Posted inEditor's Pick

The Maintenance Race

In this fascinating piece, Stewart Brand recounts the journeys of three sailors competing in an around-the-world race in 1968, their very different approaches, and the important role of maintenance in their voyages. Every piece of equipment on board, and the structure of the boat itself, would be stressed for months on end. Since going ashore […]

Posted inEditor's Pick

The Twisted Life of Clippy

In the 1990s, Microsoft created a virtual assistant in Microsoft Office that users found annoying — so it was swiftly retired. For Seattle Met, Benjamin Cassidy recounts the history of an unloved and doomed office assistant that has lived on in pop and nerd culture. These days, an annoying Word creature might seem eminently tolerable […]

Posted inEditor's Pick

Care Tactics

In an ableist world, health care systems and tech innovators are more invested in high-tech solutions and shiny objects that don’t consider disabled folks’ actual needs during the design process. Many in the disability and caregiving communities rely on their own creative hacks instead, leaning on a culture of collaboration and shared knowledge to make […]

Posted inEditor's Pick

My Dad and Kurt Cobain

This excerpt from Hua Hsu’s memoir offers a glimpse into his parents’ generation of immigrants from Taiwan to America, and the faxes they sent to each other about homework, zines, and Nirvana. My parents had fond memories of listening to the station when they were teen-agers, back when it was Armed Forces Radio. In time, […]

Posted inEditor's Pick

She Never Hurt Her Kids. So Why Is a Mother Serving More Time Than the Man Who Abused Her Daughter?

Oklahoma incarcerates more women than almost any other state. Under its punishing, under-the-radar “failure to protect” law, mothers — even those who are victims of domestic violence — can be sent to prison because of their supposed failure to keep their children out of harm’s way. In this devastating read, Samantha Michaels tells the story […]

Gift this article