Dead Air
The Philippines is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist, especially if you’re in talk radio.
Confessions of a Car Salesman
An investigative reporter goes undercover at a dealership to learn the tricks of the trade, of which there are many.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "It Falls Away Slowly"
Two men examine their breakup.
Race Against Time
Andrea Duke is 36. She began running marathons competitively two years ago. She’s already qualified for the Olympic Trials.
White Debt
Reckoning with what is owed—and what can never be repaid—for racial privilege.
Chip Kidd is a book designer and author. His most recent book is Only What's Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts.
“The curious thing about doing a book cover is that you're creating a piece of art, but it is in service to a greater piece of art that is dictating what you're going to do. I may think I've come up with the greatest design in the world, but if the author doesn't like it, they win. And I have to start over.”
Thanks to The Standard Hotels, MailChimp, Mack Weldon, Prudential, The Great Courses Plus, and "The Message" for sponsoring this week's episode.
The High-Stakes Race to Rid the World of Human Drivers
On the battle between Google, Apple, Uber, and Tesla to own the driverless car market, which could be worth more than $30 billion a year.
The CEO Paying Everyone $70,000 Salaries Has Something to Hide
Thirty-year-old payment processing CEO Dan Price made an audacious decision and was rewarded with viral stardom. But what were his real motivations?
How to Destroy an American Family
The Straters’ lives have been devastated by relentless cyberattacks. And there’s nothing they can do about it.
Whale Fall
On the slow death of a beached humpback whale.
The Ultimate Feel-Furious Movie About Wall Street
How Michael Lewis’s The Big Short became a Hollywood comedy.
When a Kid Kills His Longtime Abuser, Who's the Victim?
Vengeance, abuse, and the strange double standards of death penalty politics.
The Refugee Dilemma
What America owes those it takes in.
Revenge of the Nerds
How the Caltech basketball team, losers of 310 straight conference games, figured out a formula for winning.
"The System of TV Is Creaking Under Its Own Weight Right Now"
An interview with Michael Schur, who wrote for Saturday Night Live and The Office before co-creating Parks and Recreation and Brookyn Nine-Nine.
Birthright
The political history of Planned Parenthood.
A Dream of Secular Utopia in ISIS' Backyard
On a thin sliver of land called Rojava where “rules of the neighboring ISIS caliphate ha[ve] been inverted,” a Kurdish Syrian college trains its future autonomous leaders.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Briar Switch"
A dangerous trek to visit a dying father.
Crush Point
Why people stampede, and what can be done to prevent “crowd disasters.”
How the Gun Control Debate Ignores Black Lives
We know that certain programs can help prevent gun deaths among black men. No one in Washington seems to care.
The Unlikely True International Story of the Man Called Orange Brother
The ups and downs of being an accidental viral sensation.
Don't Cry for Tracy Morgan
“I faced death and all that shit. It’s my responsibility to come back and come back strong. It’s going to take more than a Walmart truck to take that gift away. I can’t wait to make you all laugh. Especially you, Mike. And I already did that today. So all is good.”
Ta-Nehisi Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic. His latest book, Between the World and Me, just won the National Book Award.
“When I first came to New York, I couldn't see any of this. I felt like a complete washout. I was in my little apartment, eating donuts and playing video games. The only thing I was doing good with my life was being a father and a husband. That was it. David [Carr] was a big shot. And he would call me in, just out of the blue, to have lunch. I was so low at that point. ... He said, I think you're a great bet. ... He was remembering people who had invested in him when he was low. That more than anything is why I'm sad he's not here for all of this. Because it's for him. It's to say to him, you were right.”
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Thanks to MailChimp, Casper, Squarespace, MasterClass, and "The Message" for sponsoring this week's episode.
User Behaviour
Websites and apps are designed for compulsion, even addiction. So why aren’t they regulated like drugs or casinos?
The Serial Swatter
How internet trolls dangerously exploit over-militarized police.
