Below, our favorite stories of the week. Kindle users, you can also get them as a Readlist.
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1. Madness
Eyal Press | The New Yorker | April 25, 2016 | 31 minutes (7,792 words)
In Florida prisons, mentally ill inmates are routinely tortured and killed by guards. Staff are often witnesses to the abuse but remain silent out of fear of retaliation, cooperating with security officials who they depend on for protection.
2. How a Son Survived Being Injected with HIV by His Father
Justin Heckert | GQ | April 28, 2016 | 21 minutes (5,424 words)
Twenty-four years ago, in an act of ghastly malice, a Missouri father plunged a needle filled with HIV-positive blood into his baby son’s vein. No one expected the son to live—but he thrived.
3. Uncanny Valley
Anna Weiner | n+1 | April 27, 2016 | 25 minutes (6,416 words)
Anna Wiener on the hollow promise of San Francisco’s startup life. “’I just hope this is all worth it,’ she spits in my direction. I know what she means — she’s talking about money — but I also know how much equity she has, and I’m confident that even in the best possible scenario, whatever she’s experiencing is definitely not.”
4. 427: Ten Years Without Jen, Twenty-Six With
Matt Zoller Seitz | RogerEbert.com | April 25, 2016 | 14 minutes (3,619 words)
Seitz, on the 10th anniversary of the death of his wife, describes where’s he’s been and what he’s learned.
5. The Faithful
Graciela Mochkofsky | California Sunday | April 28, 2016 | 29 minutes (7,275 words)
In Colombia, where a majority of people practice Catholicism, a small community goes on a difficult journey to convert to Orthodox Judaism.
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