Longread #391 -- Intermediaries of Global Production -- 9/30/13

"Linking Factories to the Malls, Middleman Pushes Low Costs" by Ian Urbina and Keith Bradsher
Published in the New York Times, August 7, 2013

Eric

Longread #390 -- Gagged by Big Ag -- 9/26/13

No longread tomorrow as I'll be on vacation. Happy Friday to ya, you guys!

"Gagged by Big Ag" by Ted Genoways
Published in Mother Jones, August 1, 2013

Eric

Longread #389 -- Stopping Gang Violence -- 9/25/13

'What Does It Take to Stop Crips and Bloods From Killing Each Other?" by John Buntin
Published in the New York Times, July 10, 2013

Eric

Longread #388 -- Breakfast and Weight -- 9/24/13

My sincere apologies, dear readers, for the inconsistent posting of late. On Friday, I was out of the office taking part in a conference and did not post that there would be no longread. Yesterday, I just got distracted thinking about sports and forgot about posting a longread.

To be honest, I'm starting to lose the focus I need to maintain the blog. I'm also having problems with the programs that I use for reading longform articles, and that's certainly not helping. 

I keep a folder with articles for posting on the blog, but sometimes articles sit there for awhile before getting posted. As a result, I feel as though my write-ups or introductions are less specific or tailored even though I still think these are articles worth reading. Because of this, I'm going to just post links without much or any introduction. Hopefully after I've cleaned out the folder, I'll have my technical issues resolved and will be back to the more usual style. Thank you for your understanding (all 3 of you...).

"Myths Surround Breakfast and Weight" by Anahad O'Connor

Published in the New York Times Well Blog, September 10, 2013

Eric

Longread #387 -- Inside the National Suicide Hotline -- 9/19/13

As someone who works on a hotline dealing with difficult health and emotional issues, I found that this article resonated with me a great deal. Even for those without this background, though, I think it offers an interesting insight into this type of hotline as well as the broader debate about mental health and suicide prevention.

"Inside the National Suicide Hotline: Preventing the Next Tragedy" by Josh Sanburn
Published in Time, September 13, 2013

Eric

Longread #386 -- Leaving a Tip -- 9/18/13

Tipping at restaurants is such a customary practice in America that we often forget that it's not the only way to charge for service. In fact, as this article argues, it might be time for us to abandon the traditional practice of tipping altogether in order to better improve the restaurant experience for customers and to make pay more fair for restaurant employees.

"Leaving a Tip: A Custom in Need of Changing?" by Pete Wells
Published in the New York Times, September 3, 2013

Eric

Longread #385 -- They're Taking Over -- 9/17/13

I'll keep this introduction short: if you don't learn something about jellyfish and the oceans from this article, you should probably go on Jeopardy!

"They're Taking Over" by Tim Flannery
Published in the New York Review of Books, September 26, 2013

Eric

Longread #384 -- Drugstore Cowboy -- 9/12/13

Continuing on the issue of problems in drug production and distribution, this longread looks at how a con artist used Google to mass market illegal pharmaceuticals in the U.S.

"Drugstore Cowboy" by Jake Pearson
Published in Wired, May 2013

Eric

Longread #383 -- Dirty Medicine -- 9/11/13

When we pick up a prescription from a pharmacy, we assume that the pills were properly produced and are exactly what is listed on the label. This longread looks at how drug manufacturing and limited FDA intervention can cause dangerous substandard medications to become available despite abundant red flags.

"Dirty Medicine" by Katherine Eban
Published in Fortune, May 15, 2013

Eric

Longread #382 -- Co-Payments -- 9/10/13

This longread challenges conventional wisdom about how co-payments affect health decision-making. I think it makes a logical and reasonable case for a change to the way that pricing works for clearly-effective medications.

"When a Co-Pay Gets in the Way of Health" by Sendhil Mullainathan
Published in the New York Times, August 10, 2013

Eric

Longread #381 -- Special Deal -- 9/9/13

For this week, we'll look at some articles that address pressing issues in the medical field. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, has many major provisions going into effect over the next few months, which will raise these issues even more. Today's longread looks at the ways in which physician-based organizations and specialty societies work to influence their rates of reimbursement from Medicare.

"Special Deal" by Haley Sweetland Edwards
Published in Washington Monthly, July/August 2013

Eric

Longread #380 -- Män With a Vän -- 9/6/13

With a change in roommates, I find myself needing to buy some new furniture. I hate the idea of going to Ikea, but having everything under one roof does offer some appeal. Then I think about bringing it home and following their instructions to assemble the new furniture, and again, I abhor Ikea. This whole process reminded me of this article of a man with a unique, Ikea-oriented business model.

Happy Friday!

"Män With a Vän" by Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke
Published in narrative.ly, September 5, 2012

Eric

Longread #379 -- Not Even Silicon Valley Escapes History -- 9/5/13

I really enjoyed the premise of this article and how it takes a critical look at how a place's geography is constituted through its economic and social history. As it turns out, our understanding of Silicon Valley as the hub of high-tech innovation is only part of the story.

"Not Even Silicon Valley Escapes History" by Alexis Madrigal
Published in the Atlantic, July 23, 2013

Eric

Longread #378 -- Merchants of Meth -- 9/4/13

So in the fog of the long weekend, I forgot yesterday's longread, but we'll be back in business the rest of this week. Today's article looks at the amount of money the pharmaceutical industry has invested in lobbying against measures that would restrict access to drugs that are commonly-used to make meth. At one level, I understand that they are running a business and want to ensure market access for consumers who want their product. At another level, though, these lobbying sums are enormous, and certainly the industry must understand that much of this demand comes from illicit use.

"Merchants of Meth: How Big Pharma Keeps the Cooks in Business" by Jonah Eagle
Published in Mother Jones, July/August 2013

Eric