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PAVING THE WAY FOR SILICON VALLEY

Experts Predicted San Francisco's Current Affordability Crisis In 1981

Wrote the New York Times in 1981: "Soaring housing costs, urban violence, shifting ethnic patterns and an increase in childless adults living together may be turning San Francisco... into a haven for the young, the old, the wealthy and the childless."

NO BETTER DAY TO READ IT

Martin Luther King's 'Letter From Birmingham Jail'

The Atlantic 1w

King's famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail," was written in response to a public statement of concern and caution issued by eight white religious leaders of the South. It stands as one of the classic documents of the civil-rights movement.

TBT

What The Border Looked Like, 25 Years Ago

The Atlantic World 15 Oct 2016

Atlantic correspondent William Langewiesche wrote a beautiful examination of the U.S.-Mexico border in 1992.

FROM THE ARCHIVE

The Importance Of Being Arnie

Arnold Palmer did for golf what Connors did for tennis. He came along with this swashbuckling style and changed everything.

THE CHAMELEON

Frédéric Bourdin Invented Scores Of Identities, In More Than Fifteen Countries And Five Languages

The New Yorker Long Reads 6 Aug 2016

The strangest story of stolen identity and impersonation you’ll ever read.

SINGING THE AMERICAN DREAM

Why 'The Star-Spangled Banner' Is Perfect

Slate Magazine Music Long Reads 4 Jul 2016

“The Star-Spangled Banner” is militaristic, syntactically garbled, and impossible to sing. It’s perfect.

*FIFTH OF JULY

The Best Fourth Of July* Speech In American History

Slate Magazine Histories Long Reads 4 Jul 2016

In 1852, Frederick Douglass gave a rousing speech on July 5, a day more black Americans chose to celebrate in the decades before the end of slavery.

DAMNIT, SPACE

108 Years Ago Today, Space Debris Blew Up Over Russia With The Power Of A Nuke

Slate Magazine Space 30 Jun 2016

Compressed and battered by tremendous forces, the object — maybe a small chunk of rock or possibly ice — got about 5-10 kilometers from the ground before it succumbed, exploding like a gigantic multi-megaton bomb.

ROFLQUADCOPTER

Is Flying A Drone Illegal? A Comprehensive Guide To America’s Drone Laws

Motherboard Law Long Reads Technology 8 Jun 2016

"The vast majority of people have no idea what they’re talking about when they talk about drone law."

FROM THE ARCHIVE

The Story Of A Radicalization: 'I Was Not Thinking My Thoughts. I Was Not Myself'

theguardian.com World Long Reads Warfare 23 Mar 2016

Maysa, a teenager from Brussels, was a music fan and a "ray of sunshine" at school. But an encounter on social media had changed her within a year.

THE XXX-FILES

The Great Pennsylvania Government Porn Caper

Esquire Law Long Reads Politics 25 Feb 2016

On Monday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane was found guilty on charges of perjury and obstruction. Here's the backstory, which includes a trove of pornographic emails sent by top state officials, illegal leaks and a revenge scheme.

'THE ULTIMATE JAPANESE SNOW COUNTRY'

Author Junot Díaz Details His Snowy Adventures In Hokkaido, Japan

travelandleisure.com Nature World 21 Jan 2016

On the starkly beautiful island, Junot Díaz finds a rugged mountain landscape and an unexpected mash-up of cultures.

TROUBLE ON THE WATER

Storm Coast

hakaimagazine.com Long Reads 28 Nov 2015

The inner workings of coastal storms — a phenomenon both terrifying and mesmerizing — that batter western Canada.

IT'S WHAT'S INSIDE THAT COUNTS

The Silence Of Prozac

thelancet.com Health 17 Nov 2015

Why is the idea that antidepressants might change our inner selves so much less panicking than it once was in the 1990s?

CRIME OF THE TURN OF THE CENTURY

The Terrifying Murder Mystery That Changed The Way Boston Viewed Abortion

boston.com Crime Cities 13 Nov 2015

'A crime so awful that the soul revolts in horror.'

BACK TO BLACK

Music Of The Macabre: The Birth Of Goth

theguardian.com 29 Oct 2015

The Birthday Party evoked depravity and nihilism, Joy Division rocked sex and death and Siouxsie became a raven-haired role model. Revisiting Cathi Unsworth’s 1989 piece in Sounds magazine about the genesis of goth.

A FARE GAME

From 1976: The Case For The Cab

MIT Technology Review Business Cars 22 Oct 2015

Decades before Lyft and Uber, a scholar of transportation argued that the most efficient public transport system might be an army of less-regulated taxis.

BACK FROM THE INTERNET VOID

The Crossing

thecrossingstory.com Long Reads 15 Oct 2015

In 1961, a train hit a school bus outside Greeley, Colorado, killing 20 kids. Kevin Vaughan's 33-chapter story on the crash was published in 2007 to great acclaim, but it subsequently disappeared from the Internet entirely. Luckily, Vaughan had it stored on a DVD — here is the story in it's entirety.

A STUDY OF GENIUS

The Fully Immersive Mind Of Oliver Sacks

Wired Books Culture Human Nature 1 Sep 2015

Pioneering neurologist and author Oliver Sacks died Sunday, August 30 at age 82. In his writings about patients’ sometimes bizarre case studies — which he would call “neurological novels” — Sacks was able to draw out the humanity in pathology. Steve Silberman wrote about Sacks’ own case study in 2002.

HIS WORDS LIVE ON

The Oliver Sacks Reading List

The Atlantic 31 Aug 2015

Writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks passed away Sunday morning — he leaves behind a body of work that reveals a lifetime of asking difficult questions with empathy.