Though it might be sacrilegious for me to recommend you articles on platforms that compete against the one you’re currently reading on and I’m currently publishing on … let’s just turn a blind eye to that for a few minutes. Longform journalism has become a new love of mine, one I can go to when I’m bored in class, looking to pass 20 minutes or feeling the desire to learn something new about the world. So in this time I’ve spent becoming familiar with longform journalism (mainly through the site longform.org BTW), I’ve read some articles that I’d love to share:
“The Incredible Tale of the Greatest Toy Man You’ve Never Known”
This article really unveils the curtain behind how the 90s-00s toys we often feel nostalgia over came about. We learn about how the success of what seems like the greatest job in the world rests on one man’s two abilities: understanding children’s minds and “playing the game” in the business world. If you’re interested in all about your favorite childhood toys, the wonders of marketing or the ridiculous lives of rich businessmen, this is the article for you.
Where were you when Corinna Kopf announced her OnlyFans? Personally, I was busy counting my lucky stars. Though as this article highlights, we often hear about those within the top one percent of OnlyFans or similar platforms that allow creators to take control of their content, but seldom about those who rely on it for a livelihood rather than a supplemental income to fund their Ferrari.
Here, the attention is rightfully brought back to the everyday folks who use such platforms without the helping hand of fame, as stories are told of their origin, purpose and the effects such work has had on their life.
“Did Covid Change How We Dream?”
You know those dreams where suddenly you’re naked and surrounded by people? I had many dreams like that this past year, except exchange the nakedness to being maskless, and instead of me just being maskless, so is everyone else. Never before have I had an event (or series of) in my life impact my dreams so continually, until Covid. This article is for those who can relate or wonder about the workings of dreams in general, because Covid dreams or not, what the hell are dreams anyway?
“The Blind Man Who Taught Himself to See”
This is the best one; if you read nothing else from this list, please read this article. An incredible story of how a man (Daniel Kish) taught to use echolocation (yes, like bats!) is able to bike around his city, “see” a building from 1,000 feet away or tell you if you parked too close to the curb. Reading this article was hypnotizing—I could not pull myself away from reading until I was finished. And if you’re like me, you’ll be trying to use echolocation in the shower to see if you can tell how close the showerhead is to your own.
It can be daunting choosing a longform article to read as they can be time commitments, so I hope this list of recommendations gives you a good idea of where you can start from. For myself, I’m eager to read more and hopefully find other gems to write a follow-up list!