Sponsor: Aeon Magazine

Aeon is a new digital magazine of ideas and culture, publishing an original essay every weekday. Just launched in September 2012, Aeon has already produced a slew of fascinating pieces, several of which have been featured on Longform. Here are three of the very best:

The Golden Age
John Quiggin on the 15-hour week.

The Vanishing Groves
Ross Andersen on seeing the history of the universe in tree rings.

Return Trip
Erik Davies on rehabilitating psychedelics.

Read those stories and more at aeonmagazine.com.

Longform for iPad: On Sale!

Normally $4.99, Longform's critically acclaimed iPad app is available today for just 99 cents.

Story picks from the Longform editors, plus the latest articles from more than 60 of the world's best magazines. Elegant, reader-friendly design. Offline accessible. Perfect for commutes, flights, and Sunday afternoons.

It's the only magazine app you'll ever need.

Download Longform from the App Store.

Sponsor: The Atavist

In 1948, a young Australian named Ben Carlin set out to do the impossible: circumnavigate the globe, by land and sea, in a single vehicle. With a U.S. Army-built amphibious jeep christened Half-Safe, Carlin and his wife Elinore set off across the Atlantic with dreams of fame and fortune. What happened next is one of the most bizarre adventures of the 20th century. In Half-Safe, a new release from The Atavist, author James Nestor endeavors to uncover Carlin's fate and finds a gripping story of love, danger, and extraordinary perseverance spanning three oceans and five continents.

Read Half-Safe in The Atavist's app or on the web.

Jerry Seinfeld Intends to Die Standing Up

“I read an article a few years ago that said when you practice a sport a lot, you literally become a broadband: the nerve pathway in your brain contains a lot more information. As soon as you stop practicing, the pathway begins shrinking back down. Reading that changed my life. I used to wonder, Why am I doing these sets, getting on a stage? Don’t I know how to do this already? The answer is no. You must keep doing it. The broadband starts to narrow the moment you stop.”

Eli Sanders is an associate editor at The Stranger and the winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.

"There was one particular moment in the trial, which I described, where ... there was just not any human ability to be detached from what was happening in front of you, what was being shared. It was so painful, you could not help but cry, and there was no reason to deny that that moment had happened."

Thanks to TinyLetter for sponsoring this week's episode!