27 must-read stories on the making of the world’s greatest magazines.
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Posted inNonfiction, Reading List, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Below, our favorite stories of the week. Kindle and Readmill users, you can also get them as a Readlist. Sign up to receive this list free every Friday in your inbox. 1. This Old Man Roger Angell | The New Yorker | February 17, 2014 | 20 minutes (5,062 words) On life as a nonagenarian: […]
Posted inNonfiction, Profiles & Interviews
How to Write About Tax Havens and the Super-Rich: An Interview with Nicholas Shaxson
Last year Shaxson published a Vanity Fair article, “A Tale of Two Londons,” that described the residents of one of London’s most exclusive addresses—One Hyde Park—and the accounting acrobatics they had performed to get there.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story
‘I Would Prefer Not To’: The Origins of the White Collar Worker
Before the Civil War, the clerk was “a small but unusual phenomenon.” By the end of the 19th century, clerical workers were a social force to be reckoned with. This is the story of their rise.
Posted inNonfiction, Story
The Rise and Fall of John DeLorean
“It was the end of the story of John DeLorean as part of the American Dream—how a humble kid from Detroit could rise to the very top.”
Posted inMember Pick, Nonfiction, Story
The Honey Hunters
The most lucrative of all the forest’s products, and the most dangerous to gather.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
A 1,000-Year History of Laughing Games
At Pacific Standard, Sam Riches goes to the Canadian competitive laughing championship in Toronto, where “laughletes” compete in laughter challenges like “the Diabolical Laugh” and “the Alabama Knee-Slapper” to win a title and trophy. Read more about competitions.
Posted inUncategorized
Building a Car from Scratch
“Kevin turned serious for a moment and admitted that, yes, he was ‘paranoid’ about something breaking. It wasn’t just the welds. Much of the car was made from used parts that Kevin and his friends had scavenged from local junkyards. The rear suspension came from a Dodge Neon. The struts were a combination of Nissan, […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
I Was Not a Pretty Child
Remembering what it was like to be ignored or mocked—and now, sometimes, being guilty of the same behavior: “Female friendships are more complicated. There are nuances and there’s competition and there are magazines and men in bars who talk to your friend and not to you. You cannot take everything at face value. Hyper-analysis is […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Searching For Anything But Bobby Fischer At School Scrabble Nationals
The writer visits the 2013 National School Scrabble Championship, a competition between children in the fourth through eighth grade: “The two boys have a laugh at my complaints. Frankly, I’m in a no-win situation. If I lose, I’m a loser. If I win, I’m the heartless bastard who beat two middle schoolers. Sam’s mother agrees […]
