Below, our favorite stories of the week. Kindle users, you can also get them as a Readlist.
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1. Ina Garten Does It Herself

Choire Sicha | Eater | Sept. 30, 2015 | 19 minutes (4,783 words)

The fascinating story of Ina Garten, queen of cookbooks.

2. Police Chief Leonard Campanello’s New Fight Against the Heroin Crisis

Chris Sweeney | Boston Magazine | Sept. 29, 2015 | 20 minutes (5,218 words)

In the midst of a statewide heroin epidemic, Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello decided to do something truly radical: stop arresting addicts and start accompanying them to treatment.

3. Becoming Rihanna

Mary H.K. Choi | Fader | Sept. 28, 2015 | 8 minutes (2,081 words)

A terrific profile of the singer Rihanna—without Rihanna’s participation.

4. Meet the American Vigilantes Who Are Fighting ISIS

Jennifer Percy | New York Times | Sept. 30, 2015 | 18 minutes (4,535 words)

A ragtag group of vigilantes from America and Europe—including ex-service members and a British actor who appeared in “Pirates of the Caribbean”—travel to Syria to fight extremists. But the situation on the ground is much different than they expected.

5. On Mercy

Lacy M. Johnson | Guernica Magazine | Oct. 1, 2015 | 25 minutes (6,270 words)

An essay about the meaning of a death sentence, from a pediatric cancer ward to death row.