The Deep State
On Erdogan’s struggle for power.
The Story of Ahmed and Alin
Syrian orphans become child laborers in Turkey.
The Library of Last Resort
How the Library of Congress failed to adapt to the 21st century.
Incoming
A profile Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s VP pick.
Inside the Playlist Factory
The people at Apple, Spotify, and Google who decide what you listen to.
The Tamir Rice Story: How To Make a Police Shooting Disappear
Inside the grand jury proceedings.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Bird (on Back)"
A couple deals with animal complications, unhappiness, and terminal illness.
The Fake Factory That Pumped Out Real Money
Making bio-diesel is hard. Getting paid $100 million to not make it is surprisingly easy.
The Mysterious Metamorphosis of Chuck Close
The legendary artist has radically upended his distinctive style of portraiture—and his entire life. Why?
T. Christian Miller, senior investigative reporter at ProPublica, and Ken Armstrong, staff writer at The Marshall Project, co-wrote the Pulitzer-winning story, “An Unbelievable Story of Rape.”
“I won’t forget this: when T. and I talked on the phone and agreed that we were going to work on [“An Unbelievable Story of Rape”] together, T. created a Google Drive site, and we decided we’d both dump all our documents in it. And I remember seeing all the records that T. had gathered in Colorado, and then I dumped all the records that I had gathered in Washington, and it was like each of us had half of a phenomenal story. And in one day, by dumping our notes into a common file, we suddenly had a whole story.”
Thanks to MailChimp, Squarespace, and Trunk Club for sponsoring this week's episode.
Thumb-Suckers Anonymous
“The patron saint of adult thumb-suckers is a 65-year-old Long Island salesman who looks strikingly like Hunter S. Thompson, down to the tinted aviator sunglasses and bald spot.”
Unmasking D.B. Cooper
The search for the world’s most elusive skyjacker.
"I've Had Almost Every Tragedy You Can Imagine"
An interview with Dallas Police Chief David O. Brown.
The Cost of Diane Arbus’s Life on the Edge
“The main characteristic of Diane was courage.”
Surviving the Long Haul
Life for women in the trucking industry.
The Longform Guide to the Brain
Experimental neuroscience, everlasting consciousness, and conjoined minds — our favorite articles about the brain.
When the Body Attacks the Mind
A physiological theory of mental illness.
Inside the Deadly World of Private Prisoner Transport
The vans, operated by for-profit companies, carry tens of thousands of people every year. They lack beds, toilets, and medical services. More than a dozen women have alleged they were sexually assaulted by guards while being transported; since 2012, at least four people have died.
My Holy Land Vacation
A bus tour through Israel with a conservative radio host and 450 of his biggest fans.
The Strange Story of a Murdered Banker in Puerto Rico
Maurice Spagnoletti was hired to clean up one of the island’s largest banks. He found fraud, waste, and executives performing Santeria rituals in the conference room. Then he was killed on his way home.
License to Betray
“Over and over again, records show, predatory physicians took advantage of a doctor’s special privilege — the daily practice of asking trusting people to disrobe in a private room and permit themselves to be touched.”
Night Moves
How our efforts to illuminate the nighttime are dangerous to Earth’s biodiversity.
How America’s Favorite Sports Betting Expert Turned a Sucker’s Game Into An Industry
The so-called gambling experts who sell their picks, lie about their records, and get paid even when they’re wrong.
Busted
Tens of thousands of people every year are sent to jail based on the results of a $2 roadside drug test. Widespread evidence shows that these tests routinely produce false positives. Why are police departments and prosecutors still using them?
Fiction Pick of the Week: "This Bridge"
Scenes from a crumbling marriage, a friendship, a life in the painful present.
