The Triple Jeopardy of a Chinese Math Prodigy
A secretive hedge fund used the British court system to punish an IP thief‚ even though he was already in jail.
American Exorcism
Priests are fielding more requests than ever for help with demonic possession, and a centuries-old practice is finding new footing in the modern world.
The Would-Be Terrorist vs. the FBI
The story of a marginalized, mentally ill young man who drew the FBI’s attention with his social-media posts and then staggered into its elaborately constructed snare.
Do You Even Bake, Bro?
How the Silicon Valley set fell in love with sourdough and decided to disrupt the 6,000-year-old craft of making bread, one crumbshot at a time.
Fuel to the Fire
How a U.S. law intended to reduce dependence on fossil fuels has unleashed an environmental disaster in Indonesia.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Repent, Macho Man Randy Savage"
The last years of a wrestling legend.
Native Intelligence
The true story of the first Thanksgiving.
The Fire and Everything After
After flames engulfed an Atlanta highway last year, police arrested Basil Eleby for arson. The fire could have destroyed his life. Instead, it may have saved it.
Madeleine Baran is an investigative reporter for APM Reports and the host and lead reporter of the podcast In the Dark.
“We’re always thinking about first not so much the narrative, but first what did we find out and how is it important? And how can we construct a story that’s going to take people along on that and they’re going to care about it and be able to follow it. That’s a challenge in any kind of serialized podcast or film where you have one narrative arc from start to finish in a season, but you also have all these individual episodes with narrative arcs. And because we’re not novelists, we don’t get to change the facts, sometimes there are these facts you do not like cause they’re really confusing and you wish they were not that way. We spend a lot of time in storyboarding and edits and group edits and sound edits. We bring in people who don’t know what we’re doing and have them listen for mostly for clarity and confusion.”
Thanks to MailChimp, Screen Dive podcast, Skagen, Squarespace, and Pitt Writers for sponsoring this week's episode.
The Predatory Lending Machine Crushing Small Businesses Across America
How an obscure legal document turned New York’s court system into a debt-collection machine.
Life on a Shrinking Planet
With wildfires, heat waves, and rising sea levels, large tracts of the earth are at risk of becoming uninhabitable.
"Nothing on This Page Is Real"
How lies become truth in online America.
Chardon, Ohio
Life in a small town, six years after a school shooting.
'Fight Club' With Better Jokes
An oral history of Garry Shandling’s secret pickup basketball game.
The Forgotten Legend of Silicon Valley’s Flying Saucer Man
Alexander Weygers and his Discopter.
The Future of Aging Just Might Be in Margaritaville
At the Jimmy Buffett-branded community, a hint at how increasingly long-lived species might choose to spend their extra decades.
I Found the Best Burger Place in America. And Then I Killed It.
On the ethics of putting the internet’s spotlight on a neighborhood restaurant.
In Lagos, Space For My Thoughts To Fly
On nomadism, toxicity, and the question of home.
How a Grieving Father Is Uncovering Mexico’s Mass Graves
Victims of Mexico’s drug violence often end up in unmarked graves. This man set out to find them.
The Best Way To Save People From Suicide
While serving in WWII, Jerome Motto received regular correspondence from a woman he barely knew. These letters led to groundbreaking research on how to reach people at risk.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Holy Water"
Expected and unexpected salvation.
Becoming Anne Frank
Why did we turn an isolated teenage girl into the world’s most famous Holocaust victim?
Something Like Springtime
On Jonathan Richman and his roots in small-town Maine.
Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis
On the lengths Mark Zuckberberg and Sheryl Sandberg have gone to protect their power.
Beth Macy is an author and former reporter at The Roanoke Times. Her latest book is Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America.
“I learned how to interview by delivering papers. I didn’t know it was interviewing, but I would stop and talk to old people who were bored and lonely and have great conversations. I think I learned how to talk to people by delivering the papers. And there’s a certain thing you have to do when you have to collect the money and learn how to negotiate with people when you’re 11. That’s some reporting skills too.”
Thanks to MailChimp, School of Art Institute of Chicago, Skagen, and Pitt Writers for sponsoring this week's episode.
