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My Unlikely Existence

Is AI helping prospective parents game the fertility lottery? Should it?

An Internet of Checkpoints

A mysterious YouTube video gave thousands of people a place to breathe. Then it vanished.

35 and 1

A brother lost, a son born, and the strange arithmetic of love.

Vigilantes at Dawn

A forgotten deportation, a family archive, and the cost of belonging.

The Endless Self

Exploring animal life beyond the limits of human understanding.

When Hannibal Lecter Took Over

With “The Silence of the Lambs” hitting theaters, Orion wanted a hit. They didn’t anticipate an antihero.

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Recent editors’ picks

Beneath the Long White Cloud

Sean Williams | Now Voyager | March 12, 2026 | 5,275 words

“The search for the eighth wonder of the world.”

What 100 Million Volts Do to the Body and Mind

Jacob Stern | The Atlantic | March 16, 2026 | 3,814 words

“The odds of being struck by lightning in America in a given year are one in 1.2 million. How does the experience reorient a personโ€™s sense of chance, of fate?”

Transference in the Afternoon

Jesse Barron | Granta | February 12, 2026 | 8,480 words

“I felt I was looking at something remarkable: a real-time record of the encounter between a patient and a therapist. It was an encounter that started off well before veeringโ€ฆ

The Devil’s Crown

Traci Brimhall | Virginia Quarterly Review | February 12, 2026 | 2,731 words

“The first time I try to visit the devil, I bring my son.”

You Could Be Next

Josh Dzieza | The Verge | March 10, 2026 | 6,404 words

“Laid-off lawyers, history PhDs, and scientists are now part of a miserable gig economy in which theyโ€™re teaching AI how to do their old jobs.”

Competitive Scrabble Is A Lexical Shitshow

Stefan Fatsis | Defector | March 12, 2026 | 5,013 words

“JAKER entered the pantheon of Scrabble Words Youโ€™ll Never Forget Because Something Weird Happened.”

Gout

Jan Steyn | The Dial | March 5, 2026 | 6,026 words

“What the disease taught me about language, inheritance and pain.”

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Weekly Top 5

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Excerpts from The Atavist Magazine, our sister publication

The Dark and Stormy Tale of a ShantyTok Band

When a scraggly band of folk musicians arrived to tour the UK, residents of a small Welsh town were enamoredโ€”until they learned that the bandโ€™s leader ruled with an iron fist.

Anatomy of Absolute Power

The people of Wilcox County, Alabama, remember a longtime sheriff as a god or a monsterโ€”it just depends on who you ask.

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