Below, our favorite stories of the week.
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1. Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom To Be Murdered
Michelle Dean | BuzzFeed | Aug. 18, 2016 | 34 minutes (8,504 words)
A true crime story about Dee Dee Blancharde, a mother who persuaded family, friends, and even doctors to believe that her daughter, Gypsy, was gravely ill. It was only after Dee Dee was murdered that the truth came to light.
2. The Sandwich That Ate the World
Simon Stanley | Roads & Kingdoms | June 21, 2016 | 16 minutes (4,117 words)
The Vietnamese bánh mì sandwich is one of the world’s most delicious creations. Fortunately it has endured without the colonialism and xenophobia that marked its origins.
3. The Racist History of Portland, the Whitest City in America
Alana Semuels | The Atlantic | July 2, 2016 | 20 minutes (5,060 words)
Behind Portland’s artisan burgers, bicycle evangelists and curated boutiques lies a city built on racism, exclusion and a strange neoliberalism.
4. The Rise and Fall of Restaurant Kitsch
Lisa Hix | Collectors Weekly | August 11, 2016 | 49 minutes (12,389 words)
As minimalist design goes down-market and T.G.I. Friday’s says goodbye to clutter, what happens to all the fake Tiffany lamps?
5. Why Am I So Fat?
Sara Benincasa | Medium | August 18, 2016 | 14 minutes (3,700 words)
Writer and performer Sara Benincasa writes a brilliant, biting, and hilarious response to the guy who wrote her asking, “Why did you gain so much weight?”
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