Longreads

The Week’s Best Longreads: The Daily Beast Picks for July 7, 2012

<p>From the peril that awaits the American pullout in Afghanistan to the strange career of porn star James Deen, The Daily Beast picks the best journalism from around the web this week. Plus, see this week’s special edition featuring <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2012/07/06/the-best-longreads-on-scientology-daily-beast-picks-for-july-6-2012.html">the best longreads on the Church of Scientology</a>.</p>

After AmericaDexter Filkins, The New YorkerWill civil war hit Afghanistan the instant the U.S. pulls out?

Can Democrats Catch Up in the Super PAC Game?Robert Draper, The New York Times MagazineThey have a distaste for the new rules of the campaign-finance game. But they are playing.

‘Where Was My Mind Wandering?’Geoffrey Gray, New YorkIn the perfect sky of Roger Federer’s tennis world, something has been amiss. And only he can find it.

The Well-Hung Boy Next DoorWells Tower, GQMen aren’t porn stars; at best, they’re props. But not James Deen, who’s gotten huge with teenage girls by being average.

Rachel Maddow’s Quiet WarBen Wallace-Wells, Rolling StoneAmerica's leading lefty wonk has seen the enemy, and it's not just the GOP—it's the battles she fights every day with herself.

How the Modern Olympics Got Their StartFrank Deford, SmithsonianAs London gets set to host the XXXth Olympiad, acclaimed sportswriter Frank Deford connects the modern Games to their unlikely origin—in rural England.

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