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The Week’s Best Longreads: The Daily Beast Picks for June 16, 2012

From the evangelical bully trying to control the GOP to the creepy new economics of pleasure, The Daily Beast picks the best journalism from around the Web this week.

Bully Pulpit
Jane Mayer, The New Yorker

Evangelist talk-show host Bryan Fischer’s campaign to control the Republican Party.

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Obama’s Drift Toward War With Iran
Robert Wright, The Atlantic

There are things Obama could do to greatly increase the chances of a negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear problem, but he seems to have decided that doing them would bring political blowback that would reduce his chances of reelection.

Happyism
Dierdre N. McCloskey, The New Republic

The creepy new economics of pleasure.

The Streets of Tirana
Kevin Heldman, Capital New York

An investigation into the heart of Albanian-American organized crime.

The Mind Reader
David Cyranoski, Nature

Adrian Owen has found a way to use brain scans to communicate with people previously written off as unreachable. Now he’s fighting to take his methods to the clinic.

The Last Days of Mary Kennedy
Laurence Leamer, Newsweek

She was the love of Bobby Jr.’s life. Then everything unraveled. A Kennedy historian reveals the heartbreaking story of Mary’s long decline.

For more great longreads, visit our friends at Longreads.com.

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About Longreads

Every week, we pick the best long-form journalism from the newest magazines and journals.

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