The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Below, our favorite stories of the week.

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1. What Happened to Eastern Airlines Flight 980?

Peter Frick-Wright | Outside | Oct. 18, 2016 | 29 minutes (7,296 words)

In 1985, Eastern Air Lines Flight 980 crashed into the side of a 21,112-foot mountain in Bolivia. No bodies were recovered at the crash site, and the plane’s black box was never found. More than 30 years later, two friends from Boston organized an expedition to figure out what happened.

2. The White Flight of Derek Black

Eli Saslow | The Washington Post | Oct. 15, 2016 | 25 minutes (6,254 words)

How the 27-year-old son of white nationalist leaders quit following his parents’ footsteps and began building bridges with the communities he previously worked to eliminate.

3. A Kink in the Hyperloop

Benjamin Wallace | New York Magazine | Oct. 18, 2016 | 20 minutes (5,248 words)

In 2013, Elon Musk put together a detailed proposal for a futuristic 35-minute San Francisco—L.A. commute. The idea was open-sourced, and enthralled by Musk’s vision, a venture capitalist named Shervin Pishevar started a company to bring a version of the idea to life. Like many Silicon Valley stories, this one would contain speed bumps and internal turmoil.

4. Fear of a Feminist Future

Laurie Penny | The Baffler | Oct. 17, 2016 | 11 minutes (2,797 words)

Laurie Penny—whose feminist dystopian novel Everything Belongs to the Future was released this week—considers the alt right’s fear of women heroes in futuristic literature and film, not to mention real life.

5. What I Learned About Love While Getting High

Tim Murphy | BuzzFeed | Oct. 15, 2016 | 14 minutes (3,595 words)

Veteran HIV/AIDS reporter and Christodora author Tim Murphy’s devastating recollection of a drug addled love affair he had with an older gay couple in the wake of 9/11.

from Longreads https://blog.longreads.com/2016/10/21/the-top-5-longreads-of-the-week-141/