We have no idea how Jeff Maysh continually finds some of our planet’s most engrossing stories. Maybe like Germany’s Bridegroom’s Oak, it’s better not to interrogate the magic. This time, Maysh offers a tale so stunningly mystical, that by the time its protagonist's doubt has been conquered, even the most cynical reader will be considering writing a letter to the only tree with its own postal address.
Hideous Men By E. Jean Carroll for The Cut (~30 minutes)
Journalist and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll’s first-person cover story has sparked a national conversation given its recounting of an alleged act of sexual assault by President Donald Trump—and rightfully so (Trump denied the allegation). But beyond being a piece of critically important breaking news, Carroll’s article is a radically powerful example of literary rawness as she recounts her life through encounters with the horrifying men who have attempted to subjugate it.
Somehow, William Langewiesche, a master of the form, finds the perfect balance between geospatial geekery and riveting human drama in this investigation, with simple passages that left us stunned, like this one:
“An intentional depressurization would have been an obvious way—and probably the only way—to subdue a potentially unruly cabin in an airplane that was going to remain in flight for hours to come. In the cabin, the effect would have gone unnoticed but for the sudden appearance of the drop-down oxygen masks and perhaps the cabin crew’s use of the few portable units of similar design. None of those cabin masks was intended for more than about 15 minutes of use during emergency descents to altitudes below 13,000 feet; they would have been of no value at all cruising at 40,000 feet. The cabin occupants would have become incapacitated within a couple of minutes, lost consciousness, and gently died without any choking or gasping for air. The scene would have been dimly lit by the emergency lights, with the dead belted into their seats, their faces nestled in the worthless oxygen masks dangling on tubes from the ceiling.”
An eye-opening look at the organization that runs the world’s most famous golf tournament. Paumgarten takes a step back from the nest of reporters and peels back the layers of secrecy, seriousness, and complicity.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft will likely get away with the two counts of solicitation against him but the employees of the Jupiter, Fla. massage parlor he visited risk going to prison. Deadspin continues its important coverage of the NFL’s power dynamics.
A former New York Observer editor reckons with the idea that the boyish man that once clashed with his editorial staff is now one of the world’s most powerful people.
Church vs. State By Adam Willis for The Virginia Quarterly Review (~30 minutes)
The Catholic Church could help stop the killings of the Philippines’ drug war. But as the president of the country chips away at the church’s veneration, priests themselves no longer know their standing in the culture. “In the end, they are not just killing bodies,” a member of the Catholic resistance said, “they are killing our logic, and they are killing our moral foundations.”
For YA authors, a comment on Goodreads means just as much as–or more than–a New York Times review. Scaachi Koul weaves through her experience dealing with the site in this story about author Kathleen Hale. In 2014, Hale tracked down a Goodreads critic–up to her house–and wrote about it. Today, she’s dealing with the repercussions of her actions.
Anna Merlan’s description of how the seemingly unkillable anti-vaccine movement is “an engine for radicalization” would be the stuff of nightmares, if it wasn’t the stuff of reality.
Italy’s agricultural sector is booming and the tomato industry is worth almost three billion Euros. That’s in large part because of the systematic exploitation of immigrant workers–the “new slaves” according to Italy's interior minister, Matteo Salvini.
I once had a friend who volunteered that he would be very good at being rich because he would know how to spend his money on the right things. After reading Matt Tyrnauer's profile on talk show host, game show inventor, big band singer, and entrepreneur Merv Griffin, I can imagine the same fatuous words coming out of his mouth.
Classic Read curator Jack Shafer writes about media for Politico.
Photojournalists often run toward dangerous news scenes while a crowd runs the other way, but Dallas Morning News photographer Tom Fox took professional bravery to a new level on June 17, when he photographed a masked gunman outside a federal building in downtown Dallas. Fox’s quick reaction and steady hand provided a rare chance to look into the eyes of an active shooter. A downtown resident in an apartment above him captured the moment on video, showing Fox hiding behind a pillar just feet from the stalking gunman, 22-year-old Brian Clyde, who was killed after exchanging gunfire with officers.
Patrick Farrell, the curator of The Sunday Still, is the 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winner for Breaking News Photography for The Miami Herald, where he worked from 1987 to 2019. He is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Journalism and Media Management at the University of Miami School of Communication.
This is the first episode of the new Vox series Missing Chapter about hidden histories. Here, learn about a virtually unknown 19th century North Carolina racial coup that informs race relations today. This is anything but your high school history class. Vox is too much of a smart fresh voice with sharp visual sensibilities to let that happen!
The Long View curator Justine Gubar is an Executive Producer at Bleacher Report and the author of Fanaticus: Mischief and Madness in the Modern Sports Fan. Reach out to Justine at justinegubar@mac.com if you have a suggestion for next week's Long View.
The federal Fair Housing Act and rules about when men and women can use a condo's swimming pool collided in an April 2019 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The court found that "the schedule actually adopted by the Condominium Association is plainly unequal in its allotment of favorable swimming times." In a short concurrence, Judge Fuentes cited the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954.
Sunday Esoterica curator Ryan Rodenberg works as a professor at Florida State University, where he teaches research methods and sports law. He writes a lot of academic articles and some mainstream pieces too.
Over at ICv2, a business-centric comic book and pop culture site founded by former comic book distributor, Milton Griepp, longtime comic book retailer Chuck Rozanski (via veteran journalist and Hero Initiative founder Jim McLauchlin) gives some valuable, much-needed insight into the day to day of running a comic shop. Why Chuck Rozanski? The guy’s a veteran, with close to 50 years of experience leading one of the largest comic book retailer chains in the world, Mile High Comics. In this thoughtful piece, Rozanski goes over his early trials and mistakes, some of his biggest purchases and comic collection finds, the logistics of being a retailer at San Diego Comic Con - and how it’s changed, and how 2019 is a critical year for comic shop owners. An engaging, insightful read that gives readers a peek into the mind of one of the world’s most successful shop owners - and his thoughts on the industry and its business practices today. If you want more intel on the history and state of comic shop retailing, check out Dan Gearino’s excellent Comic Shop - a well-researched and human look at the front lines of selling comics in the modern age (and how we got here).
Alex Segura is an acclaimed author, a comic book writer written various comic books, including The Archies, Archie Meets Ramones, and Archie Meets KISS. He is also the co-creator and co-writer of the Lethal Lit podcast from iHeart Radio, which was named one of the Five Best Podcasts of 2018 by The New York Times. By day, Alex is Co-President of Archie Comics. You can find him at www.alexsegura.com.
Founder, Curator: Don Van Natta Jr. Producer, Curator: Jacob Feldman Producer, Curator: Étienne Lajoie Senior Recycling Editor: Jack Shafer Senior Long View Editor: Justine Gubar Senior Photo Editor: Patrick Farrell Senior Music Editor: Kelly Dearmore Senior Podcast Editor: Jody Avirgan Senior Editor of Esoterica: Ryan M. Rodenberg Senior Originals Editor: Peter Bailey-Wells Sunday Comics Editor: Alex Segura
Digital Team: Nation Hahn, Nickolaus Hines, Megan McDonell, Alexa Steinberg Podcast Team: Cary Barbor, Julian McKenzie, Jonathan Yales Webmaster: Ana Srikanth Campus Editor: Peter Warren
Contributor in memoriam: Lyra McKee 1990-2019
Contributing Editors: Bruce Arthur, Shaun Assael, Nick Aster, Alex Belth, Sara J. Benincasa, Jonathan Bernstein, Sara Blask, Greg Bishop, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Maria Bustillos, Chris Cillizza, Anna Katherine Clemmons, Rich Cohen, Jonathan Coleman, Pam Colloff, Maureen Dowd, Charles Duhigg, Brett Michael Dykes, Geoff Edgers, Hadley Freeman, Lea Goldman, Michael N. Graff, Maggie Haberman, Reyhan Harmanci, Virginia Heffernan, Matthew Hiltzik, Jena Janovy, Bomani Jones, Chris Jones, Peter Kafka, Paul Kix, Mina Kimes, Peter King, Michael Kruse, Tom Lamont, Edmund Lee, Chris Lehmann, Will Leitch, Jon Mackenzie, Glynnis MacNicol, Drew Magary, Erik Malinowski, Jonathan Martin, Betsy Fischer Martin, Jeff Maysh, Jack McCallum, Lyra McKee, Susan McPherson, Ana Menendez, Kevin Merida, Heidi N. Moore, Eric Neel, Joe Nocera, Ashley R. Parker, Anne Helen Petersen, Jo Piazza, Joe Posnanski, S.L. Price, Jennifer Romolini, Julia Rubin, Albert Samaha, Bob Sassone, Bruce Schoenfeld, Michael Schur, Joe Sexton, Jacqui Shine, Alexandra Sifferlin, Rachel Sklar, Dan Shanoff, Ben Smith, Adam Sternbergh,Matt Sullivan, Wright Thompson, Pablo Torre, Kevin Van Valkenburg, Nikki Waller, John A. Walsh, Seth Wickersham and Karen Wickre.
Header Image: Leo Espinosa
You can read more about our staff, and contact us (we'd love to hear from you!) on our website: sundaylongread.com. Help pick next week's selections by tweeting us your favorite stories with #SundayLR.