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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.