Fifty years ago, the Freedom of Information Act gave the public access to government secrets — all you had to do was ask. How a simple request became a bureaucratic nightmare.
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Posted inCurrent Events, Nonfiction, Standout
David Brown’s Quiet Resilience
The former Dallas police chief is familiar with loss: Violence took his son, younger brother, and former partner. His response to the killing of five officers last July was inspiring. He’s not done giving back.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Science & Nature
Learning About Memory from a Woman Who Lost Hers
Lonni Sue Johnson was a successful illustrator, when the herpes simplex virus attacked her brain; she lost almost her entire lifetime of knowledge, along with the ability to form new memories. Michael Lemonick describes how she’s invaluable to neuroscientists working to understand how we make and store memories.
Posted inArts & Culture, Story
The Tears of Denis Johnson
The writer showed his students and friends how to remain an artist, even when one becomes a kind of cult figure.
Posted inArts & Culture, Current Events, Uncategorized
These Are the Locals Who Get The Story of Charlottesville Right
The historians, activists, reporters, and columnists who tell the complicated and ever-changing story of their own community.
Posted inBusiness & Tech, History, Nonfiction, Story
My Journey to the Heart of the FOIA Request
Fifty years ago, the Freedom of Information Act gave the public access to government secrets — all you had to do was ask. How a simple request became a bureaucratic nightmare.
Posted inCurrent Events, Nonfiction, Standout, Story
David Brown’s Quiet Resilience
The former Dallas police chief is familiar with loss: Violence took his son, younger brother, and former partner. His response to the killing of five officers last July was inspiring. He’s not done giving back.
Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2017: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks
Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
Posted inEditor's Pick, Essays & Criticism, Nonfiction
Judging Books By Their Covers
Jason Diamond analyzes his obsession with Vintage Contemporaries paperbacks from the 80s.
Posted inNonfiction
The Icy Elegance of Arthur Ashe … And the Passion of Muhammad Ali
The sportsmen’s lives read as a conversation on what it means to be American.
