He made his name in Chicago investigating racial violence, solving crimes, and exposing corruption. But America’s first Black private detective was hiding secrets of his own.
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Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This edition features stories from Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski, Michael Hall, Ben Goldfarb, Meg Bernhard, and Angela Burke.
Posted inReading List
Bad Blood (Longreads’ Version): A Musical Feuds Reading List
Whether competition between artists or strife within a band, popular music features some of pop culture’s messiest rivalries.
Posted inReading List
Tragedy in the Making: A Reading List About Unnatural Disasters
A list of stories that dig into the “ingredients” of recent natural hazard-related disasters.
Posted inNonfiction
Best of 2022: Reported Essays
Our list of some of the great reported essays published this year includes reads on grief, veganism, the geology of Mexico City, and British real estate.
Posted inNonfiction
The Edge of Emptiness
Lena Rowat skied 1,600 grueling miles across the Coast Range to quiet her demons. But she didn’t begin to silence them until tragedy struck.
Posted inFeature
True Crime, Jersey Shore Style
How I (possibly) solved a cold case on my summer vacation.
Posted inFeature
Signs of Ghosts
What do we do when there are whole cities full of ghosts, each one with their own unique story to tell, each one with something left undone?
Posted inUncategorized
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This edition includes writing from Cynthia R. Greenlee, Krithika Srinivason, Noah Vineberg, Monica Mark, and Alex Pappademas.
Posted inNonfiction
The Dark and Stormy Tale of a ShantyTok Band
When a scraggly band of folk musicians arrived to tour the UK, residents of a small Welsh town were enamored—until they learned that the band’s leader ruled with an iron fist.
