Into The Zombie Underworld
Separating truth from lore in Haiti: “The dossier was, at bottom, a murder story, the judge said—but it was a murder story with the great oddity that the victim did not die.”
Separating truth from lore in Haiti: “The dossier was, at bottom, a murder story, the judge said—but it was a murder story with the great oddity that the victim did not die.”
Mischa Berlinski Men's Journal Sep 2009 Permalink
What did soccer have to do with two brutal murders after a pickup game?
Jeré Longman, Taylor Barnes New York Times Oct 2013 20min Permalink
The complicated case of Michelle Kosilek, a murderer fighting for sexual reassignment surgery.
Nathaniel Penn The New Republic Oct 2013 20min Permalink
A profile of personal finance guru Dave Ramsey, who built his biblically inspired get-out-of-debt empire on the premise “it’s within your power to not take part in recessions and the economic troubles facing American families.”
Helaine Olen Pacific Standard Oct 2013 20min Permalink
For years, Joshua Milton Blahyi, better known as General Butt Naked, was one of Liberia’s most feared warlords. Then he became a pastor. Today he visits the families of his victims to seek forgiveness for his sins.
Jonathan Stock Der Spiegel Oct 2013 20min Permalink
Ending a pregnancy in the most “pro-life” state in America.
Irin Carmon MSNBC Oct 2013 10min Permalink
This guide is sponsored by Warby Parker, which sells $95 glasses with prescription lenses included. Check out their Fall 2013 Collection for some last-minute costume inspiration—in the right frames, you can be quite a fright. <imgsrc="https://warbyparker.sp1.convertro.com/view/vt/v1/warbyparker/1/cvo.gif?cvosrc=display.longform.halloween" border=0 width=1 height=1 alt="">
The Spanish police believed he was a missing American teen. So did the Texas family who had lost him three years prior. But he was an adult Frenchman. And he had done it before.
David Grann New Yorker Aug 2008 45min
He joined the right clubs, married the right woman, worked the right jobs, bought the right art. But the life Clark Rockefeller created wasn’t his. Neither was his name.
Mark Seal Vanity Fair Jan 2009 50min
For nearly a decade, Laura Albert lived a double life as troubled teen turned cult writer JT LeRoy, writing books, chatting constantly with celebrities, and convincing another woman to appear as JT LeRoy in public.
Nancy Rommelmann LA Weekly Feb 2008 35min
The hidden, humble beginnings of a New York City blueblood.
Alan Feuer New York Times Apr 2012 10min
For years, Alan Young has made a living off what he says is his only skill: pretending to be a member of The Temptations.
Kara Platoni East Bay Express Mar 2002 30min
The story of a young man who got to be a high school basketball star. Twice.
Wright Thompson ESPN Apr 2012
Mar 2002 – Apr 2012 Permalink
Frederick Douglass and the specter of slavery in Talbot County, Maryland.
An examination of the Minutemen movement and death on the border.
Greg Grandin The Nation Oct 2013 20min Permalink
A profile of cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter, who has spent the last 30 years trying to replicate the human mind.
James Somers The Atlantic Oct 2013 30min Permalink
Andy Ward, a former editor at Esquire and GQ, is the editorial director of nonfiction at Random House.
"How you gain that trust is a hard thing to quantify. The way I try do it is by caring. If you don't care about every word and every sentence in the piece, writers pick up on that. ... Ultimately, it's their book or their magazine article. Their name is on it, not mine. I always try to keep that in mind."
Thanks to this week's sponsors: TinyLetter and EA SPORTS FIFA 14.
Show notes:
Oct 2013 Permalink
Each soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan generated around 10 pounds of garbage per day. Most of that trash—along with used equipment and medical supplies and other wastes of war—was burned in open-air pits, emitting a toxic smoke that many soliders blame for their poor health today.
Katie Drummond The Verge Oct 2013 Permalink
How architecture has made Los Angeles a bank robber’s paradise.
Geoff Manaugh Cabinet May 2013 10min Permalink
Lauren spent six years of her childhood locked in a closet, starved and tortured by her birth mother and stepfather. Miraculously, she survived; that’s when her long road to recovery began.
Memories of a lovely afternoon with a serial killer.
Jay Roberts Orange Coast Sep 2013 15min Permalink
What the popular game says about our subconscious.
Linda Rodriguez McRobbie Smithsonian Oct 2013 1h30min Permalink
A profile of the policy wonk who shone the light and turned the tide on overseas tax havens.
Steven Pearlstein Washington Post Oct 2013 20min Permalink
How Michael Manos, a.k.a. the Glam Scammer, a career con man who relied on a combination of fake reality TV shows and fake fundraisers to bilk people in Atlanta, Dallas, and D.C., finally got caught.
Claire Galofaro, Chad Calder The New Orleans Advocate Oct 2013 10min Permalink
A profile of the comedian.
Jonathan Van Meter New York May 2010 25min Permalink
What neuroscience is learning from code-breakers and thieves.
Virginia Hughes Nautilus Oct 2013 15min Permalink
The search for the hottest chili.
Lauren Collins New Yorker Nov 2013 25min Permalink
The rock critic confronts his favorite musician.
Lester Bangs Let It Rock Nov 1973 10min Permalink
A profile of Brian Eno as he transitioned into installation art.
Rick Poynor Designers' Journal Jan 1987 10min Permalink
Exploring the vast underground world of New York City with three of the people who know it best.
William Langewiesche Vanity Fair Oct 2013 35min Permalink
How Service Corporation International corporatized death, driving growth through everything from aggresive acquisitions, volume pricing on caskets and embalming fluid, a “strong flu season,” and pre-selling over $7.5 billion worth of burials.
Paul M. Barrett Businessweek Oct 2013 15min Permalink