Longreads
The making of a T-shirt mogul and leader of Mets fans
Darren Meenan’s obsession with the Mets began with a security guard at the Shea Stadium press entrance: his grandfather, Bill. More
(11)Longreads partners with 'The Atlantic'
Longreads, the long-form journalism aggregator founded by Mark Armstrong in 2009, has a struck a partnership with The Atlantic. More
A collection of the most fun media stories we read (and wrote) in 2012
There are less than 12 hours left in 2012 (and less than 48 left in the media snooze-fest that is the week between Christmas and New Year), so we thought we'd end the year with a selection of some of the deep media stories we had the most fun reading this year (and a couple we had a lot of fun writing, at the end). More
After Sandy, a great and complex city reveals traumas new and old
Now it's the aftermath—businesses without power, days without work, cars without fuel, homes without heat or light, shops without food, sick without medical care—that is taking its toll, and making new, often shocking, demands on the city and its citizens. More
(3)Mutants of rap: DMC, Jean Grae and others on the enduring connection between comic books and hip-hop
"When Run was like, 'write a rhyme,' I was like, I’ve never sold drugs. I’ve never been to jail. I’ve never been shot. That shit hurts! So when I wrote rhymes I had so sound big, bad—everything had to come out," DMC said. "I was the microphone master, devastating mic controller. I had to have super powers. So I took them from the comics I was into." More
How New York immigration judges are upending a federal crackdown
In a flat, emotionless voice, Judge Bain plowed through lengthy statutes and subsections cited in her ruling as she prepared to announce her decision. Finally she faced the young man whose fate was hanging in the balance.
"I am granting you relief," she said, and signaled him to approach the bench and shake her hand. "Congratulations." More
(2)'Shove it': A portrait of a gay-marriage Republican in limbo
BALLSTON SPA—The next paragraph in the gay rights narrative will be written here, in a windowless vault filled with old paper and softly quibbling lawyers, next week. More
From wildlife refuge to table: A story about the culled Jamaica Bay geese
Since 2009, when Captain Chesley (Sully) Sullenburger had to land in the Hudson due to a bird strike by a flock of geese, the federal Department of Agriculture has been doing its best to keeping the local goose population down. More
(15)Getting cozy with Katie
There will be no "Soup"-worthy freakouts here, no movie stars jumping on couches, and no surprise paternity tests. In fact, there won't be any surprises at all. It'll just be Katie, America's most professional empathy technician, running out that hour with some dear, dear friends. More
The story of the story of Cop Shoots Dog
A neat bundle of olive drab baggage was sitting a few feet away from the animal, on the edge of the sidewalk. I took it to be the belongings of a crusty punk. Crusty punks, drifters who combine the grunge of hippies and the combat-boot toughness of punk rockers, have been an East Village/Lower East Side staple for decades. On 14th Street, they traditionally squat near the corners of Third, Second and First avenues, panhandling with cardboard signs and empty cups. Often, a lone crusty punk will travel with a dog, for protection. But where was this dog’s owner? The sight of his belongings near the wounded dog was ominous. More
What the gun control movement can learn from gay rights
There's a reason that nothing's happening to improve gun safety in America despite the mass shootings that now occur so regularly: No one in power is scared of the gun control movement. More
(16)How some upstate environmentalists came to embrace fracking
"That's where the company drilled the well," he said. "We sat here for a months with the tower blinking and the compressor hissing, all summer long." More
(14)Eric Schneiderman's mission to expose America's most influential donors
Eric Schneiderman, New York's Democratic attorney general, is trying to win a fight over independent campaign expenditures that his party, for the moment, is losing badly. More
(1)Inside billionaire Joe Ricketts' dreams of media empire
Ricketts is somewhat enigmatic. He’s not a recluse, but he seldom gives interviews, preferring instead to speak to his public, such as it is, directly, either through occasional blog posts on his personal website, or the professionally edited shorts that reside on his YoutTube channel. He is not a player in the digital media scene; not among its savants, its big-name consultants or its bankrollers, whether they’re do-good charities or venture firms. He is active in politics, but he pays into his political activities directly; there is no discernible political agenda to DNAinfo, and if anything the site seems to skew against determining the course of the conversation, focusing instead on breaking straight news and saturating at the pavement rather than the council chamber and the executive offices of government or the boardrooms of the city’s power elites. More
Nate Weiner raises $5M Series B funding for Pocket (formerly Read It Later)
A year ago the company raised $2.5 million. More
