Content Section

The Week’s Best Longreads: The Daily Beast Picks for July 14, 2012

From Barack Obama’s killing-machine presidency to the empire of Mormon mammon, The Daily Beast picks the best journalism from around the web this week.

The Lethal Presidency of Barack Obama
Tom Junod, Esquire


Sure, we as a nation have always killed people. A lot of people. But no president has ever waged war by killing enemies one by one, targeting them individually for execution, wherever they are, even when the collateral damage is innocent American lives.

longreads

How the Mormons Make Money
Caroline Winter, Businessweek


The Church of Latter-day Saints has amassed financial holdings worth billions. Here's an inside look at its business empire.

The Chickens and the Bulls
William McGowan, Slate


The rise and incredible fall of a vicious extortion ring that preyed on prominent gay men in the 1960s.

Will Tumblr Sell Out?
Rob Walker, The New York Times Magazine


The founder and C.E.O. has a vision for his Web company as a “platform for creativity” unblemished by commercialization. But isn’t that what all 26-year-old tech prodigies say?

A Buddhist Retreat’s Death Saga
Lizzie Crocker, The Daily Beast


A Buddhist ‘Retreat for Peace’ in the rugged Arizona mountains has been less than peaceful lately, as a top student was expelled and later found dead in a cave. The Daily Beast’s Lizzie Crocker went looking for answers.

You Might Also Like

About Longreads

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

Latest From

Book Beast

Khaled Hosseini’s Book Bag

Khaled Hosseini’s Book Bag

The author of ‘The Kite Runner’ picks his favorite short-story collections. His new book is ‘And the Mountains Echoed.’

Dear Abby For Down Under

East Egg

Gatsby in Chengdu

Constructive Criticism

Reviewing the Reviewers

Fiction

Fact-Checking ‘Inferno’

Latest

Hot Reads

Latest

Book Bag

Latest

How I Write

Latest

The Big Idea

Latest

American Dreams