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

Bully Pulpit
Jane Mayer, The New Yorker
Evangelist talk-show host Bryan Fischer’s campaign to control the Republican Party.

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.