Published: Oct 15, 2015
Length: 20 minutes (5,230 words)

The Confessions of @dick_nixon

An essay about a father-son relationship, character, and how a Yale-trained playwright came to impersonate Richard Nixon on Twitter.

Source: Vox
Published: Oct 8, 2015
Length: 12 minutes (3,140 words)

Hot Startup Theranos Has Struggled With Its Blood-Test Technology

The Silicon Valley company, led by Elizabeth Holmes, is valued at $9 billion but is running into questions about its technology.

Published: Oct 15, 2015
Length: 11 minutes (2,790 words)