Why Do We Judge Virgins?

Rachel Hills on her new book, The Sex Myth, which explores our cultural obsession with sex and our disdain for prudishness, vanilla tastes, and virginity.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 11, 2015
Length: 14 minutes (3,532 words)

A Mob Lawyer’s Vow

In his 54 years on the job, criminal defense lawyer Allan Ackerman has made a career of inventive defenses for mob bosses and hitmen. But with this client, the defense is different: Ackerman truly believes Matthew Sopron is innocent, and has vowed to represent him pro bono until the day Sopron is free.

Author: Roy Strom
Source: Chicago Lawyer
Published: Aug 11, 2015
Length: 18 minutes (4,534 words)

Shirley Jackson and Me

Benjamin Dreyer on what happens when you get the chance to copy-edit your all-time favorite author.

Source: The Toast
Published: Aug 11, 2015
Length: 11 minutes (2,919 words)

The Art of Humorous Nonfiction: A Beer in Brooklyn with the King of the A-Heds

Former Wall Street Journal reporter Barry Newman reflects on 43 years of feature stories that explore the eccentric humanity of our world.

Author: Mary Pilon
Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 10, 2015
Length: 10 minutes (2,724 words)

When A Newborn’s Sex Is In Question, Why Do Doctors Get To Decide?

Azeen Ghorayshi looks at what happens when babies are born intersex—with ambiguous genitalia—and whether surgeons should get to decide what sex a child should be raised.

Source: BuzzFeed
Published: Aug 5, 2015
Length: 20 minutes (5,241 words)

The Kansas Experiment

Suellentrop, a nephew of Kansas Rep. Gene Suellentrop, looks at how Republicans struggled to balance the state budget while trying to wean itself off of income tax revenue.

Published: Aug 5, 2015
Length: 26 minutes (6,687 words)

Whale Tales: A Reading List

These four stories demonstrate humans’ multi-faceted relationship with whales—where politics, the environment and the economy intermingle with love, terror and cruelty.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 9, 2015

What Kind of Person Would Vote For Donald Trump? These People.

Drew Magary goes inside Donald Trump’s surging GOP campaign to try and figure out just who exactly who would vote for the guy.

Source: GQ
Published: Aug 3, 2015
Length: 17 minutes (4,300 words)

Reddit: A Nine-Year Case Study in Absentee Management

In 2006, Condé Nast bought a promising information-sharing and online-discussion startup called Reddit. Then they more or less ignored the site, letting it evolve into one of the least manageable media properties on the Internet.

Published: Aug 6, 2015
Length: 13 minutes (3,327 words)

Streit’s Exodus

After ninety years on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, can the last family-owned American matzo factory reinvent itself upstate?

Source: Village Voice
Published: Aug 4, 2015
Length: 20 minutes (5,161 words)