A Carefully Constructed Li(f)e By Longreads Feature Tim Brown seemed like a typical Florida retiree: He loved doting on his wife, fishing with friends, and flying his plane. But his life was built on a secret.
A New Leaf: A Post-Legalization Cannabis Reading List By Peter Rubin Feature Five stories demonstrating how the green rush nurtured the best and worst that U.S. capitalism had to offer
The Cult That Promises to Cure Addiction By Longreads Feature For 50 years, Enthusiastic Sobriety programs have offered to help teenagers kick drugs and alcohol. But former followers say ES doesn’t save lives—it destroys them.
Postcard from the (Literal) Edge By Longreads Feature In an excerpt from her recovery memoir, Erin Khar recalls the depths of her self-destruction as a heroin addict.
Addiction’s Seismic Effects on a Family By Sarah Evans Feature A mother confronts the painful truths of trying to save a son who’s a danger not only to himself, but to the rest of the family as well.
The Alabama “Corrections” System: An American Horror Story By Krista Stevens Highlight “When you lay down to go to sleep, you better be prayed up, because there’s no guarantee you’re waking up.”
Carrying Histories of Protest By Longreads Feature Jaquira Díaz witnesses her father’s rebellious fight for a better life, and her homeland’s fight for its place in the world.
In the Age of the Psychonauts By Longreads Feature Three psycho-spiritual “events” of the 1970s — involving Philip K. Dick, Robert Anton Wilson, and Terence and Dennis McKenna — had a strange synchronicity.
Riding the Highs and Lows with My Mom By Valentina Valentini Feature On a night out in the Hollywood hills, Valentina Valentini’s lifelong role-reversal with her mother becomes upended.
High Expectations: LSD, T.C. Boyle’s Women, and Me By Christine Ro Feature “Outside Looking In” dramatizes the discovery of LSD and the cult of personality surrounding Timothy Leary. Our reviewer drops acid and thinks about how, for women, it can be safer to be a downer.
‘The Most Versatile Criminal In History’ By Jonny Auping Feature 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.
Health Care Sponcon: Where Big Pharma Meets Instagram Influencer By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight Health care and medical sponsored content from influencers is growing on Instagram. But is it ethical?
Musicians Come Clean on How They Live, Create, and Thrive While Sober By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight Chris Heath at GQ interviews nine sober musicians on thriving creatively.
Nic and David Sheff on ‘Beautiful Boy’ and Telling Addiction Stories Responsibly By Zachary Siegel Feature Nic and his father David Sheff’s memoirs about grappling with Nic’s addiction are the basis for the new movie ‘Beautiful Boy.’ It was important to them that the movie communicate what addiction really is — an illness.
A Visit to Opioid Country By Aaron Thier Feature Aaron Thier contemplates the connections between privilege, addiction, and recovery.
A Person Alone: Leaning Out with Ottessa Moshfegh By Hope Reese Feature Leaning in doesn’t work in real life. When I was writing, I kind of hoped that it would. I think I hoped that the answers are always within me. And when I reached the end of the book, it was like: there are no answers.
‘I Was a Storm of Confetti’: Michael Pollan On Why It’s a Good Idea To Lose Your Self By Hope Reese Feature Michael Pollan talks about using psychedelic drugs, escaping his own ego, and the therapeutic potential of seeing yourself spread out over the landscape like a coat of paint.
Reporting on Bolivia’s Coca Rebirth: An Interview with Jessica Camille Aguirre By Aaron Gilbreath Commentary After a profound shift in thinking about an unfairly stigmatized plant, Bolivia is ready to spread the gospel of coca.
When Staying Clean Isn’t an Option By Michelle Weber Highlight Lance Armstrong ran a well-oiled cycling machine, and a well-oiled doping factory. Maybe those are the same thing.
How Baltimore Police Abused Their Power By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force were celebrated for getting firearms off the street, until detectives discovered they were also robbing criminals of guns, drugs and money.
Use and Abuse By Aaron Gilbreath Feature Amy Long on how it feels to fight for the man you don’t want.
Mimi Loves Phil: Life After Death by Overdose By Krista Stevens Highlight “How do I tell my kids that their dad just died? What are the words?”
Bootlegging Jane’s Addiction By Aaron Gilbreath Feature Aaron Gilbreath considers the impact a live Jane’s Addiction recording has had on him, and the effect heroin had on the band’s — and his own — creativity.
The Sacred Right of Universal Narcotic Entitlement By Michelle Weber Highlight Inventing maladies and marketing drugs to relieve them isn’t a new m.o. for pharmaceutical companies. OxyContin is its fullest and most terrible expression.
Something Unspeakable Happened in Allende, Mexico By Michelle Weber Highlight Seven years after a vicious drug cartel massacre, residents are still looking for answers about the fates of their loved ones.
These Activists Say Marijuana is a Gift from God By Pam Mandel Commentary “But to bring cannabis to the region of the US where states are deeply red and religious and where pot is both a social taboo and a ticket to jail, Decker and others are harnessing their devotion to their faiths to evangelize for it.”
Carol Blevins: The Confidential Informant Who is Now A Target for Murder By Krista Stevens Highlight Carol Blevins’ work as a confidential informant put 13 members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas behind bars. Now they want revenge.
How an ER Doctor Got Hooked on Fentanyl and Lost It All By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight At Toronto Life, Katherine Laidlaw tells the story of Darryl Gebein, who got hooked one of the most dangerous opioids on the market.
‘Smoking freebase has pretty much been my job for the past year.’ By Michelle Weber Highlight In the New Yorker, Naomi Fry writes about Cat Marnell’s new memoir in a piece that’s part review, part analysis of women’s addiction stories.
My Mother’s Murder: ‘I am good at keeping secrets. I am good at telling lies.’ By Krista Stevens Highlight It took Leah Carroll years to determine that her mother was murdered by an organized crime syndicate as a suspected drug informant.
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