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.
A Close Reading of Ryan Lizza’s Phone Call from Anthony Scaramucci By Danielle Tcholakian Commentary Oh, my god.
A Transgender-Military Reading List By Danielle Tcholakian Reading List Thousands of people in the U.S.’s all-volunteer military are transgender.
The Colorblind Whitewashers of American History By Michelle Weber Highlight Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw offers a sharp rebuke to those who would declare our country “post-racial.”
But His Emails: The Evolving Story of Donald Trump, Jr.’s Russia Meeting By Danielle Tcholakian Commentary A close reading of this whole Don Jr.-Russia situation.
New York in the 1970s Gave Us Hip Hop, Madonna, and the Chip on Trump’s Shoulder By Ben Huberman Highlight “You bang your head against the wall to try to get some nice buildings up, and what happens? Everybody comes after you.”
Two-And-a-Half Minutes to Midnight: Our Fear of Nukes and How We Got Here By Elizabeth King Feature Our fear of nuclear conflict has more to do with Iron Man and Godzilla than it does Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.
Where Have All The White House Press Briefings Gone? By Danielle Tcholakian Commentary Trump’s White House is gradually eroding the tradition of daily press briefings.
Celebrating a Second Independence Day: A Juneteenth Reading List By Danielle Tcholakian Reading List Nine stories that explain the fraught history of the holiday, and the need for celebration.
Prosecutor, Interrupted: A Kamala Harris Reading List By Danielle Tcholakian Reading List Profiles of Senator Harris over the past decade show her as both smart and warm. Increasingly, they ask if she has what it takes to win.
David Sedaris Is Depressed By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight David Sedaris tallies a few of the many reasons he feels shame and sadness being an American in the time of Trump.
