When Richard Nixon Declared War on the Media By Matt Giles Commentary Jim Acosta isn’t the first reporter to be barred from the White House—when Stuart Loory reported on the possibility that Richard Nixon was bilking taxpayers, he found himself on the president’s enemies list.
The Return of the Face By Adrian Daub Feature Physiognomy is a discarded 19th-century pseudoscience. Why can’t we stop practicing it?
A Visit to Opioid Country By Aaron Thier Feature Aaron Thier contemplates the connections between privilege, addiction, and recovery.
A New Citizen Leaves a Lost America By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Journalist Rebecca Mead explains why she first left England for the United States, and why she’s now moving back to a country that isn’t necessarily home.
His Name Was Otto, and He Just Wanted a Little Adventure By Michelle Weber Highlight Otto Warmbier got arrested in North Korea, sentenced to hard labor, and was eventually sent back to the U.S. — comatose. As with many things North Korean, the why and how is speculative at best.
The Law Is No Place for Ethics By Michelle Weber Highlight The SCOTUS opinion upholding the Muslim ban might not be legally wrong, but shouldn’t the court look at what is just as well as what is legal?
White Men On The Edge of a Nervous Breakdown By Katie Kosma Highlight The ruling minority of white men are getting nervous about impending destabilization of their power.
“The Beasts of the Crossing Have Been Pushed Into the Light” By Michelle Weber Highlight Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s Jezebel essay “A Theory of Animals” is a gut punch. Read it.
Frailty, Thy Name Is Immigration Control By Katie Kosma Highlight Quoting Shakespeare isn’t new, but using it in court to fight Trump’s immigration control is.
If Tim Russert Could Interview Trump Today By Catherine Cusick Commentary On the tenth anniversary of Tim Russert’s death, one question rings out over the last decade in American politics: What Would Tim Ask?
How Vietnam Shaped Robert S. Mueller By Krista Stevens Commentary After serving in combat during the Vietnam War, nothing Robert S. Mueller encounters will ever be as intense.
The Enduring Legacy of the Willie Lynch Hoax By Matt Giles Commentary Why Kanye referenced a nonexistent slave owner.
Could Paulette Jordan of Idaho Become the Country’s First Native American Governor? By Danielle Jackson Highlight In Idaho, former state representative Paulette Jordan faces a tough race to become the nation’s first Native American governor.
Trump Properties As Symbols of American Mediocrity and Lies By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight The only thing a tourist who stays at Trump properties gets for free is a disturbing vision of America’s future.
Diary of a Do-Gooder By Sara Eckel Feature After years of trying to distinguish herself, Sara Eckel considers the value of door-to-door canvassing, phone-banking, and other anonymous tasks of everyday activism.
Longreads Best of 2017: Political Writing By Longreads Reading List We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in political writing.
The Complicated Politics of Rescue and Recovery By Michelle Legro Highlight The Cajun Navy was an essential part of Hurricane Harvey relief. But like everything else, their efforts became politically complicated.
The Consent of the (Un)governed By Laurie Penny Feature “Freedom” is just another word for being under the thumb of a powerful white man — for now.
Brit Bennett Reflects on Living the Past Year in “Trump Time” By Danielle Jackson Highlight How the whiplash-like event of Trump following the nation’s first black president has “compressed time.”
Meditations in an Emergency By Michelle Legro Highlight In this oral history of the 2016 election, the media loses the narrative thread it had been creating for decades.
Donald Trump’s War On African Women By Annie Hylton Feature Under the Global Gag Rule, medical professionals cannot counsel a woman to seek an abortion — even in cases where it will save her life.
Gloria Allred’s Personal Crusade By Sari Botton Highlight First-hand knowledge of the trauma of sexual assault has informed Allred’s fight against it.
My Journey to the Heart of the FOIA Request By Spenser Mestel Feature Fifty years ago, the Freedom of Information Act gave the public access to government secrets — all you had to do was ask. How a simple request became a bureaucratic nightmare.
Ta-Nehisi Coates Takes on the Trump Presidency By Danielle Jackson Commentary In an excerpt from his upcoming book on the Obama administration, Coates constructs an incisive look at Donald Trump’s political ascent.
A Long, Dark Night of the Soul at Donald Trump’s Childhood Home By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Alexander Nazaryan spends a night at Trump’s first home in Queens to see if it can tell him anything about the president.
The Trump Whisperer: A Conversation with Washington Post Reporter David Fahrenthold By Cody Delistraty Feature Fahrenthold on how he follows the money, “shows his work,” and solicits leads from Twitter in covering Donald Trump.
The Collected Crimes of Sheriff Joe Arpaio By Danielle Tcholakian Commentary The president chose to pardon an extremely bad man before providing aid to Texas.
You Can’t Embarrass a Dog, or a Trump By Michelle Weber Highlight “Does he even know about… Let me stop you there. The answer is no.”
Scaramucci’s Removal Evokes White House Turmoil During the Reagan Years By Matt Giles Commentary Anthony Scaramucci resigned after just 10 days as White House communications director. Turns out, he also set a record previously held by a member of Ronald Reagan’s administration.
The Gossip Columnist Who Became the News By Michelle Legro Commentary Liz Smith looks back at her role in the Trump divorce.
