Longform journalism, creative nonfiction, and memoirs/essays are my favorite types of writing to read– which is why I’m addicted to Longreads, a well-curated and diverse collection of contemporary articles and the like that are… well… “long.” Lately I’ve had time to catch up on some articles I’d been meaning to dig into, and just thought I’d share a few I found fascinating.
The People V. Football, by Jeanne Marie Laskas, via GQ: This is a story that draws you in at the top with powerful, personal narrative and doesn’t let you go until you’ve learn a lot, almost on accident! It’s a story about the dangers of hitting in football, and the controversy surrounding making changes to the game– but it’s also a story about what happens to a marriage and to a family when the consequences of consistent and brutal concussions set in.
Dangerous Worlds: Teaching Film in Prison, by Ann Snitow, via Dissent: A gender studies professor teaches a cinema course called “Express Yourself” at a nearby prison and provides a detailed account of the experience. It touches on themes of identity, equality, feminism and the potential impacs liberal education could have in prison settings.
The Girl from Trails End, by Kathie Dobie, via GQ: It was a horrific story that shocked and disgusted the nation when it came out — an 11-year-old girl gang raped repeatedly by nineteen men and boys. But initial reports didn’t investigate and share the entire story — one that when fully told, opens our eyes to many of the societal and legal issues that need to be addressed to prevent anything like this from happening again.
Kiki Kannibal: The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, via Rolling Stone: This story touches on similar themes of childhood and adolescent identity, sexuality and exploitation, as well as the consequences of certain uses of the Internet and social media. It raises questions about what constitutes artistic expression, whether there are lines between our offline and online lives and when and how they’re blurred, what a parent’s role should be in terms of monitoring or restricting access to the Internet, and whether new regulations need to be put into place regarding what is and what is not fair use, especially when the content or themes involve minors.
Teaching Good Sex, by Laurie Abraham, via the New York Times: When we think “comprehensive sex ed”, we often think “sex ed that’s more than abstinence-only”…. but the course featured in this article is comprehensive to it’s definition, covering concepts such as sexual identity, orientation and pleasure, not just mechanics, from the get-go. The goal is to make students both physically and psychologically healthy when it comes to sex. A quote that asks the question this course could be the answer to: “Porn is the model for today’s middle-school and high-school students,” Paul Joannides said in the keynote speech. “And none of us is offering an alternative that’s even remotely appealing.”
And just for fun…
Taste Has Never Met Shame: I Love You, Conor Oberst!, by Ben Dolnick, via The Awl: We all have a one (or a couple…or more) of these music favorites: you’re a little ashamed to love them so much, not least because you look different than the rest of the fans at a show, but you still do. I don’t mean the pop acts you pretend you’re embarrassed to like – the Biebers and the Britneys and the former Disney stars – but the acts whose music emotionally moved you in your adolescence and that you haven’t and won’t let go of, but that you feel like you should have “grown out of.” And whether it’s Conor Oberst or not, this quote rings true: “Sometimes I think there ought to be a coat of arms for all of us who listen to Oberst’s band Bright Eyes past the age of twenty-six. WITH LOVE AND SHAME, the motto would read. The handwriting would be the cramped and tortured scribble of a high school freshman.”
You Blow My Mind. Hey Mickey!, by John Jeremiah Sullivan, via NYT Magazine: I read this earlier this year but came across it again and had to post… I was kind of shocked to find it printed in that specific magazine, because it’s about two dads getting high in Disney World out of what’s essentially described as a survival necessity, which is, well, illegal. But it’s a funny read, and also an introspective one — a look at the concept of a family vacation, the tradition of Disney World, and a theme I can’t quite describe but is shared by entities like Dad Rock.
And finally…
The Second Second Date Story, by Todd Kelly via The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: This is one isn’t really “long”, perse, but it’s just plain sweet.
