Who Controls Your Facebook Feed
The humans behind the algorithm.
To Catch a Rapist
Inside New Haven’s Special Victims Unit.
Venkatesh Rao is the founder of Ribbonfarm and the author of Breaking Smart.
“I would say I was blind and deaf and did not know anything about how the world worked until I was about 25. It took until almost 35 before I actually cut loose from the script. The script is a very, very powerful thing. The script wasn’t working for me.”
Thanks to MailChimp and CreativeLive for sponsoring this week's episode.
Who’s Been Killing the Feral Peacocks of Palos Verdes?
A case of peafowl dividing a neighborhood.
The Celebrity Surgeon Who Used Love, Money, and the Pope to Scam an NBC News Producer
Celebrated doctor Paolo Macchiarini was not all that he seemed.
Playing for Time
A father, his dying son, and the quest to make the most profound video game ever.
The Devastating Story of Washington’s Peeping-Tom Rabbi
Rabbi Barry Freundel said he would help dozens of women convert to Judaism. In the process, he secretly videotaped them naked.
The Wall Dancer
Ashima Shiraishi is the most talented rock climber in the world. She’s also 14.
When He Was 16, This Man Threw One Punch—And Went to Jail for Life
Years after the era of the “superpredator,” Taurus Buchanan is still paying for a crime of his youth.
The Brand Keeping Oprah in Business
A profile of Tyler Perry.
One Year, Two Races
Inside the Republican Party’s bizarre, tumultuous 2015.
White Utopia
The racist foundation of Oregon.
Best of Luck
On realizing you’re going to die.
Ready for Prime Time
After 25 years as a road comic, Leslie Jones becomes a star.
Granddad Gone Bad
He was arrested for pushing his three grandsons so hard on a Grand Canyon hike that rangers feared for their lives. Their account of the summer they spent with their youthful grandpa would include an uncanny understanding of marijuana strains and a stopover in Jamaica.
Behind The Photo That Changed The Boston Marathon Forever
A photographer captured the moment when a race organizer confronted a woman who’d snuck into the race.
Can the Greatest Darts Player of All Time Step Away from the Game that Made Him?
A legend hangs on.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Secondhand"
Various time passages in an old home.
The Terrible Beauty of Brain Surgery
A visit to Albania to watch Henry Marsh perform his pioneering surgery where the patient is kept awake during the removal of a tumor and the “brain is stimulated with an electric probe, so that the surgeon can see if and how the patient reacts.”
Snakes Alive!
The Rattlesnake Derby is like a bass-fishing tournament, except you really don’t want a bite.
Inside Gitmo: America's Shame
Why “the legal equivalent of outer space” continues to exist, fifteen years after 9/11.
The True Story of Roland the Farter
The history of professional flatulence.
My Brother, the Murderer
Who killed Jean Hope in 1970?
A Last Resort for Stolen Ships
The ‘repo men’ of the high seas.
Destroy All Monsters
A Wisconsin basement gave birth to one of the most influential narratives of our times – Dungeons and Dragons – sending its creator, E. Gary Gygax, on a strange and perilous journey of his own.
