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All longform pieces posted on The Slow Scroll

How Big Meat Silences Its Critics
Vox07 Feb 2025 • ~3150 words

Factory farming is destructive to the environments that many people call their homes. When people take a stand and fight, though, they face harassment, intimidation, death threats, and social ostracism. Kenny Torrella reports on the stories of some who opposed factory farming, an...

Believing in Aliens Derailed This Internet Pioneer’s Career. Now He’s Facing Prison
Bloomberg04 Feb 2025 • ~7350 words

Joseph Firmage, a Silicon Valley pioneer, faces accusations of fraud and elder abuse after a series of failed ventures fueled by his obsession with antigravity technology and UFOs. Brent Crane traces Firmage's rise and fall, from founding successful tech companies to his increasi...

How the Tiger Really Got His Stripes
The New Yorker04 Feb 2025 • ~2100 words

Scientists are getting closer to figuring out what determines the patterns that animals wear. Rivka Galchen’s story takes a look into how research is progressing with two examples, the patterned skin of boxfish and the stripes of African striped mice.

After the Raid
Texas Monthly07 Feb 2025 • ~2900 words

In December 2006, a mass ICE raid transformed the small Texas town of Cactus, leaving a significant portion of its immigrant workforce detained. Jack Herrera explores the immediate chaos of the raid and its long-term effects on the community, which has become one of the most dive...

How to Build a Human
The Intercept02 Feb 2025 • ~6450 words

Parabon NanoLabs claims that with their software Snapshot, DNA samples can be turned into a composite image of a suspect to help law enforcement find the perpetrator. Scientist do not agree, and raise concerns about its reliability and the potential for deepening racial bias in i...

Fouad Elkoury’s Photography Finds Poetry Amid Destruction
New Lines Magazine06 Feb 2025 • ~3750 words

Olivia Snaije writes about how Fouad Elkoury's photography captures the haunting beauty of conflict and resilience over decades of turmoil in the Middle East.

How My Dad Reconciled His God and His Gay Son
New York Times05 Feb 2025 • ~7850 words

Timothy White explores the journey of his father, an evangelical pastor, as he reconciles his faith with the fact that his son is gay. Through excerpts from the father’s journals, White shows how personal connections can reshape deeply held beliefs and foster inclusivity. “He too...

The “Inhuman” Court Case That Helped Sink a Major Law Firm
The Walrus06 Feb 2025 • ~2500 words

Adam Dodek writes about the Castor Holdings case, now a cautionary tale, illustrating how a single case can consume resources and time far beyond what is reasonable.

Hitler’s Oligarchs
The Atlantic06 Feb 2025 • ~3450 words

This brief history explores the relationship between Adolf Hitler and the industrial magnates who once reviled him, but ultimately empowered his rise. Figures like Alfred Hugenberg and Fritz Thyssen navigated their own ambitions while enabling a regime that would lead to catastro...

Fake Teeth Will Solve All My Problems
Electric Literature06 Feb 2025 • ~5200 words

In this excerpt from his memoir “Alligator Tears,” Edgar Gomez reflects on his childhood insecurities about his teeth and his family's financial struggles. The narrative explores the impact of his new teeth on his self-esteem and social interactions, as well as coming to terms wi...