A writer meets with “grinders”—people who are obsessed with human enhancement through the manipulation of their body with technology—and then decides to implant a magnet in his finger: “I chatted with Warwick from his office at The University of Reading, stacked floor to ceiling with books and papers. He has light brown hair that falls […]
Search results
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Fish Story
The political battle over the disappearance of the menhaden, a silvery, six-inch fish that’s food for larger fish and farmed for omega-3 oils and fertilizer: “Harvested by the billions and then processed into various industrial products, menhaden are extruded into feed pellets that make up the staple food product for a booming global aquaculture market, […]
Posted inUncategorized
The 2012 National Magazine Award Finalists
See a collection of longreads from the 2012 Ellies, including stories from GQ, Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, plus fiction from The Atlantic, VQR and more.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
How did a blackjack player manage to win $15 million from Atlantic City casinos over the course of several months? “As Johnson remembers it, the $800,000 hand started with him betting $100,000 and being dealt two eights. If a player is dealt two of a kind, he can choose to ‘split’ the hand, which means […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Adele: One and Only
The newly minted Grammy winner’s lows and highs—from throat surgery and heartbreak to the biggest-selling album of last year: “Every singer knows the List: citrus, vinegar, mint, dairy, spicy or fried foods, fizzy drinks, caffeine, cigarettes, and alcohol. These are the vocal cords’ enemies. And when one has a five-octave contralto as dynamic, award-winning, moneymaking, […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
My Life in Stories
I went back to work. Just about a year later, I sent out another story. Again, I sent it to the New Yorker. This time, someone wrote on the post card rejection: “Strong writing. Thanks.” Then, in November, I received a two-sentence letter from C. Michael Curtis at Atlantic Monthly: “‘A New Year’s Resolution’ starts […]
Posted inUncategorized
To Heaven by Subway
On this Memorial Day weekend, travel back to August 1938 to New York City’s Coney Island on a hot summer Sunday. The article profiles the narrow strip of land where Brooklyn meets the Atlantic and thousands of New Yorkers still pour out of the subway to eat hot dogs, ride roller coasters, visit bathhouses and […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The History of Cricket in the United States
The rules of the game on this side of the Atlantic were formalized in 1754, when Benjamin Franklin brought back from England a copy of the 1744 Laws, cricket’s official rule book. There is anecdotal evidence that George Washington’s troops played what they called “wickets” at Valley Forge in the summer of 1778. After the […]
Posted inMember Pick, Nonfiction
Appetite of Abundance: On the Benefits of Being Eaten
J.B. MacKinnon | Orion | July 2013 | 12 minutes (2,875 words) Our latest Longreads Member Pick comes from Orion magazine and J.B. MacKinnon, author of The Once and Future World. Thanks to Orion and MacKinnon for sharing it with the Longreads community. They’re also offering a free trial subscription here. * * *
Posted inUncategorized
The Pentagon Papers Trial
The Pentagon Papers Trial There were, inevitably, some individuals who spoke up eloquently, providing dramatic courtroom examples of Americana and of the war’s impact upon society. Jan Sirois, a 24-year-old divorced mother of two from a military family, said that the only publication she ever read was Hairdo magazine, a supplement to studies at a […]
