Longreads.com
I like to think political ads are annoying background noise. You like to think so, too. But campaigns and PACs spend big bucks on advertising for a reason, and the reason isn’t that they don’t work. Alexander Sammon traveled to Montana, home of one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the US—Republican Tim Sheehy ended up flipping the seat, claiming...
Tony Hồ Trần routinely visits Chicago cemeteries to document plot markers and grave stones to upload to findagrave.com. But why does he do it? After finding his grandfather’s grave on the site and revealing part of a family mystery, Tran wants to help keep the memory of others alive as long as possible.It’s a good way to spend a Saturday morning—if,...
Dorje Chang captured the minds, hearts, and dollars of devoted followers, sharing his teachings through divinely-inspired art. Is he the third coming of the Buddha? An art professor? A miracle-worker? A strongman? Even still alive? None of the above? I’m still not sure—few are!—but that in no way lessens the pleasure of exploring the ever-branching...
This story was funded by our members. Join Longreads and help us to support more writers.In this edition: The endorphins of community Environmentalism and the far right Richard Gadd, post-Baby Reindeer Documenting graves as a hobby Revolutionary bike riders in Afghanistan1. What I Learned From Destroying Myself at the NYC MarathonWill...
In the arena of “avoidable pain,” there’s very little like the kind the plagues you somewhere after Mile 18 of a marathon. (I do not know this from personal experience, never having ventured past half marathon territory, but I also have zero trouble believing it.) But there’s also very little like the unalloyed bonhomie you get running a major marathon...
If you think everyone on the right flank of US politics believes climate change is a hoax, think again. Abrahm Lustgarten digs into the intersection of environmentalism and racism, specifically the decades-long effort to curtail the arrival of non-white immigrants on US soil. He illuminates this nexus largely through John Tanton, an ophthalmologist,...