The Long Form Journalism Database
The Long Form Journalism Database curates and shares the best longform articles on the internet.
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Thirty years ago, when legal sports betting was just a pipe dream, Homer Simpson discovered that his daughter could pick winners. This is the story of “Lisa the Greek.”
New
The Ringer
9 February 2022
Alan Siegel
"Praying Lisa Simpson reasons with Buddha, 'Lord Buddha, I know I'm not supposed to want stuff, but c'mon!' The Simpsons, Lisa Simpson, This Isn't Your Life, Season 22 : Ep. 5, Buddhism in Western Culture, Springfield, American TV, FOX, Hulu.com" by Wonderlane is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Ken Regan finds moves out of mind.
Classic
Chess Life
1 June 2014
Howard Goldowsky
"Chess computer" by Long Zheng is licensed under CC BY 2.0
With “MeatEater” on Netflix and a growing roster of podcasts, he is teaching a new kind of hunter about how killing animals can be part of loving nature.
New
The New York Times Magazine
2 February 2022
Malia Wollan
Photo by Pascal Debrunner on Unsplash
When Canadian blockchain whiz Gerald Cotten died unexpectedly last year, hundreds of millions of dollars in investor funds vanished into the crypto ether. But when the banks, the law, and the forces of Reddit tried to track down the cash, it turned out the young mogul may not have been who he purported to be.
Classic
Vanity Fair
22 November 2019
Nathaniel Rich
The news that Gray was missing shocked the high tech community. The lanky coder had been a computing legend since the 1970s. His work helped make possible such mainstays of modern life as cash machines, ecommerce, online ticketing, and deep databases like Google.
Classic
Wired
24 July 2007
Steve Silberman
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Hundreds of millions of users. No algorithm. No ads. Courage in the face of autocracy. Sound like a dream? Careful what you wish for.
New
Wired
8 February 2022
Darren Loucaides
"Apps de mensajería para iOS: Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Messages" by microsiervos is licensed.
Fighters in one of the state’s newest sumo clubs, in Dallas, want the sport to keep growing—without losing the traditions that define it.
New
Texas Monthly
8 February 2022
Madeleine Aggeler
"Sumo" by davidgsteadman is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Fighters in one of the state’s newest sumo clubs, in Dallas, want the sport to keep growing—without losing the traditions that define it.
Classic
SB Nation
5 August 2015
Rick Paulas
"Softball Bats" by Gwenaël Piaser is licensed under CC PDM 1.0
Monday, February 7, 2022
From shearling Uggs to Hoka dad sneakers and rainbow Tevas, Deckers Outdoor Corp. keeps selling us the most hideous uglycore footwear.
New
Bloomberg Businessweek
3 February 2022
Kim Bhasin
Photo by Thibault Penin on Unsplash
Not since the days of Babe Ruth has one of baseball's greatest hitters also been one of its finest pitchers. Now, the reigning MVP is opening up for the first time about his singular place in modern baseball.
New
GQ
12 January 2022
Daniel Riley
"Shohei Ohtani" by shinya is licensed
Friday, February 4, 2022
Cannabis attitudes have changed since Ross Rebagliati’s Olympic mishap in 1998, but pro sports remain stuck in the past.
New
The Walrus
3 February 2022
Alex Cyr
"Anti Doping" by Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious is licensed
New
Wired
3 February 2022
Becca Andrews
Who owns London’s most expensive mansion?
Classic
The New Yorker
23 May 2015
Ed Caesar
"Witanhurst - in Highgate Village" by newformula is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Classic
Vanity Fair
1 April 2009
Mark Seal
"Bernie Madoff by Yan Pei-Ming at San Francisco Art Institute - 159" by Steve Rhodes is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
The Premier League’s greatest rivalry can be traced back to two barnstorming, spiteful and fleetingly tender semi-finals in 1983
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NTZR
10 January 2022
Rob Smyth
Thursday, February 3, 2022
Last summer's collapse in Surfside, Fla., exposed a startling truth: there are thousands of aging condo buildings that could be next-- and few steps being taken to prevent another tragedy.
New
The New York Times Magazine
28 January 2022
Matthew Shaer
Photo by Antonio Cuellar on Unsplash
Rookie cards are selling for millions and NFTs are thriving. The question isn't just how big the bubble will grow but what will happen once it pops
Classic
The Walrus
4 August 2021
Sheena Rossiter
Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash
She thought she was Irish until a DNA test opened a 100 year-old mystery.
Classic
Washington Post
27 July 2017
Libby Copeland
Four years ago, the Minnesota phenom won historic Olympic gold in cross-country skiing, alongside Kikkan Randall. She was just getting going.
New
Outside
24 January 2022
Ariella Gintzler
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
Classic
Gizmodo
5 February 2016
Sam Biddle
Andy Cush
"Satoshi Nakamoto visits Net2van's bitcoin event." by Elijah is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
With the Beijing Olympics underway, Canada’s curling elite are facing an impossible question: Is competing for medals worth risking Canada’s identity in the sport?
New
Sportsnet
2 February 2022
Kristina Rutherford
"Curling" by Benson Kua is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Hospitals are leaning harder than ever on underpaid contract staffers, many from the Philippines. The ones who are suing could change that.
New
Bloomberg Businessweek
2 February 2022
Josh Eidelson
Photo by Vladimir Fedotov on Unsplash
Waste removal is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. On the darkened streets of New York City, it’s a race for survival.
Classic
ProPublica
4 January 2018
Kiera Feldman
"New York City Department of Sanitation" by BriYYZ is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Jerry Falwell Jr. was the Trump-anointing dark prince of the Christian right. Then a sex scandal rocked his marriage and ended his lucrative stewardship of the evangelical education empire founded by his father. In a series of exclusive interviews, Falwell—accompanied by his wife, Becki—describes the events that led to his ouster, their fallout, and why he’s finally ready to admit he never had much use for his father’s church anyway.
New
Vanity Fair
24 January 2022
Gabriel Sherman
Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Gary Hersham has been selling houses to the very rich for decades. At first, £1m was a big deal. Now he sells for £50m, £100m, even £200m. What does it take to stay on top in this cut-throat business?
New
The Guardian
27 January 2022
Sophie Elmhirst
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
A young paleontologist may have discovered a record of the most significant event in the history of life on earth.
Classic
The New Yorker
29 March 2019
Douglas Preston
Canada plans to store spent nuclear fuel deep, deep underground in the Great Lakes basin. That is, if an industry group can find a community willing to play host
New
The Narwhal
19 January 2022
Emma McIntosh
Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash
They were an all-star crew. They cooked up the perfect plan. And when they pulled off the caper of the century, it made them more than a fortune—it made them folk heroes.
Classic
GQ
20 February 2020
Josh Dean
Monday, January 31, 2022
For years, Buca was the place to go for glitzy, big-ticket nights out. Its founders tried to replicate the experience across the city, fuelled by massive infusions of investment capital and faith that the restaurant industry would never die. Then the music stopped. How did a sprawling empire wind up $35 million in debt?
Classic
Toronto Life
22 September 2021
Chris Nuttall-Smith
A Times investigation reveals how Israel reaped diplomatic gains around the world from NSO’s Pegasus spyware — a tool America itself purchased but is now trying to ban.
New
The New York Times Magazine
28 January 2022
Ronen Bergman
Mark Mazzetti
A shock and awe campaign could overwhelm Eastern Europe.
New
Unherd
29 January 2022
Aris Roussinos
Photo by Yana Melnichenko on Unsplash
In the wake of Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest and apparent suicide, Prince Andrew moved from the fringe of a swirling underage-sex scandal toward its white-hot center. His clumsy attempt to clear his name, in a no-holds-barred interview with BBC Newsnight, set the stage for his royal demotion—and his coming court battle.
New
Vanity Fair
27 January 2022
Mark Seal
Photo by King's Church International on Unsplash
Saturday, January 29, 2022
The inside story of an improbable team of divers, a near-impossible plan and the rescue of 12 boys from a Thai cave
Classic
Maclean's
25 January 2019
Shannon Gormley
There are 262 homes on the picturesque Toronto Islands, and the battle to get one is epic. Inside the fight over a prime property that’s ripping the tight-knit community in two
Classic
Toronto Life
23 June 2021
Katherine Laidlaw
Photo by Edward Koorey on Unsplash
He appeared out of nowhere. He had no name, no memory, no past. He was the only person the FBI ever listed as missing even though they knew where he was. How could B.K. Doe remain anonymous in the modern age’s matrix of observation?
Classic
The New Republic
21 November 2016
Matt Wolfe
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
Friday, January 28, 2022
Adrian Hong says he leads a group of “freedom fighters” conducting a revolution. Has the U.S. already betrayed them?
Classic
The New Yorker
16 November 2020
Suki Kim
Photo by Steve Barker on Unsplash
Teenage freestyle skier Eileen Gu is the daredevil face of Xi Jinping’s winter sports initiative and a sponsor’s dream: a gold-medal contender with no desire to talk politics.
New
Bloomberg Businessweek
27 January 2022
Ellen Huet
Sarah Chen
Allen Wan
Demand for gold has risen in recent years. Not everyone is happy about that, especially some residents of Grass Valley.
New
Undark
24 January 2022
Becki Robins
Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash
The supermodel’s imperious gaze came to define the ’90s. Now, she says a cosmetic procedure has stolen her looks, her livelihood, her very identity. So whose fault is that?
New
Maclean's
20 January 2022
Leah McLaren
Photo by Tamara Gak on Unsplash
In 1865, a failed stockbroker tries to pull off one of the boldest financial schemes in American history: the original big short.
Classic
The Boston Globe
22 April 2020
David K. Thomson
Thursday, January 27, 2022
Pete Forde was a good landlord and a great friend, or so his tenants thought. Then they discovered he was filming them in their most private moments. The sinister world of spying for sport.
Classic
Toronto Life
17 October 2018
Katherine Laidlaw
Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash
New
The Washington Post
18 January 2022
Paul Schwartzman
Foreign students are lied to and exploited on every front. They’re also propping up higher education as we know it.
Classic
The Walrus
8 December 2021
Nicholas Hune-Brown
Photo by Nastya Dulhiier on Unsplash
Teachers from across America share what school is like two years into a pandemic.
New
Esquire
25 January 2022
Jack Holmes
Photo by Maria Teneva on Unsplash
On January 28, 1922, the Knickerbocker Theatre’s snow-covered roof collapsed, killing 98 people and injuring another 133.
New
The Smithsonian Magazine
26 January 2022
Kellie B. Gormly
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Seven High Point Road in the Bridle Path was supposed to be the ultimate symbol of achievement for the couple that bought it. Today, it’s the grandest remnant of an alleged real estate scam that left a trail of victims, $17 million unaccounted for and one young lawyer in hiding
Classic
Toronto Life
1 November 2018
Nicolas Köhler
Photo by Eduardo Vázquez on Unsplash
Lithuania's bold entry into global geopolitics.
New
Doomberg
21 January 2022
Photo by Lāsma Artmane on Unsplash
How literature is helping people navigate mental health issues.
New
The Walrus
7 January 2022
Katrya Bolger
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Russian belligerence has drawn the world’s attention back to the eight-year-old secessionist rebellion in the Donbas region: a deadlocked, time-warped conflict with no end in sight.
New
The New York Times
16 January 2022
James Verini
Photo by Artur Voznenko on Unsplash
What happens when the frenzy ends and the world doesn’t value your valuables?
New
Vox
12 January 2022
Emily Stewart
Photo by Trym Nilsen on Unsplash
For more than half a century, the people of Easter Island lived under an oppressive colonial regime. Then a schoolteacher sparked an unlikely revolution.
New
The Atavist Magazine
1 January 2022
Mike Damiano
Photo by Thomas Griggs on Unsplash
His world was radically altered by “Jackass.” But now, Jason Acuña has harnessed his fame to live the life of his dreams.
New
The New York Times Magazine
24 January 2022
Caity Weaver
Monday, January 24, 2022
The revolutionary dating app made a lot of people rich. Co-founder Sean Rad didn't feel rich enough.
New
New York Magazine
14 January 2022
Jesse Barron
Photo by Gabriel Meinert on Unsplash
How two blockbuster franchises changed fandom forever.
New
The Ringer
17 December 2021
Joanna Robinson
Photo by Jules Marvin Eguilos on Unsplash
Educated in a Canadian-funded school, they became Afghanistan’s best and brightest young women. Today they live in fear, abandoned to the Taliban.
New
Maclean's
17 January 2022
Adnan R. Khan
Photo by Joel Heard on Unsplash
At Trump's first rally of the year, the former President wasn't the only person selling a fantasy.
New
The New Yorker
20 January 2022
Rachel Monroe
Photo by Natilyn Hicks (Aubrey Hicks Photography) on Unsplash
As the fate of elections is increasingly tied to analytics, we could end up with voters nobody will bother trying to persuade.
New
The Walrus
2 January 2022
Stephen Maher