Everything to Live For

Sean Bryant was a star student, charming, and fun to be around. Then one night he killed himself.

Source: Washingtonian
Published: Jun 1, 1998
Length: 35 minutes (8,995 words)

How to Spell the Rebel Yell: Tracing a Sound from Civil War History

Our latest Longreads Exclusive is a deep dive into the sounds of history, from Elena Passarello and The Normal School. The essay also is featured in Passarello’s book, Let Me Clear My Throat.

Published: Sep 13, 2014
Length: 13 minutes (3,470 words)

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me A Spreadsheet

How Christian Rudder, the 39-year-old president and co-founder of the online dating site OKCupid, found himself at the intersection of dating and Big Data.

Published: Sep 9, 2014
Length: 14 minutes (3,633 words)

Crowdsourcing The Facts

There is a constant stream of data, images and videos coming in from conflict regions across the globe—in our ever-connected world anyone with an internet connection can be a war reporter. And there is power in numbers.

Source: New Statesman
Published: Sep 11, 2014
Length: 16 minutes (4,171 words)

Hollywood’s Vaccine Wars

Vaccination rates have plummeted at Los Angeles’s most prestigious schools. The numbers are staggering—some schools’ immunization rates are on par with South Sudan—but what does this mean for public health in the city at large?

Author: Gary Baum
Published: Sep 10, 2014
Length: 18 minutes (4,640 words)

An Investigation Into the Reappearance of Walter Benjamin

The influential German literary critic, who died in 1940 at the age of 48, makes a reappearance in the form of a person who has replicated his identity.

Source: Hazlitt
Published: Sep 11, 2014
Length: 20 minutes (5,015 words)

Life Atop Ground Zero

“This is what it means to never forget.” #Sept11

Source: Medium
Published: Sep 11, 2014
Length: 14 minutes (3,626 words)

Dancers and Diplomats

Rachel Marcy on the New York City Ballet’s trip to Moscow in October 1962.

Source: The Appendix
Published: Sep 9, 2014
Length: 22 minutes (5,708 words)

Ending College Sexual Assault

College campuses are still having a difficult time addressing sexual assault allegations. Can a national movement of activists and a recent campaign by President Obama make things better?

Published: Sep 9, 2014
Length: 32 minutes (8,040 words)

The Afghan Girls Who Live as Boys

In Afghanistan, where sons are highly prized, some families dress their prepubescent daughters to look like boys. These children are colloquially known as “bacha posh.”

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Sep 8, 2014
Length: 12 minutes (3,209 words)