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What Was the Hipster?

WHAT WAS THE HIPSTER?Table of ContentsPrefaceAll descriptions of hipsters are doomed to disappoint, because they will not be the hipsters you know. But to those of you who are reading this in 2050, I…
PUBLISHED: Nov. 4, 2010
LENGTH: 2 minutes (704 words)

The Deadly Corruption of Clinical Trials

Illustration: Sam WeberKeep your New Year's resolution to learn something new; read the story below. To see more of 2010's best long-form magazine pieces, click here.  IT'S NOT EASY TO WORK UP a…
LENGTH: 5 minutes (1379 words)

Schizophrenic. Killer. My Cousin.

Mark with Houston at Houston's high school graduation in 2009 Courtesy of the familyTHE THING THAT STRUCK ME when I first met my cousin Houston was his size. He wasn't much taller than me, if at all,…
LENGTH: 6 minutes (1601 words)

Inside the Military's Clean-Energy Revolution

Illustration: Frank Stockton I'm strapped into my backward-facing seat on a COD, or "carrier onboard delivery" plane, the US Navy workhorse that ferries people, supplies, and mail to and from its…
LENGTH: 11 minutes (2856 words)

Are Happy Gut Bacteria Key to Weight Loss?

A few years before Super Size Me hit theaters in 2004, Dr. Paresh Dandona, a diabetes specialist in Buffalo, New York, set out to measure the body's response to McDonald's—specifically…
PUBLISHED: April 22, 2013
LENGTH: 3 minutes (994 words)

North Korea Follows Only One American on Twitter—This Guy

North Korea is not known for its social media savvy. When the Democratic People's Republic launched its official government Twitter account under the handle of @uriminzok (meaning "our nation") in…
LENGTH: 4 minutes (1045 words)

Fracking's Latest Scandal? Earthquake Swarms

At exactly 10:53 p.m. on Saturday, November 5, 2011, Joe and Mary Reneau were in the bedroom of their whitewashed and brick-trimmed home, a two-story rambler Mary's dad custom-built 43 years ago.…
LENGTH: 8 minutes (2059 words)

The US Has Officially Transferred Controversial Bagram Prison to the Afghan Government

An aerial shot of the Parwan Detention Facility in 2009. US Army Corps of Engineers On Monday, the US military handed over the Parwan Detention Facility (a.k.a. the Bagram military prison) to the…
PUBLISHED: March 25, 2013
LENGTH: 1 minutes (310 words)
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A Brief History of Applause, the 'Big Data' of the Ancient World

Once, people measured their leaders -- and themselves -- one clap at a time. The Dionysus Theater in Greece, from a German encyclopedia, 1891 (Wikimedia Commons) And then, suddenly, just when the…
PUBLISHED: March 15, 2013
LENGTH: 12 minutes (3149 words)
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