Dickens, Tocqueville, and the U.N. all agree about this American invention: It’s torture.
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The Death of an Heir: Adolph Coors III and the Murder That Rocked an American Brewing Dynasty
More than fifty years ago, one man tried to hold the Coors brewery CEO for ransom. Things went very badly.
Between Mom and Stepmom
Sarah Menkedick reflects on the very different—and complementary—ways in which her mother and her stepmother have nurtured her.
Follow the Oil Trail and You’ll Find the Girls
A filmmaker travels the U.S. and Canada to speak with Indigenous women about the constant threats to their safety and their lives.
Longreads Best of 2016: Under-Recognized Stories
We asked a few writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here, the best in under-recognized stories.
Hallowed Ground: Patti Smith on Visiting the Prison of Jean Genet’s Dreams
We were entering a military zone and hit a checkpoint. The driver’s identity card was inspected and after an interminable stretch of silence we were ordered to get out of the car. Two officers searched the front and back seats, finding a switchblade with a broken spring in the glove box. That can’t be so […]
Twinless in Twinsburg
Anya Groner examines her experience of being an identical twin through the lens of an annual Twins Day festival she attended without her sister.
The Complicated Legacy of Ulrike Meinhof
Forty years ago, the world’s most famous terrorist hanged herself in her prison cell. Williams looks at Meinhof’s complicated legacy, and what it reveals about how radical women are perceived.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
The best stories of the week, as chosen by the editors of Longreads.
A Private Prison System for Immigrants
“You build a prison, and then you’ve got to find someone to put in them,” said Texas state Sen. John Whitmire, who has seen five of the 13 Criminal Alien Requirement (CAR) prisons built in his state. “So they widen the net and find additional undocumented folks to fill them up.” Most of the roughly […]

