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Longreads : The best longform stories on the web
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Longreads
• Brendan Fitzgerald
"Flock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems."
Longreads
• Seyward Darby
"Across the world, the Iran war is reshaping everyday life."
Longreads
• Carolyn Wells
"How a team of sleuths reportedly tracked down the Brad Pitt impersonators who cyber-scammed a middle-aged Frenchwoman out of her life’s savings."
Longreads
• Krista Stevens
"In 2002, Leslie Buck died under mysterious circumstances in Mystic, Connecticut. Two decades later, I went back to find out who she was — and what really happened."
Longreads
• Seyward Darby
"Amid tight Israeli restrictions, new remote research is starting to make visible the scale of toxic fallout across the Gaza Strip."
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• Longreads
In this edition: in a pickle; gut feeling; king of pain; life (or something like it); for those about to rock.
Longreads
• Carolyn Wells
"A growing number of young Brits are withdrawing from society. Some don't leave the house for months. We met their families."
Longreads
• Peter Rubin
“The biologist Michael Levin has spent his life trying to prove that minds show up in places we’d never think to look.”
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• Carolyn Wells
"Our guts have never been more optimized—but have the scat chats gone too far?"
Longreads
• Cheri Lucas Rowlands
"A private company has cleared dozens of homeless encampments in Venice—with persistence, cash payments, and a team that includes former gang members. Clients love them. The people they move do not."
Longreads
• Hannah Engler Harvey
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• Cheri Lucas Rowlands
"Some restaurants are leaning into handmade touches, as AI-generated food photos and flyers become commonplace."
Longreads
• Brendan Fitzgerald
"Why we love them, and why I build them."
Longreads
• Krista Stevens
"After years of decline, butterfly populations are rising—for now."
Longreads
• Peter Rubin
“Moranis gets lost and found, Mel Brooks stays mint-in-the-box, and Josh Gad IS Ebenezer.”
Longreads
• Seyward Darby
"What moves the star of 'Jackass' to risk his life for our entertainment? A very serious investigation."
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• Seyward Darby
"SFPD cleared 14% of rape cases last year—half the national rate. The Standard found that kits get tested fast, then cases get quietly shelved."
Longreads
• Brendan Fitzgerald
"Charles Ross spent 50 years building 'Star Axis,' a naked-eye observatory in New Mexico. Now his masterwork is ready. How to share it with a changed world?"
Longreads
• Krista Stevens
"Tomato ripening rooms reveal the growing costs of the produce industry’s massive consolidation."
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In this edition: loving a killer; GRASE under fire; the marvelous mundane; Texas on two wheels; and the man who would be T. rex king.
Longreads
• Brendan Fitzgerald
"An Instagram post turned one California student newspaper into a free-speech flash point. The students say they were just doing their homework."
Longreads
• Krista Stevens
"The last of the morticians."
Longreads
• Brendan Fitzgerald
"We are all, it seems, still waiting for Godot."
Longreads
• Peter Rubin
“The Carr family took in Steven Judy, hoping to ‘save’ a troubled teen. They didn’t know he would become one of the most hated men in America.”
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• Carolyn Wells
"A dramatic shift in perspective is producing a much bigger, broader and more exciting view of ‘the ancient world.’"
Longreads
• Peter Rubin
“Four-minute miles are almost routine. Middle schoolers are beating college runners. Inside the youth track boom that’s turning kids and teens into speed machines.”
Longreads
• Cheri Lucas Rowlands
"Sunscreen—one of the only products scientifically proven to reduce the risk of skin cancer—is in the middle of a PR crisis, with skeptics claiming it’s hazardous to your health. Experts dismiss the claims as misinformation, but has the damage already been done?"
Longreads
• Krista Stevens
"With little fanfare, Ray Di Pietro has attracted tens of thousands of devotees. His images are artfully composed, spontaneous, honest, and, well, kind."
