Every Portis fan has a different favorite passage from his novels, but they agree on one thing: no one wrote like Portis.
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Posted inEditor's Pick
What It’s Like to Grow Up With More Money Than You’ll Ever Spend
An interview with filmmaker, activist and heiress Abigail Disney, in which she speaks very frankly about how inheriting a fortune can compromise one’s moral compass and corrupt the soul.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Queens of Infamy: Josephine Bonaparte, from Malmaison to More-Than-Monarch
“When they got home, Josephine refused to move her beloved dog Fortuné off the bed to make room for Napoleon. When his mistress’ new husband tried to push him aside, the pug bit him. Sometimes dogs just know.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The IRS Tried to Take on the Ultrawealthy. It Didn’t Go Well.
In 2009 the IRS created a special team to investigate when and how the extremely wealthy were avoiding taxes. Reporters Jesse Eisenger and Paul Kiel illustrate how that team was stymied using the case of the heir to a German automative parts fortune.
Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2020: Investigative Reporting
Our top picks for investigative journalism this year.
Posted inCulture, Story, Unapologetic Women
The No. 1 Ladies’ Defrauding Agency
What a 19th-century scammer can teach us about women, lying, and economic boom-and-bust cycles
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Ian Frisch, Niela Orr, Alison Fensterstock, Jill Lepore, and Austin Carr.
Posted inNonfiction
Fire/Flood: A Southern California Pastoral
In and around Los Angeles, natural and man-made disasters have been inextricable for almost two centuries.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story
The Making of a Black Fortune
America’s first black millionaires were born into slavery — and built wealth alongside political power.
Posted inFeature
Under the Knife
Margot Harris grapples with guilt following a labiaplasty procedure.
