Longread #460 -- Is the Wolf a Real American Hero? -- 4/1/14

No April Fool's joke here...just a good article about wolves and conservation.

"Is the Wolf a Real American Hero?" by Arthur Middleton
Published in the New York Times, March 9, 2014

Eric

Longread #457 -- The Exotic Animal Trade -- 3/19/14

An eye-opening look at a lucrative part of the black market that is probably not on the radar for most people.

"The Exotic Animal Trade" by Alex Mayyasi
Published on Pricenomics, February 20, 2014

Eric

Longread #454 -- The Mammoth Cometh -- 2/28/14

I'm back already! Did you miss me?

I read this yesterday and felt compelled to share it. There are a lot of important questions raised in this article. To me, the key point is this one,

The ecologist Daniel Simberloff raised a related concern. “It’s at best a technofix dealing with a few species,” he told me. “Technofixes for environmental problems are band-aids for massive hemorrhages. To the extent that the public, who will never be terribly well informed on the larger issue, thinks that we can just go and resurrect a species, it is extremely dangerous. . . . De-extinction suggests that we can technofix our way out of environmental issues generally, and that’s very, very bad.”

We see this same issue across so many public problems: the idea that we can technologically solve problems that are related to unsustainable patterns of human consumption. The problem is that even if the technology works, the underlying problem -- that we live in ways that are often fundamentally short-sighted and irresponsible -- remain.

"The Mammoth Cometh" by Nathaniel Rich
Published in the New York Times, February 27, 2013

Eric

Longread #446 -- Death Dust -- 2/3/14

"Death Dust" by Dana Goodyear
Published in the New Yorker, January 20, 2014

Eric

Longread #431 -- Our Orgastic Future -- 12/31/13

What better way to ring in the new year than an article about our orgastic future.

HAPPY 2014!!!

"Our Orgastic Future" by Jack Hitt
Published in Lapham's Quarterly, Spring 2013

Eric

Longread #396 -- The End of Illth -- 10/28/13

A lot of the articles I've posted on this blog are about the transgressions caused by corporate greed or by the perverse incentives established by certain elements of our economic system. This article looks at some alternative ways of organizing production and labor to try to resolve the externalities of the free market system. While not a cure-all, it nevertheless seems like a great place to start.

"The End of Illth: In Search of an Economy That Won't Kill Us" by Erik Reece
Published in Harper's, October 4, 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 #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 #358 -- Must Cats Die So Birds Can Live? -- 7/31/13

I'm kind of at a loss in terms of introducing this article. While the overall issues involved can be seen as important, the way in which this "cats vs. birds" issue has developed is startling. I wish this were harder to believe, but this attitude of taking it to the extremes seems to have become pervasive in our culture whether it's politics, youth sports, or how we deal with feral cats.

"Must Cats Die So Birds Can Live?" by Jessica Pressler
Published in New York Magazine, June 9, 2013

Eric

Longread #300 -- Violence of the Lambs -- 4/22/13

I thoroughly enjoyed this longread and love its style, content, and readability. Sullivan nailed the tone -- the entire piece simultaneously irreverent and serious -- leading to numerous nuggets of humor and wisdom.

Thank you to my roommate and reader/commenter B. Bruce for sharing this article with me.

"Violence of the Lambs" by John Jeremiah Sullivan
Published in GQ, February 2008

Eric

Longread #296 -- One of Us -- 4/16/13

There's a lot going on in this article as it takes on a pretty expansive topic regarding human and animal consciousness. I find this to be an extremely rich debate and probably for that reason have a hard time finding definitive answers. A good read worthy of much continued pondering.

"One of Us" by John Jeremiah Sullivan
Published in Lapham's Quarterly, Spring 2013

Eric

Longread #295 -- The Nature Cure -- 4/15/13

So much of this article just made perfect sense to me in terms of how people respond when they have time to get lost in true natural beauty. I live in an amazingly scenic city, but it still doesn't compare to the forests and lakes and mountains and incredible surrounds. I also love the term "soft fascination" -- I had never heard it before but knew exactly the feeling when it was described in this article While I support trying to understand and quantify the health benefits of nature, my only concern is that the scientific measurement part could overtake the simplicity of just getting outside. But in general, I found this to be really interesting and to align closely with my own experiences.

"Take Two Hours of Pine Forest and Call Me in the Morning" by Florence Williams
Published in Outside Magazine, December 2012

Eric

Longread #283 -- Bringing Them Back to Life -- 3/27/13

While this is fascinating science, I couldn't agree more with this perspective from the article:

“There is clearly a terrible urgency to saving threatened species and habitats,” says John Wiens, an evolutionary biologist at Stony Brook University in New York. “As far as I can see, there is little urgency for bringing back extinct ones. Why invest millions of dollars in bringing a handful of species back from the dead, when there are millions still waiting to be discovered, described, and protected?”

While I hate to stifle scientific curiosity, the fact of the matter is that there are finite resources (in terms of money, time, laboratories, etc.), and de-extinction to me likely trades off with other approaches that could be far more meaningful.

"Bringing Them Back to Life" by Carl Zimmer
Published in National Geographic, April 2013

Eric

Longread #228 -- Who Killed Knut? -- 1/7/13

Today's longread delves into a number of important ethical and practical questions about zoos and keeping animals in captivity. Based around the story of Knut, a polar bear in Germany, this article examines the competing viewpoints about whether zoos advance or hinder the goal of creating a more harmonious relationship between humans and our environment. While I would love to share the optimism of proponents of zoos -- and to some extent I do because I think there are people who are truly inspired by zoos -- on the whole, I think they may be flawed in ways that do more harm than good.

"Who Killed Knut?" by Stephen Cave
Published in Aeon Magazine, November 13, 2012
http://www.aeonmagazine.com/nature-and-cosmos/stephen-cave-zoos-conservation/

Eric

Longread #225 -- Snow Fall -- 1/2/13

This longread tells a riveting and terrifying story, but that isn't why it has generated significant buzz on the internet. What really sets this article apart is not its content but its structure and delivery. The New York Times has published many excellent articles that have been featured on this blog, and with its growing focus on the digital realm, the Times has also looked for ways to make its content more appealing and more informative. With this "interactive" longread, they've hit a home run. The multimedia design of this story isn't just a nice layout; instead, it is an effective use of text, pictures, and graphics to help keep the reader engaged and deepen his or her understanding of the article. Reading through the entire piece takes awhile, but it's worth it for the story itself and for the glimpse it provides into what the direction of online longform journalism may look like in the near future.

"Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek" by John Branch
Published in the New York Times, December 20, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek

Eric

Longread #218 -- Waiting for Bigfoot -- 12/19/12

Today's longread offers another look at a fringe group that holds fast to a belief despite a preponderance of contradictory evidence. It turns out there is an active scene of people searching to find bigfoot. As this article touches on, it seems that the social element is just as important as the prospect of actually seeing bigfoot. This is likely the case for many fringe groups -- it's not so much the belief that holds everyone together but rather the sense of connectedness and being part of a community.

"Waiting for Bigfoot" by Colleen O'Neil
Published in Outside Online, November 29, 2012
http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/north-america/united-states/ohio/Waiting-for-Bigfoot.html?page=all&src=longreads

Eric

Longread #189 -- Who Fracked Mitt Romney -- 11/6/12

At long last, the polls will close today for the U.S. Presidential election. More money has been spent in this election cycle than any before it, and much of that money has come from extremely wealthy people with a huge stake in the election's outcome. One such individual is Harold Hamm, an oil baron and top energy adviser to Mitt Romney who also happens to be one of America's richest and most powerful businessmen. While the political connections in this story are absolutely important, so too are the social and environmental ramifications of the type of rapid oil field development that Hamm's company, Continental Resources, is undertaking. Given that even a second Obama Administration is likely to move forward with this kind of oil exploration, recognition of these issues is essential to try to create proper oversight and regulation.

"Who Fracked Mitt Romney?" by Josh Harkinson
Published in Mother Jones, October 29, 2012
http://www.motherjones.com/print/198461

Eric

Longread #155 -- Broken Heartland -- 9/19/12

Oops -- I forgot to hit the "Publish" button on this one yesterday.

This longread takes a long look at the social and economic development of the Great Plains and calls into question the sustainability of our current model. I had heard about depletion of the aquifer, but this article really helped to put it into context for me. It also looks at some of the alternative visions for this land ranging from organic agriculture to wind power generation. We cling so strongly to a pastoral vision of the Midwest as America's breadbasket, but as this article makes clear, reality is rapidly disrupting this narrative.

"Broken heartland: The looming collapse of agriculture on the Great Plains" by Wil S. Hylton
Published in Harper's, July 2012
http://harpers.org/archive/2012/07/0083968

Eric

Longread #154 -- Deadly Tin -- 9/18/12

Yesterday was a big day. I finally retired my old flip phone and got a smartphone. As the smartphone market grows, so too does the demand for the device's components. While several articles have exposed the problems involved in device manufacturing in China, there has been relatively little discussion of where the basic materials are coming from to build the components for for so many of these devices. Today's longread casts a light on the tin production industry and the challenges that it has brought to Bangka Island in Indonesia.

"The Deadly Tin Inside Your Smartphone" by Cam Simpson
Published in Business Week, August 23, 2012
http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/67884-the-deadly-tin-inside-your-smartphone

Eric

Longread #116 -- Let's Talk Crap -- 7/18/12

It's easy to relegate poop to the realm of either TMI or bathroom humor, but today's longread shows that thinking of crap in that way is truly a luxury. Throughout the world, issues of waste are of vital importance from the perspective of human and environmental health. This interview with journalist and author Rose George brings this issue to light and provides a lot of information that you never knew you wanted to know about crap.

"Let's Talk Crap" by Katharine Mieszkowski
Published on Salon.com, October 16, 2008
http://www.salon.com/2008/10/16/big_necessity/

Eric