The Cobweb
Can the Internet be archived?
The Guardians Who Slumbereth Not
Mel and Norma Gabler of Longview, Texas, want to tell your children what to learn in school.
Can the U.S. Ever Fix Its Messed-Up Maternity Leave System?
The U.S. is one of only two countries that don’t guarantee paid maternity leave. As a result, women across the country are rushing back to work after C-sections and losing their positions in order to take care of newborns.
The Genius of Moondog
How a blind, destitute man became a world-class composer while living on the streets of New York.
Can the Siberian Tiger Make a Comeback?
In Russia’s Far East, an orphaned female tiger is the test case in an experimental effort to save one of the most endangered animals on earth.
Defending Those Accused of Unthinkable Crimes
On the lawyers who defend Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Jared Loughner and Whitey Bulger.
Spy in the Machine
NSA-grade spyware is up for sale, and the world’s worst dictatorships are buying.
'That's Not All!' Kevin Trudeau, The World’s Greatest Salesman, Makes One Last Pitch
A profile of the best-selling author, self-help guru and convicted felon.
The Boy Who Didn't Come Back From Heaven: Inside A Bestseller's 'Deception'
Alex Malarkey co-wrote a bestselling book about a near-death experience. Last week he admitted he made it up. Why wasn’t anyone listening to a quadriplegic boy and a mother who simply wanted to tell the truth?
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Indigo Gets Married"
Interactions and complications ensue at a Seattle wedding.
The Invisible Woman
A conversation with Björk about Vulnicura, her new—and confessional—album about her recent break-up with Matthew Barney.
The Story of Diana: The Making of a Terrorist
How a woman born of wealth and privilege tries to bomb the establishment from which she came and ultimately dies in the process.
This Pulitzer-winning series is reprinted online in full and for the first time by Longform.
"Food Is a Death Sentence to These Kids"
People with Prader-Willi syndrome, caused by a genetic defect, always feel as though they’re starving. How can you condition them to control their appetites when temptation is everywhere?
From Gitmo to an American Supermax, The Horrors of Solitary Confinement
On the psychological damage punitive isolation inflicts upon Guantánamo and American prisoners alike.
Anand Gopal has written for The Wall Street Journal, Harper’s and Foreign Policy. He’s the author of No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War Through Afghan Eyes.
“When I got to the Taliban, I got out my notebook and tried to ask the hard-hitting questions. ‘What are you fighting for? Why are you doing this? What’s happening with the civilians you’re killing?’ And of course you do that and you get boilerplate answers and icy stares. So I just started asking them questions about their childhood. ... People love to talk about themselves and he began to open up and very subtly something shifted and it no longer became about the war and America versus the Taliban, it became about him being an Afghan and his experience.”
Thanks to TinyLetter and Lynda for sponsoring this week's episode. If you would like to support the show, please leave a review on iTunes.
Making Sense of Ferguson
A narrative of the Michael Brown shooting.
The Digital Arms Race: NSA Preps America for Future Battle
Documents from Edward Snowden show that the intelligence agency is arming America for future digital wars—a struggle for control of the Internet that is already well underway.
The Hunting of Billie Holiday
How the singer became the target of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics’ early, racially-motivated war on drugs. </br></br>
Excerpted from Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs.
Can Moral Mondays Produce Victorious Tuesdays?
North Carolina’s protest movement has galvanized the state’s progressives, but couldn’t stop 2014’s Republican tide. Its leaders say they’re just getting started.
U.S. Research Lab Lets Livestock Suffer in Quest for Profit
“Easy care” sheep, crushed piglets, and starving calves. These are the products of a remote research center where scientists are trying to re-engineer the farm animal to fit the needs of the 21st-century meat industry.
When a Stranger Threatens Suicide
An American writer living in Japan, unread and underpublished, sends an email to a group of writers he doesn’t know informing them that he is committing suicide.
From Amateur to Ruthless Jihadist in France
Chérif and Saïd Kouachi’s path to the Paris attack at Charlie Hebdo.
The Limits of Satire
What does satire do? What should we expect of it? Is it crucial to Western culture that we be free to produce it?
The Whole Haystack
The N.S.A. claims it needs access to all our phone records. But is that the best way to catch a terrorist?
The Definition of a Dictionary
Merriam-Webster is revising its most authoritative tome for the digital age. But in an era of twerking and trolling, what should a dictionary look like?
