Riese’s Team Pick:
When I’m not writing excessively lengthy articles, I enjoy reading them, and the stacks of magazines on all available surfaces of my studio apartment testify to this passion. There’s so much online though these days, where do we even begin?
Well, this week Byliner launched, which aims to “discover and discuss great reads by great writers.”
In addition to publishing Byliner Press original stories by writers like Jon Krakauer and Tad Friend, Byliner accepts member-submitted links to great things they read on other sites — like lesbian writer Ariel Levy’s “My First Time, Twice” from Guernica (which is actually about sex with a dude) and Oliver Miller’s “AOL Hell: An AOL Content Slave Speaks Out” from The Faster Times.
Much like longform, which I’ve been visiting daily ever since that time they posted all the American Magazine Awards finalists, Byliner presents thematically curated lists of articles (to celebrate their launch, Byliner has a “How to Launch a Business” list). Byliner also is a social network for writers.
So what about longform?
Longform.org posts new and classic non-fiction articles, curated from across the web, that are too long and too interesting to be read on a web browser.
We recommend enjoying them using read later services like Instapaper and Read It Later and feature buttons to save articles with one click.
Launched in April 2010, Longform.org has been featured by Slate, New York Magazine, The Guardian, and others.
You can pick stories by tags, eras, topics, writers — and they have stuff that goes all the way back to like last century as well as things published yesterday. Curated thematic lists have topics like Commencement Addresses 1979-2011 or A Requiem for Glenn Beck. There’s just so much there, it’s like all the best parts of magazines organized for you. I print them out and read them and feel happy all day.
Ah. Just as I go on holiday with not much to do! Brilliant.
I’ve had Longform on my rss feed ever since you team picked it the first time and it has completely refreshed my internet reading habits.
Many times in the day I think to myself that I really wish there was someone around that I could talk to about what I just read on longform, because I have sooooo many feelings (currently lots of feelings about people’s brains and the American healthcare system).
I’ve also noticed that longform links occasionally cross paths with those from Lady Journos, which updates less frequently and has a similar aim of promoting quality journalism written by lady-types.
this is awesome. thanks for the find, it’s going on my top ten
Oh man, how am I going to get through all of my favourite websites every day now that you’ve introduced me to these great sites? Instapaper is my hero for situations like these- offline reading on my iPod ftw, plus I save paper!
Also, another great site similar to these (a bit more simplistic I’m afraid) is givemesomethingtoread.com where I’ve been getting all my Instapaper fodder. Now I have even more things to do on the bus with these sites to catch up on!
What they need next is for longform to broadcast itself onto your toilet paper.
But great links!
These are A-MAZING. Thanks Riese!
ohmygodddd byliner. i cannot even express how obsessed i am. THANK YOU RIESE
On April 17, 2011 CBS’s “60 Minutes” aired their expose of Greg Mortenson (best-selling author of “Three Cups of Tea” & “Stones Into Schools”) accusing him of fabricating his inspirational story and mismanaging the funds of his charitable organization. Jon Krakauer (best-selling author of “Into Thin Air & “Into the Wild”) said that Mortenson tells a “beautiful story, and it’s a lie.”
I haven’t closely followed the Mortenson scandal, so I won’t comment much on the extent of Mortensen’s deceit (for thoughtful commentary I would suggest Daniel Glick’s blog posts at danielglick.net or “Jon Krakauer’s Credibility Problem” posted at http://www.feralfirefighter.blogspot.com).
However, it appears that Jon Krakauer was not just a “crusading do-gooder” outraged at Mortenson’s literary deceit. It appears that Krakauer was also motivated to “take down” Mortenson to launch an old friends’ new publishing venture and pump up sales of his own books.
Daniel Glick wrote in his blog, “I believe in the importance of journalism to … hold people and institutions accountable. … it’s hard to believe why “60 Minutes” decided that Greg Mortenson … qualified on any of those fronts – much less why Jon Krakauer joined in this recent barrage.”
However, Krakauer didn’t simply “join in” with an on-going 60 Minutes investigation. Krakauer fed his story to 60 Minutes and later timed the release of his e-book, “Three Cups of Deceit,” (the day after the 60 Minutes expose aired) to maximize publicity for the launch of the new publishing venture byliner.com (whose editor is Mark Bryant, an old friend of Krakauers’ and his former editor at Outside magazine). Besides any anger about Mortensons’ literary sins, it appears Krakauer was also motivated to “take down” Mortenson to build up his own book sales and launch his old friends’ start-up.
It certainly appears that Greg Mortenson embellished his inspirational story. But, I believe Daniel Glick has offered balanced commentary on this affair: “Mortenson is neither a saint nor a charlatan; Krakauer is not either a jilted crank or a crusading do-gooder. There are nuances, debatable “facts” and conflicting motivations in almost every situation, messy and at times seemingly irreconcilable. This is no exception.”
Wow, thanks, those sites are awesome/ totally addictive. Really like longform. Thank god for those save-for-later add-ons and apps. And liked the ariel levy piece. Did anyone read her recent thing on berlusconi in the new yorker? That is some crazy shit right there.