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nikitalrichardson · 8 years

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My Favorite Longform Stories of 2016

This incredibly difficult year is finally, finally coming to a close. And for the first time in several years, there was an even more intense focus on what the media world was doing wrong. That scrutiny was deserved at times, but at the same time, beyond the political turmoil (and even in the midst of it), journalists continued to do what they do best, publishing moving, in-depth stories about what it means to live, thrive, and suffer in this world. Below, you’ll find some of my favorite stories from across that great spectrum. (My favorite favorites have three asterisks [***] next to them.) Please enjoy this perpetually incomplete selection and feel free to send the stories that moved you this year my way (@nikitarbk on Twitter).

Looking forward to 2017, Nikita

Sex, Gender & Feminism

Stoya Said Stop by Lizzy Goodman // New York Magazine***

She was one-half of porn’s power couple before she accused her ex-boyfriend James Deen of rape. Now she’s trying to fix the industry from the inside.

What Happens When Women At Black Colleges Report Their Assaults by Anita Badejo // Buzzfeed News

For decades, students at Spelman — the elite historically black women’s college — have spoken out about instances of sexual assault committed by students from Morehouse College, their unofficial brother school. Now, in the wake of a petition, protests, and a federal investigation, their messages are ringing louder than ever. Why haven’t we heard them?

The Savagely Clever Feminist Behind UnREAL by D.T. Max // The New Yorker

On “UnREAL,” a former producer of “The Bachelor” satirizes her experience.

The War On Planned Parenthood by Alex Morris // Rolling Stone***

Inside the Republican stealth campaign to dismantle women's reproductive rights.

The Voice Missing From The Nate Parker Rape Case by Jessica Testa // Buzzfeed News***

From actors to activists, everyone has something to say about The Birth of a Nation controversy. But one voice has been missing: the alleged victim’s. Four years after her death, what we know about her life and fight.

What Women Find in Friends That They May Not Get From Love by Rebecca Traister // The New York Times

Female friendship has been the bedrock of women’s lives for as long as there have been women. In earlier eras, when there was less chance that a marriage, entered often for economic reasons, would provide emotional or intellectual succor, female friends offered intimate ballast.

Social Justice, Crime & Politics

Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom To Be Murdered by Michelle Dean // Buzzfeed News

Dee Dee Blancharde was a model parent: a tireless single mom taking care of her gravely ill child. But after Dee Dee was killed, it turned out things weren’t as they appeared — and her daughter Gypsy had never been sick at all.

Digital Pimps or Fearless Publishers? by Kate Knibbs // The Ringer

The owners of Village Voice Media gamed the online classified business with Backpage.com and made millions. But when it became a breeding ground for child rape, the publishers became something else: defendants.

Most Likely to Destroy a Governor by Andrew Rice // New York Magazine***

Will David Wildstein, star witness in the Bridgegate trial, take down his old high-school classmate Chris Christie?

Jared Kushner’s Second Act by Vicky Ward // Esquire

His father-in-law’s bid for The White House is in shambles. Is he the man to fix it?

Framed by Christopher Goffard // LA Times

She was the PTA mom everyone knew. Who would want to harm her?

The Man In The Woods by Ashley Powers // The California Sunday Magazine

When a mind begins to unravel, who has the right — and the responsibility — to step in?

How Black People Are Being Shut Out Of America’s Weed Boom by Amanda Chicago Lewis // Buzzfeed News***

Black Americans were disproportionately targeted in the “war on drugs.” Now state laws and steep regulatory costs have left them far more likely to be shut out of America’s profitable marijuana boom

How SB Nation Published Their Daniel Holtzclaw Story by Greg Howard // Deadspin***

A complete failure.

The Lives and Lies of a Professional Impostor by James C. McKinley Jr. and Rick Rojas // The New York Times

“There is so much misinformation about me, no one can say with absolute certainty who I am,” Jeremy Wilson said in an interview late last month.

Gabriel Sherman, Roger Ailes, and The Implosion Of Fox News

Former Fox News Booker Says She Was Sexually Harassed and ‘Psychologically Tortured’ by Roger Ailes for More Than 20 Years by Gabriel Sherman // The Cut

Longform Podcast #206: Gabriel Sherman

[More here]

Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All by Jane Mayer // The New Yorker

“The Art of the Deal” made America see Trump as a charmer with an unfailing knack for business. Tony Schwartz helped create that myth—and regrets it.

The Mystifying Triumph Of Hope Hicks, Donald Trump’s Right-Hand Woman by Olivia Nuzzi // GQ***

One day you’re just a smiley PR lackey; the next, you’re a major operative in the nuttiest campaign in decades. Such is the strange year in the life of Hope Hicks, the 27-year-old accidental press secretary for Donald Trump. How did she get here? And how much longer can she last?

A Thousand Pounds Of Dynamite by Adam Higginbotham // The Atavist

By the ambient glow of the instrument panel, Rowley read the second letter from the extortionists whose giant bomb currently sat in the second-floor offices of Harvey’s Wagon Wheel Casino, 20 miles away, back in Stateline, Nevada.

Business & Tech

Zenefits Was the Perfect Startup. Then It Self-Disrupted by Claire Suddath and Eric Newcomer // Bloomberg Businessweek***

What happened when an HR firm had some epic HR problems.

The Battle Over The Sea-Monkey Fortune by Jack Hitt // New York Times Magazine

A former 1960s bondage-film actress is waging legal combat with a toy company for ownership of her husband’s mail-order aquatic-pet empire.

At Tampa Bay Farm-To-Table Restaurants, You’re Being Fed Fiction by Laura Reiley // Tampa Bay Times

With the tagline “Local, simple and honest,” Boca Kitchen Bar Market was among the first wave of farm-to-table restaurants in Tampa Bay to make the assertion “we use local products whenever possible.” I’ve reviewed the food. My own words are right there on their website: “local, thoughtful and, most importantly, delicious.” But I’ve been had, from the snapper down to the beef.

How A Grad Student Found Spyware That Could Control Anybody’s Phone From Anywhere In The World by Bryan Burrough // Vanity Fair***

Last summer, Bill Marczak stumbled across a program that could spy on your iPhone’s contact list and messages—and even record your calls. Illuminating shadowy firms that sell spyware to corrupt governments across the globe, Marczak’s story reveals the new arena of cyber-warfare.

Ready For Prime Time by Andrew Marantz // The New Yorker

After twenty-five years as a road comic, Leslie Jones becomes a star.

The Fight for the Future of NPR by Leon Neyfakh // Slate***

A slow-moving bureaucracy. An antiquated business model. A horde of upstart competitors. Can National Public Radio survive?

Searching For Sundar Pichai by Mat Honan // Buzzfeed News***

You may not know him by name just yet, but he’s one of the most powerful people alive. Google’s new CEO Sundar Pichai wants to bring the internet to the rest of the world, all while winning back your trust.

No Accident: Inside GM’s Deadly Ignition Switch Scandal by Max Blau // Atlanta Magazine

Marietta attorney Lance Cooper was looking for answers behind a single crash. What he found led to a recall of 30 million vehicles.

Culture

How the Video of Christine Chubbuck’s Suicide Became a Very Macabre ‘Holy Grail’ by Abraham Reisman // Vulture

At the time of her death, Christine Chubbuck was not by any means a well-known newscaster, so for decades afterward, her legacy — inasmuch as she had one — became defined entirely by her final act.

An Isolated Tribe Emerges From The Rain Forest by Jon Lee Anderson // The New Yorker

In Peru, an unsolved killing has brought the Mashco Piro into contact with the outside world.

Kevin Dawes: Searching For A Missing American In Syria by James Harkin // GQ UK

With the conflict escalating and ISIS spreading, Syria remains the most dangerous place in the world for foreign doctors and journalists. Into that void has fallen a horde of adrenaline-junkie amateurs and one YouTube-trained field medic, have-a-go guerilla and wannabe hero - now missing for more than three years.

The Pop Star of Jihad by Amos Barshad // The FADER***

The strange tale of Deso Dogg, the German rapper who fled to Syria to sing songs for ISIS.

The Nazi Underground by Jake Halpern // The New Yorker

Is treasure buried beneath the mountains of Poland?

Inside The World’s Chicest Cult by Marisa Meltzer // Harper’s Bazaar

Everyone has a threshold for New Age spirituality. At Spirit Weavers, a highly Instagrammable, sold-out women's retreat, I hit mine.

The Unbelievable Tale Of Jesus’ Wife by Ariel Sabar // The Atlantic***

A hotly contested, supposedly ancient manuscript suggests Christ was married. But believing its origin story—a real-life Da Vinci Code, involving a Harvard professor, a onetime Florida pornographer, and an escape from East Germany—requires a big leap of faith.

They’re Not There by Daniel Ralston // Buzzfeed News

In 1969, the Zombies had a huge hit single, despite having broken up two years earlier. To meet the unexpected demand, one promoter did the only sensible thing: Hire four kids from Texas to tour America pretending to be a defunct British psych-rock band.

The Rise & Fall & Rise of Lizzie Grubman In Three Acts

Welcome To The Dollhouse by Vanessa Grigoriadis // New York Magazine (1998) - Perky, pretty, and remarkably plugged-in, a pack of young publicists have become the darlings of New York's demimonde. But be careful -- they bite.

Reversal of Fortune by Alex Williams & Beth Landman // New York Magazine (2001) - Lizzie Grubman was a girl who had everything: burgeoning career, glittering social life, powerful father. And when a girl like that gets into trouble like Lizzie's Conscience Point catastrophe, the war really begins.

Is Lizzie Grubman a Changed ‘Party Girl’? by Ben Widdicome // The New York Times - Lizzie Grubman, who has been mellowed by marriage and two children, is now energized by her P.R. firm’s move into talent management and television production.

The Last Island Of The Savages by Adam Goodheart // The American Scholar***

Journeying to the Andaman Islands to meet the most isolated tribe on Earth.

A Polygamist Cult's Last Stand: The Rise and Fall of Warren Jeffs by Jesse Hyde // Rolling Stone

The largest polygamist community in America is run by a madman in jail — who's started a civil war.

What To Expect When You’re Expecting The Collapse Of Society As We Know It by Anne Helen Petersen // Buzzfeed News***

Millions of Americans may identify as “preppers,” but most don’t have massive stockpiles of guns, dress in camo, or live off the grid. They’re more like Lisa Bedford, the “Survival Mom,” who’s built a massive following simply by suggesting that being ready — for a financial crisis, for a massive natural disaster, for a terrorist attack — is just common sense.

Personal & Opinion

The Reluctant Memoirist by Suki Kim // The New Republic

An investigative journalist returns from an undercover mission in North Korea—only to face her critics.

The Weight Of James Arthur Baldwin by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah // Buzzfeed News

Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah travels to James Baldwin’s home in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, and examines the impact of a writer whose legacy cannot be erased.

The Baby I Lost, the Person I’m Finding by Leandra Medine // Man Repeller

I stopped seeing that IVF doctor, took the summer to stop thinking about procreation and in September — with an editorial director and new president of Man Repeller confidently in place, reinvigorated emotionally, intellectually, physically and bullishly ready to start over — I began seeing a new doctor. At my second visit, he informed me that I was four weeks pregnant.

Giving Up Alcohol Opened My Eyes To The Infuriating Truth About Why Women Drink by Kristi Coulter // Quartz via Medium

I’m newly sober and dog-paddling through the booze all around me. It’s summer, and Whole Foods has planted rosé throughout the store. Rosé is great with fish! And strawberries! And vegan protein powder! (Okay, I made that last one up.)

This Is Not My Beautiful House by Kim France // Medium***

Not long after marrying the man I would go on to divorce, I bought a Brooklyn brownstone that satisfied all my most fetishistic Brooklyn brownstone fantasies, and made me feel as though I had achieved a big old piece of the dream.

Celebrity & Fame

Finding Raffi by Sheila Hati // New York Magazine***

The wondrous — and occasionally weird — relationship between the children’s-music superstar, his fans, and the man he used to be.

When Kanye Was the ‘Urkel’ of the Studio: A Former Rapper Writes About Meeting West in His Youth by Jensen Karp // Vulture***

More than 15 years ago Jensen Karp was Hot Karl, an up-and-coming rapper who parlayed competitive freestyle success into a record deal. His rap career never took off, but he did come away with some juicy tales.

Frank Ocean Is Finally Free, Mystery Intact by Jon Caramanica // New York Times Magazine

Mr. Ocean is restless and more than happy to drape himself in shadows. Here, he talks about being elusive, making music and regaining control of his career.

Meet The Woman Who Owns The Brangelina Gossip Corner by Allison P. Davis // The Ringer

How a 12-year-old celebrity blog became essential again

The Secret History of Tiger Woods by Wright Thompson // ESPN Magazine

The death of his father set a battle raging inside the world's greatest golfer. How he waged that war -- through an obsession with the Navy SEALs -- is the tale of how Tiger lost his way.

Why Viggo Mortensen Is Off The Grid by Lisa DePaulo // Esquire

Multiple blockbusters, an Oscar nomination, piercing blue eyes—who’s that guy again?

Money for Nothing: The Lucrative World of Club Appearances by Carrie Battan // GQ

How rappers, Real Housewives, and lesser Kardashians get paid just for showing up at the club.

Charlie Sheen, HIV, a Tabloid and My Insane 2-Year Hunt for a Story by Dylan Howard // The Hollywood Reporter

Dylan Howard was the volatile actor's confidant until the National Enquirer editor began investigating rumors that Sheen was HIV positive. Then it was war. And that’s a story, told here for the first time, almost too crazy to believe.

The Unbearable Sadness of Ben Affleck by Anne Helen Petersen // Buzzfeed News

The Ben Affleck of the late ‘90s was a charm machine: goofy, self-effacing, and deep in a highly public bromance with the equally winning Matt Damon. Within five years, he was a punchline. It took a decade for his career to recover. Today, he’s once again at war with his image. So what’s Affleck so ashamed of?

The Digital Dirt by Nicholas Schmidle // The New Yorker

How TMZ gets the videos and photos that celebrities want to hide.

Marina Abramovic At 70 by Carl Swanson // New York Magazine

The world’s most famous performance artist has outlasted her lovers and, she hopes, her critics.

How Visionary Chef Sean Brock Nearly Went Blind by Brett Martin // GQ***

Sean Brock, one of the South's leading chefs, has been secretly suffering from a mysterious disease—exacerbated by working (and living) too hard—that rendered him nearly blind.

Archival

Upon This Rock by John Jeremiah Sullivan // GQ (2004)***

Rock music used to be a safe haven for degenerates and rebels. Until it found Jesus.

Still Life by Skip Hollandsworth // Texas Monthly (2009)

Thirty-five years ago, Dallas was gripped by the tragic story of John McClamrock, a high school football player paralyzed during a violent tackle. But after the newspapers moved on, another story was quietly unfolding, one of courage, perseverance, and a mother’s fierce love.

Opium Made Easy by Michael Pollan // Harper’s Bazaar (1997)***

It’s legal to buy poppy seeds in America and it’s legal to plant them—unless you’re familiar with the simple process of turning them into opium, that is. Then having poppies in your garden is a felony.

American Hunger by David Remnick // The New Yorker (1998)

As an ambitious, searching young man, Cassius Clay invented himself, and became  the most original and magnetic athlete of the century—Muhammad Ali.

XXXXL by Michael Paterniti // GQ (2005)

Leonid S. is eight and a half feet tall, and he is still growing. He is 34 years old, weighs 480 pounds, and he is still growing. He can't fit in a car, wears size 26 EEEEE shoes, can pick apples eleven feet off the ground standing flat-footed, and yes, he is still growing. Michael Paterniti journeyed 9,000 miles to a tiny village in the Ukraine to learn from the world's tallest man.

The Canvas And The Triangle by Lesley M. Blume // Vanity Fair (2012)

On the 100th anniversary of Pollock’s birth, Lesley M. M. Blume chronicles the dramatic ongoing battle over what may have been an American master’s last canvas.

Marathon Man by Mark Singer // The New Yorker (2012)

A Michigan dentist’s improbable transformation.

Cheap Words by George Packer // The New Yorker (2014)

Amazon is good for customers. But is it good for books?

A Bug In The System by Wil S. Hylton // The New Yorker (2015)***

Why last night's chicken made you sick.

The Worst Parents Ever by Michael J. Mooney // D Magazine (2015)

Inside the story of Ethan Couch and the "affluenza" phenomenon.

An Unbelievable Story Of Rape by T. Christian Miller, ProPublica and Ken Armstrong, The Marshall Project // ProPublica (2015)

An 18-year-old said she was attacked at knifepoint. Then she said she made it up. That’s where our story begins.

There Will Be Blood by Andy Mannix // MinnPost (2015)

Every year, roughly 40,000 people die in Minnesota. For some, it’s weeks or months before anyone finds them. Meet the crew who comes in to clean up the mess.

#Longreads #The New Yorker #Vanity Fair #GQ #New York Magazine #Buzzfeed News #Journalism #New York Times Magazine

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