Opium Wars: Can Afghan Farmers Really Stop Growing Poppies? “We have two forms of money here: poppy, and American dollars,” says a beardless 33-year-old Helmand farmer named Rehmatou as he leaves the Marine base with his fertilizer. “This is our economy. The Taliban aren’t pressuring me—that’s just a story you see on TV. I grow […]
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Taming the Wild
Taming the Wild Mavrik, the object of Trut’s attention, is about the size of a Shetland sheepdog, with chestnut orange fur and a white bib down his front. He plays his designated role in turn: wagging his tail, rolling on his back, panting eagerly in anticipation of attention. Trut reaches in and scoops him up, […]
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Featured Longreader: Jalees Rehman, associate professor of medicine and pharmacology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. See his story picks from National Geographic, Intelligent Life Magazine, n+1 and more on his #longreads page.
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Lapham’s Quarterly Editor Michelle Legro: My Top 5 Longreads of 2011
Michelle Legro, longtime Longreader, is an editor at Lapham’s Quarterly. *** “The Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” by Paul Ford (The Morning News) I doubt there are many people that will remember the December blizzard of 2010 better than Paul Ford, limping through the snow with his wife to their IVF procedure without any form of transportation […]
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Writer David Dobbs: My Top Longreads of 2011
David Dobbs writes articles on science, sports, music, writing, reading, and other culture at Neuron Culture and for the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The Atavist, Nature, National Geographic, and other publications. He’s working on a book about the genetics of human strength and frailty. He also twitters and tries to play the violin. *** Truly we live, as Steve Silberman said, in a […]
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What helmets can’t fix when it comes to concussions and high school football: Because of its national reputation — and extremely well-funded athletic department — Mater Dei has been on the leading edge of concussion prevention and treatment for high school football players. The coaches are vigilant; the equipment is top of the line; the […]
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Scientists are discovering how chemicals can affect the way memories are formed, paving the way for a future where it could be possible to forget anything we wanted by taking a single pill: This isn’t Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-style mindwiping. In some ways it’s potentially even more effective and more precise. Because of […]
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What happens when a grizzly bear kills a human being in Yellowstone National Park? An examination of a special criminal justice system designed to protect endangered bears, while giving leeway to euthanize bears that kill humans in ways that are deemed “unnatural”: It’s a squirrely notion, that a team of government biologists might be able […]
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Featured Longreader: Jeannie Mark, traveler and writer. See her story picks from National Geographic, You Are Not So Smart, The Atlantic, plus more.
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There are roughly 7,000 languages in the world, but 78 percent of the world’s population only speaks the 85 largest languages. Thousands of languages are on the edge of disappearing. After dinner Nimasow disappeared for a moment and came back with a soiled white cotton cloth, which he unfolded by the flickering light of the […]
