The story of Hollywood screenwriter Budd Schulberg’s unlikely collaboration with Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl.
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Reading List: The Culture of Cosplayers
Emily Perper is a word-writing human working at a small publishing company. She blogs about her favorite longreads at Diet Coker. For cosplayers, dressing up isn’t just once a year on Halloween. It’s part of a complex identity and community lifestyle. 1. “Cosplayers are Passionate, Talented Folks. But There’s a Darker Side to this Community, […]
Long Live Grim Fandango
The greatest adventure game ever made returns from the dead.
Budd & Leni
The story of Hollywood screenwriter Budd Schulberg’s unlikely collaboration with Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl.
#Nightshift: Excerpts from an Instagram Essay
Jeff Sharlet | Longreads | September 2014 | 12 minutes (2,802 words) 1. Snapshots Dunkin Donuts, West Lebanon, New Hampshire The night shift, for me, is a luxury, the freedom to indulge my insomnia by writing at a Dunkin Donuts, one of the only places up here open at midnight. But lately my insomnia doesn’t […]
Charlie Chaplin's Lost Novel
“What happened?” “A nervous breakdown. I almost died.” “And you’re still drinking?” “Occasionally, when I think of things.” He smiled, “The wrong things, I suppose. However, I’ve talked enough about myself. What would you like for breakfast?” “What a sad business, being funny,” she said thoughtfully. The table was laid and now he was ready […]
One Thing We'll Miss About Blockbuster
“The death of Blockbuster is the death of the employee favorite shelf. With Netflix and Hulu and Amazon having rightfully eclipsed video rental stores, the recommendation is now largely accomplished by algorithm. If you didn’t agree with my taste in movies, there was definitely another employee you would agree with. There was someone for every […]
Ants Go Marching
The writer, after discovering a large mound of fire ants in his backyard, heads out to learn how the “ants from hell” invaded the American South: “The range of Solenopsis invicta covers a vast wetland in southern Brazil and Paraguay known as the Pantanal. Sometime in the early 1930s the ants stowed away in coffee […]
The Last Days of Big Law: You Can’t Imagine the Terror When the Money Dries Up
The story that will make you reconsider law school. Scheiber goes deep inside a big Chicago law firm, Mayer Brown, to examine the problems plaguing the legal profession—including consolidation, cost-cutting, layoffs, infighting, and further degradation of quality of life: “Bob Helman realized the firm would go under if his partners sat around waiting for business […]
Do We Really Want to Live Without the Post Office?
The U.S. Postal Service is losing $25 million per day—but its leadership is not giving up: “The investment in the shipping and trucking and sorting infrastructure has already been made, so they’re exploring whether there are ways to get more value from it. Postal carriers already deliver one million packages of drugs and contact lenses […]
