Dear Leader Dreams of Sushi

Novelist Adam Johnson meets Kenji Fujimoto, a man who became the Dear Leader’s cook, confidant, and court jester:

“Many people envied me because I was a favorite of Kim Jong-il. At the parties, I poured sake for Shogun-sama, but Shogun-sama also poured sake for me, which was very rare. Every time Shogun-sama said to me, Do you like me? I answered, Of course, I like you so much. I was thinking about making a joke—I don’t like you, I despise you. I wanted to say that as a joke, but I had no courage. Shogun-sama said, If you like me, why don’t you kiss me on the cheek? I don’t remember how many times I kissed him. A hundred times? A hundred kisses. We would go to the sauna together, naked. Shogun-sama said, Oh, you have a good body, a masculine body. I said, I’m good at sports. It’s not too much to say I was a good playmate for Kim Jong-il. And every time he asked me to kiss his face, he always said to me, If you betray me, you will… Then he would go silent and make a gesture of a knife going into my stomach.”

Source: GQ
Published: Jun 3, 2013
Length: 33 minutes (8,252 words)

Shot Down

On Sept. 22, 1987 an American pilot named Tim Dorsey shot down a U.S. plane during a flying exercise. The incident could have ended his career, but it didn’t:

“Dorsey offered compelling evidence that something was changing in the Navy. Every time he was up for promotion, a selection board reviewed his performance and the record of the shootdown. They’re required to consider any ‘adverse information’ in their decision. There’s actually a mark in a personnel record, called a Field-Code 17, that signals to members of a selection board that there’s a black mark in the officer’s past. That code stays in the officer’s file. In Dorsey’s, it pointed to hundreds of pages of testimony about the shootdown, flight records, even an invoice that itemizes millions of dollars in damage he caused to US government property.

“During every promotion review, the shadow of the shootdown hung over Dorsey. But it never overtook him.”

Source: Washingtonian
Published: Jun 3, 2013
Length: 34 minutes (8,614 words)

Hollywood Coming To Dixon? Executive’s Financial Troubles Raise Questions

A 10-week investigation into Carissa Carpenter, a self-described entertainment executive who has proposed building a $2.8 billion movie studio in a small farming town in Northern California:

“So who is Carissa Carpenter?

“Those who have encountered the California native – in City Council chambers and in the courts – have widely divergent views, with descriptions ranging from visionary to fanciful dreamer to fraud.

“This much is clear: Carpenter’s quest to raise millions for a movie studio in Dixon is the sixth time in 16 years that she has embarked on a similar fundraising mission in Northern California, with an additional pitch in South Carolina.

“Former investors and past business associates describe a distinctive pattern: lots of initial hype, promises of a big money stream from unnamed investors, enthusiasm among local officials – then missed deadlines, delays and, ultimately, failure.”

Published: Jun 2, 2013
Length: 19 minutes (4,873 words)

Brotherly Love

[Fiction] Two brothers begin to drift apart in India during the late ’60s after one decides to study in the U.S. and the other becomes a Naxalite:

“Richard asked Subhash about India, about its caste system, its poverty. Who was to blame?

“I don’t know. These days everyone just blames everyone else.

“But is there a solution? Where does the government stand?

“Subhash didn’t know how to describe India’s fractious politics, its complicated society, to an American. He said it was an ancient place that was also young, still struggling to know itself. You should be talking to my brother, he said.”

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Jun 3, 2013
Length: 56 minutes (14,192 words)

Reading List: Double Consciousness and Religion

Picks from Emily Perper, a freelance editor and reporter currently completing a service year in Baltimore with the Episcopal Service Corps.

Share your favorite stories in the comments.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 2, 2013

Welcome to Mogadishu

There are glimmers of peace found in Somalia’s capital—in a country that hasn’t had a functioning government for 22 years:

“One brightly painted brick at a time, the shelled-out city is coming back to life. Along Mogadishu’s tree-lined drags, shopfronts form a tableau of hope. Outsized poster-paint impressions of burgers, fizzy drink bottles and doughnuts daub walls where bullets once made their mark. Renderings of hairdryers, laptops and pressure pumps advertise the high-tech wares inside. Walls and gates are painted the same bright powder-blue base which matches the sea, the sky and the national flag.

But the revival goes beyond shopkeeping. Scaffolding shapes the skyline, livestock and fish markets are back in action and women plunge into the sea from stunning white sands. Surrounded by the crescent of ruins that cradles the old fishing port, I speak to a young fisherman as he smears the hazel sludge of sea lion liver oil over upturned boats. He says he hopes Somalia’s latest government, formed in 2012 in the most legitimate process in years, will last.”

Source: Financial Times
Published: May 31, 2013
Length: 16 minutes (4,138 words)

Whoomp! (There It Was)

Twenty years ago, Steve Rolln and DC the Brain Supreme released their hit “Whoomp! (There It Is)”. The story behind the one-hit wonder:

“When he learned about the chant, Whoomp! There it is­, in the summer of 1992, he pitched the idea for a bass-heavy party song to Steve. Both men were now 26 and seriously considering their futures in the music business. They didn’t have a full album or a deal with a record label, and no one was paying attention to the one-off songs they were releasing in the club. With ‘Whoomp!’ though, DC thought they had something—even if he hadn’t written lyrics yet. Make a few beats, DC told Steve. Do the bass your way.

“At the recording studio in his house, Steve put together five beats and brought DC over to listen. They were good, DC said. But one stood out. Steve had sampled a 1980 dance track, ‘I’m Ready,’ by an Italian group named Kano. He’d heard the song years earlier and especially liked the synthesized, funked-out intro. To the Kano sample, he overlaid the bass—a sort of BOOOOOM-booooooooom rumble—and then the cymbals.”

Source: 5280 Magazine
Published: May 31, 2013
Length: 19 minutes (4,839 words)

Allegation Ends Coach’s Career

Former Minnesota State-Mankato head football coach Todd Hoffner’s career ended after being accused of producing and possessing child pornography. He’s fighting to get his reputation back:

“Hoffner and his lawyer held a news conference to address the judge’s decision. He wore a purple tie, the university color, and read a prepared statement about waking from a nightmare. But as he looked around the room, he was thinking more about all the things he might never get back:

“His team, which had gone 13–1 without him, earning Keen an award as regional coach of the year.

“His reputation, because a Google search for his name brought up images of him in an orange jumpsuit.

“His job, because the university said he was still under internal investigation and showed no signs of returning him to coaching.”

Author: Eli Saslow
Source: ESPN
Published: May 25, 2013
Length: 16 minutes (4,065 words)

Letter To A Young Programmer Considering A Startup

Words of caution from the former CTO of Twitter. The startup life isn’t rebellious—it’s the new corporate ladder:

“The machine doesn’t care about you. In fact, the machine is designed with the understanding that most startups will fail, or at most offer unremarkable returns to investors. The majority of the companies in many VC portfolios are acknowledged duds. One or two ’10x’ companies prop up most portfolios. At best, startup founders who fail get another pull of the slot machine. At worst, their failures drive them to desperation.”

Author: Alex Payne
Source: al3x.net
Published: May 30, 2013
Length: 8 minutes (2,209 words)

Reading List: 6 Stories for the Fantasy Newbie

Hilary Armstrong is a literature student at U.C. Santa Barbara and a Longreads intern. She recently shared six stories for the science-fiction newbie, so next up, she’s tackling fantasy.

Source: Longreads
Published: May 30, 2013
Length: 1 minutes (442 words)