“Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.”
longreads
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring stories from Sophie Vershbow, Sharon Lerner, Geoffrey Gray, Christopher Solomon, and Abe Beame.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Pork, Love, and Money: Life According to La Piraña Lechonera
“For 23 years, chef Angel Jimenez has drawn barbecue pork devotees to the South Bronx. This summer, the party is heating up again.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Inside the Slimy, Smelly, Secretive World of Glass-Eel Fishing
“Each spring, hundreds of millions of baby eels swarm the waterways of coastal Maine. Soaring global demand incited an era of jackpot payouts and international poaching.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The West Coast’s Fanciest Stolen Bikes Are Getting Trafficked by One Mastermind in Jalisco, Mexico
“A digital sleuth named Bryan Hance has spent the past four years obsessively uncovering a bicycle-theft pipeline of astonishing scale.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
This is Not an Escape Story
“At 15, Darlene Stubbs walked away from a polygamous cult—then discovered a new life and community through running.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Where Her Heart Is
“Adopted at two weeks old from Fort Worth’s Edna Gladney Home, Debra Stevens grew up a mystery to herself. It wasn’t until late in life that she found more family than she could have asked for, on the other side of the world.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The American Novel Has a Major Problem With Fat People
“Why does fiction do such a bad job of portraying fat characters?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Why Make Art in the Dark?
“New research transports us back to the shadowy firelight of ancient caves, imagining the minds and feelings of the artists.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
When Antonietta Vanished, Her Friends Couldn’t Get Any Answers. It was Only After She Died That the Mystery Began to Unravel
“A Toronto woman all but disappeared from the home she lived in for decades and the friends she had made there.”