Fifty years ago, the Freedom of Information Act gave the public access to government secrets — all you had to do was ask. How a simple request became a bureaucratic nightmare.
government
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quotes
Building a New Society for Black Americans, First in Mississippi
A movement in Jackson, Mississippi is working to remake the way the city governs, feeds, and runs itself in order to serve the black community.
Posted inCurrent Events, Nonfiction, Quotes
The Elephant in the Flood
The troubled world of flood insurance: what happens to coastal communities as climate change leads to more and more catastrophic flooding?
Posted inEditor's Pick
How to Get Away with Spying for the Enemy
How does someone get away with helping a foreign adversary? Writer Sarah Laskow digs into the gonzo story of an American acquitted of spying for the Soviets—even after he confessed to it.
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Legal Journalist on the “Surreal” Experience of Becoming a U.S. Citizen Under Trump
Sarah Jeong has spent the past several months covering Trump’s travel ban… while officially becoming an American citizen.
Posted inCurrent Events, Longreads News
Garrett Graff Joins Longreads to Cover Border Patrol and Government Policy
Graff will cover border security and immigration, federal law enforcement, and the mechanics of how government works.
Posted inReading List, Uncategorized
This Land Should Be Your Land: A National Parks Reading List
Underneath the beautiful surface of federal lands are stories of danger, harassment, and billionaire privilege.
Posted inCurrent Events, Reading List, Story
The Best Longreads From Trump’s First 100 Days
After an exhausting first few weeks, the media dug in for the long fight ahead.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Where Were You the First Time You Realized the Government Wasn’t Always On the Ball?
The 1969 oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara galvanized environmental activism, and Pacific Standard’s oral history is a great read.
Posted inNonfiction, Story
‘The Stakes May Be the Survival of Civilization’
The first report from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1966 was a passionate defense of the government’s role in the arts.