The Love of My Life
On losing a mother and a marriage.
Brian Reed, a senior producer at This American Life, is the host of S-Town.
“It’s a story about the remarkableness of what could be called an unremarkable life.”
Thanks to MailChimp, Babbel, and Squarespace for sponsoring this episode.
Will I Get A Ticket?
A conversation with Lucinda Chambers shortly after she was fired from British Vogue, where she had been fashion editor for the last 25 years.
America’s Future Is Texas
What a state can teach us about a nation.
Racing the Storm: The Story of the Mobile Bay Sailing Disaster
A minute-by-minute account of one of the worst sailing disasters in American history.
‘Love Thy Neighbor?’
Life for a Muslim doctor in rural Minnesota before and after the election of Donald Trump.
Where's _why? : The Disappearance of One of the World’s Most Beloved Computer Programmers
On the mysterious disappearance of a beloved coding legend (and his code) with stops along the way for a short history of programming languages, an ethnography of code-based communities, and an inquiry into what it means to “die young without artifact.”
The Devil's Henchmen
What should be done with the bodies of ISIS fighters? While investigating in Mosul, the author uncovers a terrible crime.
The Hacker Who Cared Too Much
He hacked a hospital to protest their treatment of a sick child. Now he’s facing 15 years.
The Silence of the Lambs
How a missionary group covered up decades of sexual abuse.
The First Church of Rednecks, White Socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer
In the ’50s and ’60s, the Reverend Will Campbell marched with MLK Jr. and worked to desegregate the University of Mississippi. Later, broke, he took a job as Waylon Jennings’ roadie and occasional spiritual guru. Afterward, his ministry grew even stranger and more itinerant.
The Cryptocurrency Prophet
How a Russian-born Canadian 23-year-old invented Ethereum, the first cryptocurrency to seriously challenge Bitcoin.
'It's Amazing I Haven't Ruined Myself'
Once a Red Sox hero, Curt Schilling’s loud climb towards right-wing media fame may have cost him a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He doesn’t care.
The Killer in the Pool
In February 2010, a killer whale named Tilikum dragged his SeaWorld trainer into the pool and drowned her. It was the third time the orca had been involved in a death during his 27 years in captivity. This is his story.
What’ll It Be for the New York Diner?
An obituary.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Little Skin Bag"
In a surreal, grotesque world, a woman named Little Skin Bag searches for a sense of self .
The Last Shot
How Vivitrol, a little-known anti-addiction drug, became the mandatory treatment for opioid abuse in drug courts across the United States.
Eyes of the Storm
On being—and playing for—Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt.
Ginger Thompson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning senior reporter at ProPublica. Her most recent article is "How the U.S. Triggered a Massacre in Mexico."
“How many times have I written the phrase ‘a town that was controlled by drug traffickers?' I had no idea what that really meant. What does it mean to live in a town that’s controlled by drug traffickers? And how does it get that way? One of the things I was hoping that we could do by having the people who actually lived through that explain it to us was that—to bring you close to that and say, ‘No, here’s what that means.’”
Thanks to MailChimp, Casper, and Outside the Box for sponsoring this week's episode.
Aftermath
The end of a marriage.
The Future of Coal Country
A local environmental activist fights to prepare her community for life beyond mining.
A Murder Shatters the Dreams of Immigrant Tech Workers
The life and death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla.
Serena Williams’s Love Match
How the best tennis player of all time fell in love with the guy who founded Reddit.
Is the Staggeringly Profitable Business of Scientific Publishing Bad for Science?
Inside the economics of scientific publishing, an industry that’s somehow nearly as profitable as film and has changed the course of science in the process.
Interview: T.J. Miller
On leaving a very successful TV show:
"I’m me, the guy that thinks all of this is sort of ridiculous. It was a joke. Leaving was a joke that I thought would be a good joke because the show would grow and change. It seemed like a funny trick to play on everyone. It’s just like, what if Kramer [Michael Richards] left in the middle of Seinfeld’s height? And also what if that guy never said the n-word on a stage? What if that was the end of this character? I just thought that would be really fascinating."
