Surviving It All
The resilience of Marga Griesbach, 92, who made it through the Holocaust, and set off for a cruise around the world in February.
The Housing Vultures
How the government enabled the one percent to capitalize on the housing crisis.
Lavish Parties, Greedy Pols, and Panic Rooms
How the “Apple of Pot” collapsed.
Hong Kong on Borrowed Time
Earlier this month, while China's leaders were staging a grandiose celebration of their revolution's 40th birthday, thousands of somber Hong Kong residents gathered for a dreary commemoration of their own. Far from the fireworks display in Beijing, Hong Kongers huddled in a rainstorm near the bronze statue of Queen Victoria, singing patriotic songs and listening to mournful poems dedicated to those who died in Tiananmen Square.
Inside the Flour Company Supplying America’s Sudden Baking Obsession
A trip to Carbohydrate Camelot.
A Window Onto an American Nightmare
On homelessness in San Francisco.
The Suspects Wore Louboutins
The motley gang of L.A. teens that cat-burgled celebrities, sometimes repeatedly, in search of designer clothes, jewelry, and something to do. The story that became The Bling Ring.
Since I Met Edward Snowden, I’ve Never Stopped Watching My Back
“After receiving a trove of documents from the whistleblower, I found myself under surveillance and investigation by the U.S. government.”
The Ramshackle Garden of Affection
The two poets correspond about basketball, life, and living.
Running in the Age of Coronavirus
More than 40 years ago, pioneering author Jim Fixx’s best-selling book brought jogging to the masses, espousing its physical and emotional benefits. Now, those themes resonate more than ever with a homebound society.
The Black American Amputation Epidemic
Black patients were losing limbs at triple the rate of others. The doctor put up billboards in the Mississippi Delta. Amputation Prevention Institute, they read. He could save their limbs, if it wasn’t too late.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "Adam's Apple"
A first date; a viewing of a classic musical.
Stewed Awakening
In this, the age of the global pantry, ingredients like turmeric, tahini, and gochujang have finally shaken off their hitherto “exotic” status. But it’s white cooking personalities like Alison Roman and many of the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen stars who have had viral success using them.
The Haunting of Girlstown
A mysterious outbreak. Hundreds of stricken schoolgirls. Was it an illness, or was something darker to blame?
When SimCity Got Serious: The Story of Maxis Business Simulations
After the massive success of SimCity, the company behind the game began building private simulations for corporations.
Isaac Chotiner conducts interviews for The New Yorker.
“People like to talk. They like to be asked questions, generally. In the space that I’m doing most interviews, which is politics or politics-adjacent, people have strong views and like to express them. It may be just as simple as that.”
Thanks to Mailchimp and Pitt Writers for sponsoring this week's episode.
A History of Flight
On the origins of Michael Jordan.
How ‘Jakarta’ Became the Codeword for US-Backed Mass Killing
On the anti-communist genocide known by the Indonesian Army as Operation Annihilation.
'This Feels Great'
A preview from Georgia about how America might reemerge from the coronavirus.
The Feminization of Bill Laimbeer
A Bad Boy coaches in the WNBA.
Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage
There is such thing as a free lunch.
The Enemy Is Here
On the twilight of the Iranian Revolution.
Why We Shouldn't All Move to Montana After the Pandemic
On hometowns.
Will the Coronavirus Make Us Rethink Mass Incarceration?
On the public-health risks of the American prison system.
Los Angeles as We Knew It Is History. But Its Future Begins Today.
A cross section of Angelenos consider ‘What’s next?’
