Notable stories on chasing manhood, naming Gaza’s dead, searching the stacks for a rare book, leaving music behind, and opting out.
Matthew Shaer
Posted inEditor's Pick
Is There Life After Smartphones?
“This year, I set out to better understand what was driving this shift — what was causing so many young people to feel fed up with their phones.”
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Matthew Shaer, John Woodrow Cox, Bethany McLean, Robin Wright, and David Sedaris.
Posted inCurrent Events, Quotes
Chelsea Manning Stays in the Picture
The New York Times styles Manning for her first profile—but she’s already in charge of her own image.
Posted inHistory, Nonfiction, Quotes
How the Burning Brigade Broke Free
In the village of Ponar, in present-day Lithuania, occupying Nazis shot nearly 100,000 people, then exhumed and burned the bodies in an effort to remove all traces of the atrocity. The prisoners forced to dig up and burn the bodies of their countrymen knew there was only one way to get out alive: escape.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Holocaust’s Great Escape
A remarkable discovery in Lithuania — an escape tunnel from the Nazi killing site at Ponar — brings a legendary tale of survival back to life.
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re highlighting stories by Luke Mogelson, David Frum, Matthew Shaer, Rahawa Haile, and Meghan Tear Plummer.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
A Brief History of PR Disasters By Abercrombie & Fitch
In many ways, Jeffries’s most impressive accomplishment was not the signature Abercrombie style but the signature Abercrombie attitude, with its bluntly brash appeal. As one former employee put it, “The only bad news was no news. Controversy was what you wanted.” Consequently, the list of PR disasters past and present is too lengthy to fully […]