Longreads Best of 2014: Crime Reporting

We asked a few writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in specific categories. Here, the best in crime reporting.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 17, 2014

The Cost

“I dreaded the day my godson would run up against a white person’s prejudice.” Rilla Askew on race in America and a family’s nightmare.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 16, 2014
Length: 20 minutes (5,065 words)

Longreads Best of 2014: Sports Writing

We asked a few writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in specific categories. Here, the best in sports writing.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 16, 2014

Five Stories About Addiction

Stories of drug addiction take many form; every story is different and intensely personal. This week, read an excerpt from a journalist’s memoir, a profile of a lead singer, a mother’s reflection and more.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 14, 2014

Longreads Best of 2014: Our 10 Most Popular Exclusives of the Year

This year, Longreads worked with a group of outstanding writers and publishers to produce original stories and exclusives that hadn’t been previously published online. It was all funded with support from our Longreads Members.

Author: Editors
Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 11, 2014

California’s Water Crisis: A Reading List

Here are five perspectives on California’s water war, from one journalist’s report from the farms of the Central Valley to an ever-resonant essay on water by Joan Didion, written 35 years ago.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 11, 2014

The Gothic Life and Times of Horace Walpole

Two-hundred and fifty years ago, Horace Walpole published ‘The Castle of Otranto,’ a strange, campy book that’s widely considered to be the first Gothic novel. In real life, his family was beset by tragedy and his life’s obsession was a Gothic castle called Strawberry Hill.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 10, 2014
Length: 16 minutes (4,064 words)

Pack Your Bags! Five Stories About Why and Where We Move

“Moving is on my mind, so here are five essays about relocating, repacking, and rearranging.”

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 7, 2014

Leaving Fraternity Culture Behind: Our College Pick

In an essay he wrote about leaving his fraternity, Wesleyan University senior Scott Ellman considered his school’s sexualized culture and his own discomfort within it.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 5, 2014

When Mary Martin Was the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up

In the 1950s, a musical adaptation of J. M. Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’ starring Mary Martin became a sensation, attracting the fourth biggest audience of all time for a scripted TV show when a live production was broadcast on NBC.

Author: Ben Yagoda
Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 2, 2014
Length: 12 minutes (3,094 words)