“My mother was a woman, a black woman, a single mother raising two kids on her own. She was dark-skinned, had short hair, got no love from nobody except for a group called the Black Panthers. “I don’t consider myself to be straight militant. I’m a thug, and my definition of thug comes from half […]
video
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What the Hell Are You Doing?!
‘I’m just Tess Vigeland. And I need to figure out how she’s remarkable.’ Our recent Longreads pick, Tess Vigeland’s speech at the World Domination Summit, is now up in video form. It’s our video pick of the day. Get the Top 5 Longreads free every week
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What the Hell Are You Doing?!
‘I’m just Tess Vigeland. And I need to figure out how she’s remarkable.’ Our recent Longreads pick, Tess Vigeland’s speech at the World Domination Summit, is now up in video form. It’s our video pick of the day. Get the Top 5 Longreads free every week
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Making of Citizen Kane
“I must admit that it was intended consciously as a social document. … [but] the storyteller’s first duty is to the story.” -From the 1991 documentary “The Complete Citizen Kane,” on the Orson Welles masterpiece. The film features interviews with Welles from 1960 and 1982, as well as an interview with New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael, […]
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Two Emmys and $57,000 in Debt
‘They don’t teach us about money in high school.’ Today’s video pick is Modern Comedian’s short documentary on comedian Sara Schaefer, who fell deep into debt even while she was pursuing her dream career and earning two Emmys as a writer for Jimmy Fallon. (Schaefer now co-hosts the MTV series Nikki & Sara LIVE, which […]
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The Secret History of Silicon Valley
‘Let’s enlist universities directly in the war effort.’ Our video pick of the day is this 2008 talk (1 hr.) by entrepreneur and Stanford professor Steve Blank about how the defense industry first shaped Silicon Valley—starting with Stanford, which after World War II “became a full partner in the military-industrial complex.” For a connection between […]
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The Pixel Painter
“When I lost my eyesight I thought my painting days were over.” Our video pick of the day is this 8-minute documentary on Hal Lasko, a 97-year-old man whose family introduced him to Microsoft Paint 15 years ago and “he took off with it.” Lasko, who suffers from macular degeneration, works in a style that’s a […]
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Patti Smith's Advice to the Young
“Build a good name. Keep your name clean. … And if you build a good name, that name will be its own currency.” Our video pick of the day: Words of wisdom from Patti Smith, from the Louisiana Literature festival, August 2012 (6 minutes) (via @PocketHits)
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Free BBC Documentary on the Early Days of Queen and Freddie Mercury
Our video pick of the day, from 2011: “Queen: Days of Our Lives” (2 hours)
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Video Pick: The Journey of Transgender Rocker Laura Jane Grace
If you’ve been following Longreads for a while, you may have seen this excellent Rolling Stone story from last year by Josh Eells, “The Secret Life of Transgender Rocker Tom Gabel”, about Against Me! singer Laura Jane Grace’s transition. This MTV House of Style short reveals more about her life, and the small things she’s […]