Another look at the “Fatal Vision” murder case, through the eyes of its prosecutor: “When Errol Morris’s ‘A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald’ came out in September, Brian Murtagh sat in the study of the Oakton home he shares with Margaret, his wife of 43 years, and read it cover to cover, […]
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Posted inEditor's Pick
Xmas in Hawaii
In 1982, author Linda Spalding served as a juror on Maryann Acker’s murder trial. She believed Maryann was innocent, but was dismissed from the jury after arriving late to the courthouse one morning. Acker ended up being convicted and has spent the next 30 years in prison. Spalding, whose feeling of guilt hasn’t subsided in […]
Posted inMember Pick, Nonfiction, Story
For the Public Good: The Shameful History of Forced Sterilization in the U.S.
“I never figured out why they did that to me.”
Posted inMember Pick, Nonfiction, Story
Call It Rape
Margot Singer | The Normal School | 2012 | 23 minutes (5,683 words) The Normal SchoolThanks to Margot Singer and The Normal School for sharing this story with the Longreads community.Subscribe to The Normal School * * * Still life with man and gun Three girls are smoking on the back porch of their high […]
Posted inNonfiction, Story
How One Magazine Shaped Investigative Journalism in America
The following story comes recommended by Ben Marks, senior editor for Collectors Weekly: Doris Kearns Goodwin’s most recent history, The Bully Pulpit, chronicles the intertwined lives of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, often in excruciating detail, from Roosevelt’s struggles with the bosses of his Republican party to the fungal infections that plagued Taft’s groin. […]
Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2013: Here Are All 49 of Our No. 1 Story Picks From This Year
Every single story that was chosen as No. 1 this year.
Posted inUncategorized
Our Longreads Member Pick: Among Murderers (Chapter 7), by Sabine Heinlein
This week’s Member Pick is a chapter from Among Murderers, a new nonfiction book by Sabine Heinlein, published by University of California Press, examining the lives of criminals as they prepare to re-enter society. Heinlein, who was recently awarded a Pushcart Prize for her Iowa Review essay “A Portrait of the Writer as a Rabbit,” […]
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5 Stories on What Happens to Whistleblowers After They Speak Out
Above: Mark Felt Julia Wick is a native Angeleno who writes about literature, Los Angeles, and cities. She is currently finishing an Urban Planning degree at USC. With Chelsea Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison and Edward Snowden’s future still uncertain, it seems a pertinent time to look at what becomes of our whistleblowers after […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
When Drug Cops Become Criminals
An undercover officer for the Drug Enforcement Administration ends up in prison when the drug war becomes personal: “‘A lot of people disappear in Mexico,’ he says. ‘They are buried where no one will find them. Some are eaten by tigers and some by sharks. There are also big tanks with acid in them.’ He […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Flynt Family Values
Jimmy Flynt has had a falling out with his infamous brother Larry, and is now striking out on his own: “Jimmy doesn’t sugarcoat his time with Larry. His brother is narcissistic, a micromanager, and a publicity hound, he says. Does he feel liberated to no longer have to deal with such a difficult personality? He […]
