My Brother’s Life, Unraveled
The story of a suicide.
The story of a suicide.
Alex Halperin Salon Mar 2013 20min Permalink
On Julian Jaynes, a Princeton psychologist who told the story of how humans learned to think.
Rachel Aviv n+1 Mar 2013 10min Permalink
Searching for a mysterious whirpool on an obscure map.
Simon Winchester Smithsonian Aug 2001 2h40min Permalink
The history of blue jeans, “America’s greatest contribution to the global closet.”
Jenni Avins Vice Mar 2013 10min Permalink
The story of Lilly Grossman’s genome.
Ed Yong National Geographic Mar 2013 15min Permalink
A profile of Frank Lucas, whose life was the basis for the film American Gangster, decades after his days as a kingpin.
Mark Jacobson New York Aug 2000 35min Permalink
On Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet, its uncanny knack for reflecting changes in Russian politics and culture, and the recent acid attack on its artistic director.
David Remnick New Yorker Mar 2013 45min Permalink
Investigating an insecure billionaire’s true worth.
Kerry A. Dolan Forbes Mar 2013 Permalink
On the legal and practical details of the drone strikes that killed New Mexico-born Anwar al-Awlaki and later, accidentally, his sixteen-year-old Colorado-born son.
Mark Mazzetti, Charlie Savage, Scott Shane New York Times Mar 2013 15min Permalink
A generation that has seen inestimable violence comes of age in Juarez.
Jeremy Relph Buzzfeed Mar 2013 20min Permalink
An appreciation of the hometown team.
Woody Allen The New York Observer May 1998 10min Permalink
The fight for South Africa’s future.
Eve Fairbanks The New Republic Mar 2013 20min Permalink
On the brick stackers of Chicago.
Tori Marlan Chicago Reader Jan 1999 1h Permalink
A world-renowned physicist’s miscalculation.
Maxine Swann New York Times Magazine Mar 2013 25min Permalink
On the career and legacy of America’s most popular wrestler.
David Shoemaker Deadspin Apr 2011 15min Permalink
How mergers between Catholic institutions and secular hospitals are changing the nature of health care.
Cienna Madrid The Stranger Feb 2013 20min Permalink
An account of Yukon Quest, Alaska’s grueling, thousand-mile dog sled race.
Eva Holland SB Nation Mar 2013 20min Permalink
“Modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images in order to make the meaning clearer. It consists in gumming together long strips of words which have already been set in order by someone else, and making the results presentable by sheer humbug.”
George Orwell Horizon Apr 1946 20min Permalink
Emily Nussbaum is a television critic at The New Yorker.
"I actually feel this kind of crazy cause ... because TV is condescended to, has been put down and treated like it's junk, and TV deserves to have the kind of criticism that expects it to be great. To me it's a really engaging and satisfying cause, no matter whether I'm praising or criticizing something."</i>
Thanks to TinyLetter for sponsoring this week's episode!
</blockquote>
Mar 2013 Permalink
A profile of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Don Van Natta Jr. ESPN Mar 2013 25min Permalink
A son tries to make sense of his mother’s end.
Jacob Bernstein New York Times Magazine Mar 2013 25min Permalink
On reading and writing fan fiction.
Katherine Arcement London Review of Books Mar 2013 10min Permalink
A profile of Hugo Chávez.
Jon Lee Anderson New Yorker Jun 2008 35min Permalink
A history of how Tuareg separatists, jihadists seeking a “desert caliphate,” cigarette smugglers, and narcotraffickers have turned Northern Mali into “the globe’s most significant terrorist threat.”
Joshua Hammer New York Review of Books Mar 2013 20min Permalink
The people behind the search for the “God particle.”
Dennis Overbye New York Times Mar 2013 25min Permalink