Longread #377 -- The Education of a Bomb Dog -- 8/30/13

In honor of the DAWGS of the University of Washington, who open their football season tomorrow, I present this longread looking at the amazing traits that make dogs so suitable for helping law enforcement.

Happy Friday!

"The Education of a Bomb Dog" by Joshua Levine
Published in Smithsonian Magazine, July-August 2013

Eric

Longread #376 -- The Weather God of Oklahoma City -- 8/29/13

On a day of heavy, driving rain in Seattle, I am thankful that we don't have to deal with tornado warnings and all the related weather chaos of my youth. Enjoy this story about a central figure in Oklahoma's world of weather.

"The Weather God of Oklahoma City" by Sam Anderson
Published in the New York Times, August 9, 2013

Eric

Longread #375 -- Bloodlines -- 8/28/13

Ok, it's another true crime story. Again, I think the angle on this one is unique as it provides context to better understand how money laundering -- a hidden but critical element of criminal organizations -- can happen. My thinking with this article was that if the money launderers had not brought so much attention to themselves with big spending, they likely would have been able to avoid capture.

"Bloodlines: How the Scion of a Texas Horse Racing Empire Became an Informant on Mexico’s Most Feared Cartel" by Melissa del Bosque and Jazmine Ulloa
Published in Texas Observer, August 7, 2013

Eric

Longread #374 -- Murder by Craigslist -- 8/27/13

When I first started thinking about this blog, I noticed that one popular genre of longread was the crime investigation story. Many of these were CSI-esque and focused on twisting tales of lawlessness and the detective's vigilant pursuits of the perpetrators. I quickly came to realize that, for me at least, these stories were a low priority on the reading list as they were typically one-off cases or felt like glorified crime TV.

Initially, I passed over this article because I figured it was just the latest in this line of longform journalism. But this article goes beyond just the details of the crime story to see what that story tells us about society. So while you won't find many crime story longreads on the blog, this one is worth your time.

"Murder by Craigslist" by Hanna Rosin
Published in the Atlantic, August 14, 2013

Eric

Longread #373 -- MSG -- 8/26/13

Misinformation about MSG still abounds. Read today's longread so that next time you hear it, you can set the record straight.

"The Notorious MSG’s Unlikely Formula For Succes" by John Mahoney
Published in BuzzFeed, August 16, 2013

Eric

Longread #372 -- China's Bad Earth -- 8/23/13

While China's pollution problems in major cities have received a great deal of attention, especially in connection to the Beijing Olympics, there are also abundant problems in the countryside. This article examines the extent of the problems and the challenges in addressing them.

"China's Bad Earth" by Josh Chin and Brian Spegele
Published in the Wall Street Journal, July 27, 2013

Eric

Longread #371 -- Taken -- 8/22/13

This article looks at another troubling law enforcement practice: asset forfeiture. Asset forfeiture laws designed to go after criminal syndicates are instead being deployed against innocent people depriving them of money, valuables, cars, homes, and more.

"Taken" by Sarah Stillman
Published in the New Yorker, August 12, 2013

Eric

Longread #370 -- Don't Talk to the Police -- 8/21/13

In case you'd forgotten this lesson from reruns of "Law & Order," here's another reminder -- even if you're innocent, don't talk to the police without a lawyer.

"How Sergey Aleynikov Learned Never to Talk to the Police" by Alex Mayyasi
Published on Priceonomics, August 8, 2013

Eric

Longread #369 -- James Patterson Inc. -- 8/20/13

I had no idea how big of an empire James Patterson had amassed in the world of publishing, but it's really kind of astonishing. This article sent to me by reader B. Bruce looks at the depth and breadth of his writing and how he has become a dominant figure in print publishing.

"James Patterson Inc." by Jonathan Mahler
Published in the New York Times, January 20, 2010

Eric

Longread #368 -- Are You Worth More Dead or Alive? -- 8/15/13

This longread looks at the secondary market for life insurance policies and the complicated underwriting that makes this market possible. While contradictory to how we usually think of life insurance working, for some patients, this represents a rational way to access short-term credit to help with medical bills or other costs.

Vacation tomorrow means another Friday with no longread. Enjoy the weekend!

"Are You Worth More Dead or Alive?" by James Vlahos
Published in the New York Times, August 10, 2013

Eric

Longread #367 -- A Life-or-Death Situation -- 8/14/13

There is a tendency in articles about the end-of-life that make everything seem so simple. While they often acknowledge how hard these situations are, they also usually wind up with a more matter-of-fact conclusion about how to become more compassionate toward people who are terminally ill. But in the heat of the moment and in the turmoil of difficult decisions, this matter-of-factness often melts away. This article highlights this contradiction beautifully and from the perspective of someone who has often led the charge in arguing against the "life at all costs" mentality.

"A Life-or-Death Situation" by Robin Marantz Henig
Published in the New York Times, July 17, 2013

Eric

Longread #366 -- A Life Worth Ending -- 8/13/13

Following on yesterday's theme, today offers another look at what long-term care and end-of-life care can really look like in practice. It is easy to say that we should do everything we can to prolong someone's life, but that can often mean agonizing and painful types of medical care. As mentioned by yesterday's article and by commenter MHE81, too often family members opt for care without truly understanding what that care involves.

"A Life Worth Ending" by Michael Wolff
Published in New York Magazine, May 20, 2012

Eric

Longread #365 -- How Not to Die -- 8/12/13

One of the most fascinating topics to me and also one that I believe is remarkably important is about care at the end of life. Unfortunately, this is a very difficult topic to have intelligent, reasoned discussion about. Not only are there the "death panel" type accusations that get in the way, but these discussions are also mediated by extremely personal and emotional experiences. I'm going to post a few articles on this topic this week, and I hope they offer some compelling food for thought.

On a programming note, today is the 365th longread, which means that we've now covered an entire calendar year! Thanks for reading!

"How Not to Die" by Jonathan Rauch
Published in the Atlantic, April 24, 2013

Eric

Longread #364 -- Pallets -- 8/8/13

As someone who is not actively involved in business logistics, it's easy to forget about all of the tools necessary to keep products on the shelves. This article looks at pallets, their role in the global economy, and the ways that they are being redesigned for optimal efficiency.

I'll be out of town again tomorrow, so no longread will be posted. Have a great weekend!

"Pallets: The Single Most Important Object in the Global Economy" by Tom Vanderbilt
Published in Slate, August 14, 2012

Eric

Longread #363 -- America's Worst Charities -- 8/7/13

Today's longread is part of a series done by the Tampa Bay Times in cooperation with the Center for Investigative Reporting. I highly encourage you to read the full series. The exploitative business practices of these charities is sickening, and the inability to regulate them under existing laws is alarming.

"America's 50 worst charities rake in nearly $1 billion for corporate fundraisers" by Kris Hundley and Kendall Taggart
Published in the Tampa Bay Times, June 6, 2013

Eric

Longread #362 -- Kindness -- 8/6/13

A friend sent this to me, and I really enjoyed reading it. I don't know that it's breaking any truly ground in the message to embrace kindness; nevertheless, it's a message that bears repeating. I also enjoy the format of the graduation speech as it usually involves humor and, at least in the instances of good speeches, forces the writer to be concise.

Happy Tuesday. Hope it's a day of high kindness.

"George Saunders’s Advice to Graduates" by Joel Lovell
Published in the New York Times, July 31, 2013

Eric

Longread #361 -- Bootleggers Ball -- 8/5/13

Having seen my fair share of shows by jambands, I have on many occasions experienced the desire to recreate the concert experience through recordings of live shows. This article looks at the die-hards of the world of concert taping and their adaption to changing technology.

"Bootleggers Ball" by Jessica Bal
Published in Narrative.ly, April 10, 2013

Eric

Longread #360 -- Making the Case for Eating Fruit -- 8/2/13

Over the past month or so, I've had a number of conversations with people about diet, carbs, fat, and weight loss. Many of the people that I spoke with had success with low-carb diets, and in general, I find the case for reducing most carbs to be compelling. However, several of the people I spoke with said that they had given up fruit in order to avoid the sugars present in fruits. At the time, I disagreed with this approach, but I was struggling to explain why. Thankfully, this article helps. Fruit is tasty, filling, full of other nutrients, and is quite different from other carbohydrate sources (especially ones with refined sugars). I think including fruit in one's diet can be immensely helpful in dietary adherence, and as such, the benefits dramatically outweigh the risks. There may be a small subset of the population so sensitive to carbs that even small amounts of fruit is enough to cause weight problems, but I think that for the vast majority of people, fruit should be a dietary staple.

"Making the Case for Eating Fruit" by Sophie Egan
Published in the New York Times Well Blog, July 31, 2013

Eric

Longread #359 -- The Undiluted Genius of Dr. Bronner's -- 8/1/13

I really enjoyed this longread both for its analysis of the business of Dr. Bronner's and also for providing detail on the quirky history that led to this product. It's a reminder that successful businesses can arise in unexpected ways and that a product's history can also profoundly affect its marketing and sales in the present.

"The Undiluted Genius of Dr. Bronner's" by Tom Foster
Published in Inc., April 3, 2012

Eric