The Whalers' Odyssey
A courageous tribe, a colossal foe, and a terrifying ocean voyage.
TPE-JFK
“I’ve increasingly become aware of how much of my reputation in Taiwan is built on the knowledge of my New York upbringing.”
The Time Bandits of Southern California
The true story of a ring of thieves who stole millions of dollars’ worth of luxury watches—and the special agent who brought them down.
Joe Hagan is a correspondent at Vanity Fair and the author of Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine.
“It’s the story that begins with John Lennon on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1967 and ends with Donald Trump in the White House. In many ways the book takes you there, I wanted it to. It takes you through the culture as it metastasizes into what it is now. It had a lot to do with a sense of the age of narcissism. The worship of celebrity. Jann was very into celebrity, and worshipful of it and glorifying it and turning it into a thing and eventually celebrity displaces a lot of the ideas they originally started with in my estimation. That was a narrative thread that I began to pull in the book.”
Thanks to MailChimp, Skagen, Screen Dive podcast, Stoner podcast, and Pitt Writers for sponsoring this week's episode.
The Tragedy of Saudi Arabia's War
How an economic war has pushed millions to the brink of starvation.
Heaven Was a Place in Harlem
On the radical tableside evangelism of Father Divine.
The Bulger Mystique
A four-part investigation of brothers William and James ‘Whitey’ Bulger. One was president of the Massachusetts Senate for 17 years. The other was on the lam for 16 years before being captured.
On the Nose
Sissel Tolaas is a star in the world of smells. Her methods are not always subtle.
The Get-Rich-Quick Scheme That Almost Killed a German Soccer Team
An electrician’s odd plot to make $607,933.50.
Lady Leadfoot
She raced cars when few women dared. But more than trophies or prize money, it was the zen of driving that pulled her in. This is the story of Denise McCluggage, America’s once-fastest woman.
The Big Meltdown
A report from Antartica, where the ecosystem is changing so fast scientists have no idea what will come next.
The Shipbreakers
On a desolate, six-mile stretch of Indian beachfront, the bulk of the world’s big ships are dismantled for scrap. Though a ship is usually worth over $1 million in steel, the margins are low, the leftovers are toxic, and the labor—which employs huge numbers of India’s poor—is wildly dangerous.
How Does the Art World Live With Itself?
I used to believe the art world was at war with itself, that money was fighting art and vice versa. But I’ve been living in my own ambivalence about things for a decade now, or more, and I’m starting to think it’s not a war but a new equilibrium state, defined by that ambivalence.
America’s Other Family-Separation Crisis
On incarcerated mothers and their decimated families.
After the Fire
A murder, a missing deer head, and a Mr. Big sting.
Not The Man They Think He Is
The career of Elton John.
A Sudden Illness
How chronic fatigue syndrome changed the author’s life.
What the Hell Happened to Darius Miles?
I know dudes like me aren’t supposed to talk about depression, but I’ll talk about it. If a real motherfucker like me can struggle with it, then anybody can struggle with it.
Inside the Tiger Factory
Behold the marvel of the animal’s fabrication.
Half-Life
Chad Walde believed in his work at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Then he got a rare brain cancer linked to radiation, and the government denied it had any responsibility.
Something’s Brewing in the Deep Red West
Representative Matt Shea has been trying to create a libertarian utopia in the Pacific Northwest, a 51st state called Liberty. And he keeps getting re-elected.
He Might Be a Prophet. That, or the Greatest Chef in the World.
A profile of Ferran Adriá.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "The Halfway House"
A decrepit building and a shameful family legacy.
From Lithuania, With Love
In February 2015, a cryptic email reached correspondent Ann Cooper from around the globe and across 28 years. It would pull her back into one of the most extraordinary reporting jobs in her career.
The Unsolved Murder of an Unusual Billionaire
Last December, a Canadian pharmaceuticals executive and his wife were found strangled in their home. No one knows who did it or why, but everyone has a theory.
