The Lobotomy Files
On the lobotomizing of 2,000 U.S. veterans after World War II.
Missing American in Iran Was on Unapproved Mission
What the CIA really knew about Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent who disappeared in 2007.
Inside the Rainbow Gulag
The unraveling of Lisa Frank, Inc.
The Deadly Sins/Sloth; Nearer, My Couch, to Thee
Adventures in acedia, from Aquinas to Bartleby.
Interview: Spike Jonze
“How much money do you make? And do you shave your pubic hair?”
Apocalypse, New Jersey
A dispatch from Camden, “America’s most desperate town.”
Jesus Raves
New York’s Pastor Parker and his growing string of Liberty Churches, each of which will “adopt the culture of its neighborhood.”
Andrew Leland is an editor at The Believer and hosts The Organist
"I think a good editor has a strong stomach for crazy assholes. Because often crazy assholes are really brilliant great writers."
Thanks to TinyLetter and Squarespace for sponsoring this week's episode.
Home of the Whopper
Fast-food workers, the minimum wage, and a future served by robot labor.
There’s a Reason They Call Them ‘Crazy Ants’
A battle against an invasive breed of ants has begun in Texas. It also might be over already.
The Nastiest Injury in Sports
On the history, science, and rise of ACL tears.
Where It Hurts
On director Steve McQueen and his film 12 Years a Slave.
I Spent a Month Living In A Romanian Sexcam Studio
Life on the other side of the laptop.
La Gran Fuga
The story of Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez’s flight from Cuba.
Invisible Child: Dasani’s Homeless Life
There are more than 22,000 homeless children in New York, the highest number since the Great Depression. This is one of their stories.
State of Deception
Why Obama won’t rein in the NSA.
Whose Sarin?
Did the Obama Administration ignore evidence that someone other than Assad could be behind the sarin attacks?
The Other Side of the Story
“When I was fourteen, I had a relationship with my eighth grade history teacher. People called me a victim. They called him a villain. But it’s more complicated than that.”
The Men Who Leaked the Secrets
The twisting paths that brought together Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald.
Generation June
Brazil’s restless youth in the lead-up to the World Cup.
The Vigilante of Clallam County
Why one man made it his mission to kill 60 known sex offenders.
The Ghostwriting Business
The incentives for and ethics of writing other people’s books.
Sex, Lies and HIV
On the criminalization of nondisclosure.
23 and You
On recreational genetics, privacy and the new vulnerability of family secrets.
On Smarm
In defense of snark.
