This week’s top 5 long reads

The true price of nuclear power. America’s longest-incarcerated man. One man secretly takes on a global tragedy. Colorful characters to eat and compare. The filmmaking legend’s early years. We’ll tell you all that and more in this week’s article. read!

rachel greenlee | orion magazine | August 1, 2023 | 3,504 words

Although medical science has made many advances, anyone who has supported a loved one through a serious illness knows that the science is still evolving. When you need an answer, often all you have is a question.for orion, Rachel Greenlee examines America’s love affair with the nuclear bomb and atomic energy. In the race for supremacy in the name of war and science, countless people are being killed directly and indirectly, while those living upwind and downstream endure water and soil contaminated with toxic waste. They are losing their lives. and the cancer that develops afterwards. “When life leaves a body, it is as clear as her thirst,” she writes. “The heavy vessels left behind lack the personality and warmth that brightened the world. My world… He was 35 years old.” It’s not that Greenlee doesn’t believe in science. Rather, as she poignantly documents in this fascinating essay, errant officials in charge of managing nuclear projects and disasters, deflecting concerns, and unseen threats, viz. She cannot trust people who downplay the danger of possible threats. She took her husband and the father of her children. Is it ignorance, ambivalence, or a combination of both? For Greenlee and many others, that’s a question worth answering. —K.S.

Annalisa Quinn | boston globe magazine | July 5, 2023 | 4,693 words

Sometimes a passage from a story hits you in the pit of your stomach. It hurts, but it’s also a gift. Because having pain means what I’m reading is very, very good. At the beginning of Annalisa Quinn’s story, a man named Frank Smith comes close to being executed. This is the eighth time the state of Connecticut has tried to kill him, and the second time prison officials have come close to executing him. His head was cut off before the Board of Pardons and Parole made a last-minute decision to save him. We then learn that this all happened in his 1954, and that Smith was only recently paroled. At 98 years old, he is likely America’s longest-serving prisoner. The problematic part comes later in the film, when Quinn becomes unsettling as she tells the administrator of the secure nursing home where Smith is currently housed about her life, including how the government has tried to stop her eight times. This is the scene where he asks if this is the case. Her administrator assures her it’s okay. “But in our conversations, he returned to the electric chair again and again, and ever since then, he remained the object of a primal, almost talismanic fear,” Quinn said. I am writing. ‘that Cook ‘You,’ he repeated, thinking in his heart. “It cooks you.” I don’t understand what it means to carry that kind of fear for so long. But we know that no one should have to carry that burden. —SD

Amit Katwala | wired | August 22, 2023 | 4,403 words

Every year, the elementary school in my area took students on a field trip to a preserved one-room schoolhouse. We drank water from the well and replaced our regular lessons with teachings from. McGuffey’s Eclectic PrimerAnd play moodily with a collection of the saddest 19th century toys you can imagine. During one trip, I realized that I had no idea what the teacher was writing on the blackboard. In other words, I spent my life wearing glasses at age 7, contact lenses at age 13, and being severely nearsighted. But I never considered myself a trendsetter until I read Amit Katwala’s fascinating book. wired Features. Myopia is widespread throughout the world, but is particularly endemic in East Asia. In China, South Korea, and Taiwan, 90% of young people are myopic. It is the leading cause of blindness in these countries and represents a very real (albeit very slow) public health threat. Introducing ophthalmological surgeon Pei Chang Wu. His journey of discovery forms the backbone of his work. Like any good scientific text, this is a mystery novel, and Katwala gives Wu’s quest the perfect balance of history and specificity, so even casual readers like you and me will find it difficult to read the encyclopedia. You don’t need to be familiar with natural self-refraction to understand its evolution. (By the way, I highly recommend saying this phrase out loud. very wise. ) Wu’s ultimate solution involves a healthy dose of common sense, as many do, but that’s the point, and as Katwala’s kicker makes clear, it It’s also a little panacea. But before you take his advice, read this article. It’s worth the eye strain. —PR

Jamie Loftus | Take-out | July 14, 2023 | 3,483 words

I didn’t know I had to read 3,500 words about the world of competitive eating until I read Jamie Loftus’ article. Take-out. As a reader, it feels like Loftus handed me a bib. After reading a few paragraphs, we wrap it up, sit down at the table, and let Loftus introduce us to the fascinating characters who populate this world (with surprising reasons). The world of big league gluttony. You’ll meet “Megabyte” Ronnie Hartman, aka “The People’s Hot Dog.” He is a veteran and independent professional wrestler who uses his plate to advance the cause of veterans’ rights. And Mary Bowers, a Korean-American project manager for the Department of Homeland Security, uses her profile to make food-themed costumes and highlight human trafficking. (Mary learns that she was kidnapped as a child and trafficked illegally from South Korea.) But what I liked most was the warmth and respect that Hartman and Bowers have for each other. In addition to advocating for gender inclusivity in society. competition. “It doesn’t matter what the pronouns are,” Hartman says. “Once you step on that stage, you’re an eater.” Come for the carnival atmosphere, stay for the camaraderie. —K.S.

werner herzog | new yorker | August 21, 2023 | 3,482 words

In an excerpt from his upcoming book, Every man from himself, God to every man, Werner Herzog reflects on his time in Pennsylvania’s westernmost city. I’ve seen Herzog’s films, but this was my first experience of conjuring a picture from the page. Unsurprisingly, he’s very good at it. A keen eye for detail, sharp character observation, and an ability to convey a good thread are what make this work so fascinating. His prose rises to another level when he meets his family, the Franklins, who took him in while attending Duquesne University. His love for them is revealed in his warm depiction of the hustle and bustle of a busy household with twins, grandma, dog, and a struggling rock musician named Billy, who only gets out of bed in the afternoon and is “naked.” . , I’m stretching comfortably. ” Herzog mentions his film’s inspirations throughout. Stroszek It originated from a hallucination while traveling from Mexico due to hepatitis. As expected, he can’t resist a bit of notoriety and hyperbole, but these well-crafted scenes more than make up for it. —C.W.

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