The Week’s Best Longreads for Jan. 12, 2013

How to Catch a Falling Star
Stephen Rodrick, The New York Times Magazine

A fading director (Paul Shrader), a troubled actress (Lindsay Lohan), and a disciplined porn star (James Deen) walk onto a movie set...

The Self in Self-Help
Kathryn Schulz, New York

We have no idea what a self is. So how can we fix it?

The Science of Sex Abuse
Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker

Is it right to imprison people for heinous crimes they have not yet committed?

Thank You for Fracking
Tom Chiarella, Esquire

There's a gold rush going on right now. Man is breaking the earth, looking for natural gas—just as we always have. It's a mad scene, with hucksters on every side of the issue. And that's just on the surface. You won't believe what's happening underground.

John McAfee’s Last Stand
Joshua Davis, Wired

A tech multimillionaire’s wild, weird race to escape  the law.

The Last Dive
Tony Dokoupil, Newsweek

Legendary deep-sea diver Sylva Earle is saying goodbye to the ocean floor, but will robots be good enough to replace her? Tony Dokoupil makes a trip to the bottom of the sea to find out.

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