It’s 2013, And They’re Burning ‘Witches’
In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, admist a mining boom, the public torture and killing of women accused of sorcery has returned.
Infectious: Tom Dooley
On the 1866 murder of Laura Foster and the subsequent hanging of Tom Dula.
Broken Promise
On the meeting of shaggy-haired American ping pong ace Glenn Cowan and Chinese master Zhuang Zedong (who died this week), and how their fleeting friendship thawed relations between the twon nations during the U.S. team’s historic 1971 tour of China.
Cinema Tarantino
The making of Pulp Fiction.
The Plastinarium of Dr. von Hagens
The man behind the Body Worlds exhibit faces his own death.
Playboy Interview: Michael Jordan
A conversation with a 29-year-old approaching his apex.
Anatomy of a Heroin Ring
How a Chicago drug organization did business.
His Saving Grace
How Curtis Duffy overcame his parents’ murder-suicide to become one of the nation’s great chefs.
How Crazy Is Too Crazy to Be Executed?
Andre Thomas cut out his children’s hearts and removed his own eyes. Texas considers him sane.
A Chinese Hacker's Identity Unmasked
Who is ‘Tawnya Grilth’?
Can the Republicans Be Saved From Obsolescence?
The GOP’s younger generation confronts its future.
CIA Operatives, Barrels of Whiskey, and a Biker Named Thor
The story of Thor Holm Hansen—”Norwegian country singer, a former Outlaws motorcycle chieftain, and an ‘ambassador at large’ to a rebel Haitian government”—who claims to be back in Florida to locate his missing daughter.
Joel Lovell, deputy editor of The New York Times Magazine, interviewed live at the University of Pittsburgh.
"I think if you can make a writer feel like it's okay to not know what they're doing—they don't really know exactly what their story is, they're a little lost in their material—that's a fine place to be. If you can sort of talk it through, if you can minimize their anxiety a little bit, then I think you've done most of your job. After that it's just looking at the words and just figuring out which ones work."
Thanks to TinyLetter for sponsoring this week's episode!
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Welcome to the Malware-Industrial Complex
How governments and private companies have engaged in digital arms trading by building a global black market for ‘zero day’ hacks.
Susan Miller Rising
A profile of the “smart person’s” astrologer, and the people who believe in horopscopes.
When A 10-Year-Old Kills His Nazi Father, Who's To Blame?
On the case of young Joseph Hall, who was convicted last month of murdering his dad.
A Scary Abundance of Water
Growing up with the San Fernando Valley.
David McCullough: The Art of Biography No. 2
An interview on craft.
Seven Days on the Queen Mary 2
“‘If there’s anything I can do to make your trip more enjoyable, let me know.” He walked away, then he strode back to Cree 15 seconds later and whispered, making eye contact, “Anything.’”
The Wonderful and Weird World of Thuzio
Investigating a former NFL star’s new business: renting professional athletes to their biggest fans.
Gratuitous Pictures of Your Grief
On the late singer Judee Sill, the virtual cemetery site Find a Grave, and memorials in the age of the Twitter RIP.
The Final Battles of Pope Benedict XVI
“Fear is running rampant in the Curia, where the mood has rarely been this miserable. It’s as if someone had poked a stick into a beehive. Men wearing purple robes are rushing around, hectically monitoring correspondence. No one trusts anyone anymore, and some even hesitate to communicate by phone.”
Sunk: The Incredible Truth About a Ship That Never Should Have Sailed
How the Bounty, a busted-up replica built in 1960 for the film Mutiny on the Bounty, ended up 100 miles out to sea during the height of Hurricane Sandy.
The Shooter
A profile of the Navy Seal who killed Osama bin Laden and came home to a life in shambles.
A Leg Rebuilt, a Life Renewed
A profile of former Duke basketball star Jay Williams a decade after the motorcycle crash that ended his career.
