Early electric cars performed better in cities than internal combustion vehicles, but didn’t give riders the same illusion of freedom and masculine derring-do.
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Posted inBooks, History, Nonfiction, Story
In the Age of the Psychonauts
Three psycho-spiritual “events” of the 1970s — involving Philip K. Dick, Robert Anton Wilson, and Terence and Dennis McKenna — had a strange synchronicity.
Posted inBusiness & Tech, Nonfiction, Quotes
Silicon Valley’s Spin Master
After helping shape the public image of numerous tech companies, Margit Wennmachers is now helping shape the story of Silicon Valley itself.
Posted inBooks, investigations, Nonfiction, Profiles & Interviews, Story
‘The Most Versatile Criminal In History’
Journalist Evan Ratliff has uncovered the shocking reach of Paul Le Roux’s criminal enterprise — a global network of pawns, most of whom were unaware of the full extent of the empire.
Posted inBooks, Current Events, Nonfiction, Story
Notes on a Shipwreck
On Lampedusa, history is never far from the islanders’ thoughts, and they are preoccupied by its contradictions. Is Lampedusa a stop on a long journey, or is it a graveyard? Does every fence need a hole in it?
Posted inBooks, Fiction, Profiles & Interviews, Story
The Need for Distance: Jaclyn Gilbert on Writing and Running
For author Jaclyn Gilbert, revising her writing is much like doing the same running loops over and over, to the point where she doesn’t have to think about where she’s going anymore.
Posted inBooks, Essays & Criticism, History, Member Pick, Nonfiction, Story
America’s Post-Frontier Hangover
America binged on expansion, relying on land grabs as an engine of growth and a way to externalize racial hatred. Historian Greg Grandin asks, without a frontier, what can America be?
Posted inBooks, History, Nonfiction, Profiles & Interviews, Story
‘I Inherited Luck’: Bridgett M. Davis on Her Family’s Life in the Numbers
In a new memoir, novelist Bridgett M. Davis reveals that her mother was a Numbers operator in Detroit from the 1960s through the 1980s.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books, Nonfiction, Profiles & Interviews, Story
Understanding Craig Stecyk
Stecyk defined Southern California’s subversive, skateboard aesthetic and changed art and culture in the process, but that doesn’t mean he wants to talk about it.
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from C.J. Chivers, Sheelah Kolhatkar, Libby Copeland, Amanda Petrusich, and Bryan Menegus.
