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Okay  ·  this story (or whatever it is—a combination of op-ed and essay) is far from perfect. But the issues raised by Wen Stephenson—a former editor for the Atlantic and longtime journalist—about how the media deals with (and doesn’t deal wit  ·  官方页存档

It seems as though 2012 could’ve been called the year of James Deen. The charming porn star received so much media attention  ·  and was the cause of so much hand-wringing this year, that for a time it seemed like he and his widely beloved pen  ·  官方页

Daniel’s shift from sucking me to punching me happened so quickly  ·  I could still feel my erection pressed against his stomach even as his arms came down from above me like lightning bolts. Trapped under a body I suddenly realized was all mu  ·  官方页

Maybe it’s just the ubiquity of its subject  ·  now the most-viewed-ever video on YouTube, but no article stuck with me this year quite like Fisher’s. In a culture that strains to call itself postracial, sharing “Gangnam Style” on Twitter and  ·  官方页

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“The dateline is Elyria  ·  Ohio, a city of 55, 000 about 30 miles southwest of Cleveland. You know this town, even if you have never been here. A place buffeted by time and the economy, a place where the expectations have been lowered, but not  ·  存稿官方页存档

Everyone has a fantasy about beating the house at a casino. (No? Just me? Okay  ·  then.) And that’s because it basically never happens. Except to this guy. Don Johnson. (No. Not that Don Johnson.) Johnson beat not just one house, but three—Th  ·  官方页

This story really needs to be read to be believed. First of all  ·  hats off to the writer, Abigail Tucker, for introducing and then eliminating the possibility of a serial killer in the first ten lines. And then the chilling line: “Ever heard  ·  存稿官方页存档

5. “Fischer vs. Spassky  ·  ” by Lara Vapnyar *no one who knows me should be surprised to see an Alice Munro story among my picks Photo credit: Rebecca Zeller <a class="wp-block-button__link has-primary-ba  ·  存稿官方页存档

You probably remember the media firestorm that followed this story  ·  which quoted Karl Rove joking about killing Todd Akin (“If he’s found mysteriously murdered, don’t look for my whereabouts!”). The glimpse of the inner workings of Super PA  ·  官方页

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Steinberg is a perpetual favorite of mine  ·  in part because of the offbeat and unexamined subjects he chooses to write about, but mostly because of his thoughtful and good humored sensibility. On the topic of the relationships between librar  ·  官方页

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There are no wide-open spaces in presidential life  ·  only nooks and crannies, and the front of Air Force One is one of them. When he’s on his plane, small gaps of time sometimes open in his schedule, and there are fewer people around to leap  ·  存稿官方页存档

Seriously  ·  this Chris Jones story radically altered the texture of my life; for weeks afterward I became obsessed by magic. I watched at least one episode of Penn and Teller’s Fool Us per night, but usually more than one. I sacrificed a thi  ·  存稿官方页存档

I read so many words about Lena Dunham’s HBO series this year that by the time I actually got to sit down and watch the series  ·  I’d nearly lost track of how I would have watched it “on my own.” There was so much said about what Girls had go  ·  官方页存档

Maybe this is catching him at a hard time  ·  I thought. But truth was, Joe seemed to be having a pretty normal time. With his ample tweeting and active Facebooking — well over 1, 000 friends! — he allowed for robust stalking. There he was on a  ·  官方页存档

Everyone has heard the story of how Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team by coach Clifton “Pop” Herring. But it turns out we didn’t know the story at all. We pull up at the ramshackle house and step into a blinding af  ·  存稿官方页存档

and “How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work  ·  ” Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher, New York Times I admit it: I have no idea how the international economy works. I used to feel about this the way I feel about not being able to describe asexual  ·  存稿官方页存档

“ ‘The favor of your company is requested  ·  ’ read the invitation, ‘for the most local of harvest meals.’ I sent this to a healthy mix of 30 eaters both adventurous and particular, and set a date. On the menu: juleps made with the mint growin  ·  存稿官方页存档

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That night Hōkūle‘a rode fifteen-foot swells. The boat began listing from water leakage  ·  and eventually stopped dead in the water. The panicked crew huddled to one side of the craft in an effort to balance out the lilt of the boat with thei  ·  官方页存档

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“On Feb. 17  ·  2000, Rae Carruth’s attorney filed an answer to Saundra Adams in Mecklenburg District Court. It was one of the more brazen counterclaims in the annals of U.S. jurisprudence: a demand for permanent custody of Chancellor Lee Adam  ·  存稿官方页存档

Immersion pieces can be tricky—oftentimes  ·  the writer spends most of the copy patting himself on the back for the bravery to, say, pretend to be homeless for a week or read the Bible in sequential order. But Mac McClelland really nails the  ·  存稿官方页存档

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It’s easy now to forget that this was an election year  ·  and that we spent basically all of it squabbling, speculating and pontificating about its outcome, which we now say we knew all along. Most election reporting is disposable, either gaf  ·  官方页

“Most people think perfection in bowling is a 300 game  ·  but it isn’t. Any reasonably good recreational bowler can get lucky one night and roll 12 consecutive strikes. If you count all the bowling alleys all over America, somebody somewhere  ·  官方页

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For me  ·  this story’s surprises came in waves. First, there was the shock at how systematically and rampantly Wal-Mart bribed its way into Mexican retail. Next, there was awe at how Barstow nailed every crucial aspects of the ensuing cover-u  ·  官方页

What if you were convicted of murdering your wife  ·  and you didn’t do it? What if, after decades in prison, you learned that the prosecution had held proof of your innocence but never let it see the light of day? Lone Star State treasure Pam  ·  存稿官方页存档

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Silos. You don’t really think about them  ·  right? Thanks to this fantastic bit of reporting from The New York Times, you won’t be able to forget them. When federal officials noticed that a strangely high percentage of “grain entrapment” deat  ·  官方页

“Going to a nightclub  ·  like going on vacation, sometimes gives rise to this really stressful internal-feedback loop that initiates when some dark part of your brain transmits a pretty obvious question: ‘Am I having fun?’ Then: ‘Is this fun?  ·  存稿官方页存档

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“One day in the spring of 1958  ·  while Morgan was visiting a guerrilla camp for a meeting of the Second Front’s chiefs of staff, he encountered a rebel he had never seen before: small and slender, with a face shielded by a cap. Only up close  ·  存稿官方页存档

I’m not sure what to say about this other than it’s a great read and BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!!! Springsteen came to glory in the age of Letterman  ·  but he is  ·  存稿官方页存档

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From The Verge  ·  this in-depth look at the subculture of a particular kind of online scam stayed with me all year. The reporter dug in, and got the perspectives of both those peddling a strange kind of snake oil (marketing, basically) and th  ·  存稿官方页存档

“Marques scoops his head toward Padilla’s face on the sandy floor  ·  a move that resembles canine tenderness, as if he’s leaning down to lick him, but instead the bull drives his sharp left horn through the bullfighter’s jaw. When Marques tus  ·  官方页

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2. “The Semplica-Girl Diaries  ·  ” by George Saunders 3. “Literally, ” by Antonya Nelson 4. “The Proxy Marriage, ” by Maile Meloy 5. “Fischer vs. Spassky, &#  ·  存稿官方页存档

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I can’t come up with another journalist whose insight and ability to think so motivate me to read his work. I know other Longreaders have picked and will pick this piece from two months before the election  ·  but it really has to be included.  ·  官方页

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“Aaron Sorkin knows the weight of last words  ·  and his last words to me, as we walk-and-talk out of the HBO press room, are: ‘Write something nice.’ He says this in the ‘Smile, honey’ tone of much less successful jerks.” Those words launch P  ·  官方页

This is a very biased selection that I’m including anyway because I think everyone should read it. Kiese was my professor and friend at Vassar College. I’ve been reading his writing and learning from him for a while  ·  and he is very much the  ·  存稿官方页存档

This was my favorite edition of Tell Me When It’s Over  ·  a Deadspin series by Rob Trucks. It’s such a straightforward but brilliant idea: Trucks talks to former world-class athletes about “the moment they knew their playing days were over.”  ·  存稿官方页存档

This is the story I’ve linked and forward more than any other this year. I just loved this damn funny  ·  poignant narrative about a renegade macaque monkey on the loose in Tampa, the people trying to catch him, and the others who want to let  ·  官方页

Big companies and their CEOs are tough to report on. Disney  ·  led by the profoundly un-flamboyant Bob Iger and guarded by its disciplined phalanx of PR professionals, may be one of the toughest. That’s why Reingold’s story is so masterful—it  ·  官方页

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“After the autopsy  ·  when the doctor found white blossoms of scar tissue on Wes Leonard’s heart, he guessed they had been secretly building there for several months. That would mean Wes’s heart was slowly breaking throughout the Fennville Bl  ·  存稿官方页存档

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I’m aware of the disconnect of a well-off  ·  culturally elite, Left coast-dwelling, white guy picking a “best” story about race relations in modern America. So let me say, in a year when Trayvon Martin was needlessly shot dead and when race w  ·  官方页

Duh. One of Smith’s many gifts is her ear  ·  and it was thrilling to see one of my favorite language manipulators enraptured fannishly before another dextrous word slinger. Most Likely To Lead You Down a Penn and Teller YouTube Rabbit Hole Ch  ·  官方页

Susan Sontag is a force that continues to be reckoned with  ·  and the publication of her second volume of journals this year occasioned this incredible piece. I think I’ve re-read this essay three or four times now, and I just keep coming bac  ·  官方页

In just over 1200 words  ·  Will Hobson stages a community drama with all the comedy and horror of a Flannery O’Connor story. Meet Bernie Lodico and his neighbors. You won’t forget them. “It is our understanding that you have a pot belly pig l  ·  1200 words  ·  存稿官方页存档

“Her name was Olga Rodríguez. She came from a peasant family  ·  in the central province of Santa Clara, that often went without food. ‘We were so poor, ’ Rodríguez recalls. She studied diligently, and was elected class president. Her goal was  ·  存稿官方页存档

In the language of the poet and the conflict journalist that she is  ·  Griswold ponders the business of refugees on the island of Lampedusa. Luciforo has been driving this bus for more than a year. Before that, he worked for a Christian volun  ·  存稿官方页存档

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I tend to steer clear of stories about finance because I assume they’ll either go over my head or bore me or maybe even disgust me. This one only disgusted me. I admire how patiently Susan Dominus reported and told Ina Drew’s saga. We never  ·  官方页

“The most infamous roster decision in high school basketball history came down 33 years ago on the edge of tobacco country  ·  between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean, in an old town full of white wooden rocking chairs. The decision  ·  存稿官方页存档

“(Sargent Steve) Blake was parked near downtown Zanesville  ·  sipping his coffee, when his radio crackled shortly after five o’clock, two hours into just another shift. ‘I had no idea that was going to be one of the worst calls of my life, ’ h  ·  存稿官方页存档

3. “Literally  ·  ” by Antonya Nelson 4. “The Proxy Marriage, ” by Maile Meloy 5. “Fischer vs. Spassky, ” by Lara Vapnyar *no one who knows me should be surprised to see an Alice Munro story among my picks Photo  ·  存稿官方页存档

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*no one who knows me should be surprised to see an Alice Munro story among my picks Photo credit: Rebecca Zeller Explore our Best of 2012 co  ·  存稿官方页存档

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4. “The Proxy Marriage  ·  ” by Maile Meloy 5. “Fischer vs. Spassky, ” by Lara Vapnyar *no one who knows me should be surprised to see an Alice Munro story among my picks Photo credit: Rebecca Zeller <div class="wp-block-buttons is-content-justi  ·  存稿官方页存档

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“A bunch of songs later  ·  after a run-through of the set-ending ‘Thunder Road, ’ Springsteen hops off the stage, drapes a towel around his neck, and sits down in the folding chair next to me. “ ‘The top of the show, see, is a kind of welcomin  ·  存稿官方页存档

“Many times  ·  I had to skip a question because I couldn’t figure out the answer, and then I got that paranoia that’s unique to someone taking a standardized test. I became fearful that I had failed to skip over the question on my answer shee  ·  存稿官方页存档

“Of course  ·  my father numbered his boys among the reprobates and never missed an opportunity to let us know it. He resented that we just assumed that we’d have stuff, like food and clothes. In the great ledger of material things, my family  ·  存稿官方页存档

Tacking a different walk down the same path  ·  Chung looks to DFW’s adage about being a fucking human being and unpacks it until all that’s left is that intense feeling of being alone, but together. The problems of how to be alone and how to  ·  存稿官方页存档

[The shipping company] has estimated that we pickers speed-walk an average of 12 miles a day on cold concrete  ·  and the twinge in my legs blurs into the heavy soreness in my feet that complements the pinch in my hips when I crouch to the flo  ·  官方页存档

Maybe I only feel like I learned something from this essay because I’m in essentially the same position as Albo. I’ve been single for almost 10 years  ·  and I’m realizing that if I had applied all the hours I’ve wasted on the promiscu-net to  ·  官方页

Batuman has a bit of a magic touch in her ability to put you right on the scene  ·  and she generously seems to fill your head with her knowledge and enthusiasm beforehand. For a diary entry, it’s surprising how quickly Batuman comes to seem j  ·  官方页

Following the Tucson  ·  Arizona shooting, Laskas set out to understand gun culture by working at a gun store in Yuma and profiling its clerks—the last line of defense between us and mass murderers. I love the way she leaves politics aside and  ·  存稿官方页存档

I read Dan P. Lee on Fiona Apple three times before I’d even listened to Fiona Apple’s new album once. Even Fiona Apple  ·  creative genius, can get stuck watching Mob Wives for four hours. The Best Thing I Read About A Former Olympian How A C  ·  存稿官方页存档

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“The family as a socially isolating unit is an idea not limited to humans. In the wild  ·  infants represent competition for resources, and it is not uncommon for a mother’s job to be primarily about hiding and protecting their infants from me  ·  官方页

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Best story about a monkey that’s really about the role of government that’s really about nature’s place in the modern world that’s actually  ·  maybe, really just about a monkey. “What’s a Monkey to Do in Tampa?” (Jon Mooallem, New York Times  ·  官方页

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Those hot-bodied Olympians are having lots and lots of sex! Alipour illustrates hook-up culture in the Olympic Village with kickass reporting (big-name athletes go on the record  ·  and are surprisingly candid) and just the right tone: The sto  ·  官方页

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