Falling
A Pultzer-winning Washington Post book critic on descending into poverty as he aged.
A Pultzer-winning Washington Post book critic on descending into poverty as he aged.
William McPherson The Hedgehog Review Sep 2014 10min Permalink
Between 1996 and 2015, the number of working-age adults receiving federal disability payments increased dramatically — but nowhere more so than in rural America. This is one man’s story.
Terrence McCoy Washington Post Mar 2017 Permalink
Hundreds of people have gone missing on remote public lands. Who’s responsible for finding them?
Jon Billman Outside Mar 2017 20min Permalink
A mystery unfolds in an English mansion.
John Lanchester New Yorker Apr 2017 25min Permalink
In the era of cord-cutting and mobile viewing, ESPN is at the crossroads.
Ira Boudway, Max Chafkin Businessweek Mar 2017 30min Permalink
The story of The Anarchist Cookbook and why its creator, William Powell, regrets writing the book.
Gabriel Thompson Harper's Feb 2015 20min Permalink
The annual tradition in the grape-growing country of South Africa’s Western Cape was that locals could gather fruit before it rotted on the vine. But this season produced a body amongst the rows.
Christopher Clark Roads and Kingdoms Mar 2017 20min Permalink
An interview with Dylan, 75, on the power of recording standards.
Bill Flanagan, Bob Dylan bobdylan.com Mar 2017 35min Permalink
Hrishikesh Hirway is the host of Song Exploder.
“I love the idea that somebody would listen to an episode [of Song Exploder] and then the feeling that they would have afterwards is, ‘Now I want to make something.’ That’s the best possible reaction. Whether it’s music or not, just that idea: ‘I want to make something.’ Because that is the thing that I love most, getting that feeling.”
Thanks to MailChimp and MeUndies for sponsoring this week's episode.
Mar 2017 Permalink
Meet the giant green rock that seduces and destroys.
Elizabeth Weil Wired Mar 2017 25min Permalink
In Sweden, hundreds of refugee children have fallen unconscious after being informed that their families will be expelled from the country. The patients, doctors say, seem to have lost the will to live.
Rachel Aviv New Yorker Mar 2017 25min Permalink
Traditions, feuds, and controversies in British pest control.
Brendan Borrell The Guardian Mar 2017 20min Permalink
Danny Rubin wrote the movie and then the musical 24 years later. What happens when one thing becomes your entire life?
S.I. Rosenbaum New York Mar 2017 15min Permalink
Come to his Dilbert-shaped home. Bite into a Dilberito. Be persuaded on genocide, mental orgasms, and his fellow Master Wizard, the president of the United States.
Caroline Winter Bloomberg Business Mar 2017 15min Permalink
South Florida is being overrun with cane toads, which can weigh almost six pounds. No one knows why they are swelling in numbers or when their population growth will slow.
Ian Frazier Outside Mar 2017 25min Permalink
On the health care failure and what, if anything, comes next.
Robert Draper New York Times Magazine Mar 2017 35min Permalink
A day with ESPN’s NFL scoopmaster.
Tim Rohan Monday Morning Quarterback Mar 2017 15min Permalink
Cheap wages, little training, and crushed limbs.
Peter Waldman Businessweek Mar 2017 15min Permalink
For insect detectives, the trickiest cases involve the bugs that aren’t really there.
Eric Boodman STAT Mar 2017 20min Permalink
Rise of the wonk.
Alec MacGillis New Republic Sep 2012 15min Permalink
A profile of Rei Kawakubo, an artist of few words who changed women’s fashion.
Judith Thurman New Yorker Jul 2005 25min Permalink
Cyril the Swan was the mascot for a low-level soccer club in the UK. He was known for fighting with other mascots. And refs. And opposing coaches. He also saved the club’s financial fortunes. Then the nine-foot-tall bird became the prime suspect in a serious assault.
Jeff Maysh Howler Mar 2017 25min Permalink
Searching for the world’s most prolific bank robber.
Garrett M. Graff Wired Mar 2017 30min Permalink
Was the biggest record sale in the history of Discogs actually someone selling the record to themself? Was a serial hoaxer who had posed as Jimi Hendrix’s son in blackface actually behind both the 1989 album and its 2017 sale?
The violent history of a city.
Michael Beeman Juked Magazine Mar 2017 15min Permalink