Blow Hard
Scott Storch, a producer who earned six figures for beats he made in less than an hour, was worth an estimated $70 million. Then he blew it all in a bizarre cocaine binge.
James Verini, a freelance writer based out of Nairobi, won the 2015 National Magazine Award for Feature Writing.
“That is probably the most alien, jarring thing about working in Africa: life is much cheaper. More to the point, death is very close to you. We're very removed from death here. Someone can die at 89 in their sleep here and it's called a tragedy. In Africa, I find that I'm often exposed to it. That's part of why I wanted to live there.”
Thanks to TinyLetter and Trunk Club for sponsoring this week's episode.
Five Hostages
Feeling abandoned by America, families fight to save their children from ISIS.
Pornucopia
Will watching too much pornography ruin sex?
What's Killing the Babies of Vernal, Utah?
A midwife, a rash of stillbirths and miscarriages, and a town whose economy depends on fracking.
Zane, the Queen of Erotica, Has a Secret
Although she is one of the richest writers in the country, her finances are a mess.
The Kingdom of Haymour
An immigrant from Lebanon, a hair-cutting fortune, and the dream of building a castle on an island in British Columbia.
‘The Condition of Black Life Is One of Mourning’
On black bodies in the age of the Charleston shootings.
Meet the Gay Mormon Men (and Their Wives) Beseeching SCOTUS to Save 'Traditional' Marriage
Danny Caldwell is openly gay. He’s married. And he’s against gay marriage.
Prison Born
The dilemma of the prison nursery.
Solar Power for Everyone
The people working to make energy efficient homes cheap.
A Thousand Splendid Stuns
Growing up Afghan in the era of the Afghanistan War.
The Mayor vs. the Mogul
Mike Bloomberg goes back to work.
Long Way Home
Memories of her father and her time in Tennessee.
When Drug Addicts Work in Hospitals, No One Is Safe
How a traveling medical technician managed to steal narcotics from hospitals, infecting at least 45 people with hepatitis C in the process.
Rescuing Wonderful Shivery Tales
Creating – and revising – the Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm.
In Welsh Patagonia
A nonconformist pastor sent a colony of Welsh people to Argentina to try to preserve the language in 1865. 150 years later, the traces are still there.
James Salter, 1925-2015
A collection of picks by and about the writer, who died Friday.
Believe in Featherbowling
“This is a story about the most magical, mystical sport on earth, and the Detroit lifer who improbably became its king. Also, it’s about an art heist.”
The Mystery of the Jazz Cup
Searching for the person responsible for an iconic piece of 90s design.
Gone to Ghana
What it’s like to have your novel filmed by Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski.
Can Politico Make Brussels sexy?
A New York gossip reporter makes her way in the wilds of European bureaucracy.
Pop Punk Voice
Linguistics and a Blink-182 song.
L.A. to Nepal
The work of California Task Force Two, the “Seal Team Six of disaster aid.”
Aneurysm
The intricacies of a delicate operation.
