Destroying Music, One Playlist at a Time By Aaron Gilbreath Commentary Spotify’s corporate-branded playlists are not the solution to the music industry’s problems. They’re a new problem.
Second Life: A World that, for Some, Allows Full Participation By Krista Stevens Highlight Second Life offers both escapism and a refuge for its hard-core digital denizens.
Buying Everything You Need at the Dollar Store By Catherine Cusick Highlight You just can’t need greens. Or fruit. Or a higher net income.
The Fight to Escape “A World of Anonymous Abuse” By Em Perper Highlight Online harassment is as serious as offline harassment, and it rarely stays “only” online.
Peter Thiel Makes Sure His Kids Are All Right By Michelle Legro Commentary Why the libertarian billionaire keeps tabs on the magazine he founded at Stanford 30 years ago.
Greece’s Beleaguered Port City By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight The violent chipping center of Aspropyrgos, Greece is a microcosm of Europe itself, struggling to benefit from the global economy while protecting its identity.
The Dead Man Fund By Longreads Feature How the world’s worst investor fleeced clients who couldn’t complain.
The Business of Building a Country’s Brand By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight A whole sector of the marketing industry shapes stories about nations and cities to shape our opinions about place.
How Cinnabon Perfected Its Recipe By Mike Dang Highlight The story behind a “world famous” cinnamon roll.
What Happened to eBay? By Em Perper Highlight I haven’t peeked at eBay in years, and apparently I’m not the only one who’s forgotten it exists.
Mexico’s Manufacturing Sector Will Survive With or Without America By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Despite president Trump’s desire to build a wall and revise NAFTA, the godfather of Mexico’s manufacturing sector said they will survive.
The Sacred Right of Universal Narcotic Entitlement By Michelle Weber Highlight Inventing maladies and marketing drugs to relieve them isn’t a new m.o. for pharmaceutical companies. OxyContin is its fullest and most terrible expression.
Immature Architects Built the Attention Economy By Catherine Cusick Highlight The creators of addictive smartphone technology admit they were too immature to consider the downsides of persuasive design.
The Creator of Bitcoin Comes Clean, Only to Disappear Again By Longreads Feature The mysterious creator of bitcoin asks a journalist to help reveal his identity.
‘This is the Most Inexplicable Story in Sports of the Last 20 Years’ By Matt Giles Feature An interview with Erik Malinowski, author of ‘Betaball,’ which details the improbable rise of the Golden State Warriors.
Nestlé Is Sucking the World’s Aquifers Dry By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight The multinational corporation is gradually privatizing a natural resource.
Mark Zuckerberg Would Like the Authority to Rule, Please By Ethan Chiel Commentary The Facebook CEO is in control of his company. He could just use a little more confidence.
Keeping Black Farm Families Connected to the Land in Michigan By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Blueberry growing is popular around tiny Covert, Michigan, but how do these farmers of color keep their kids farming the land?
‘What Do You Say To People Who Think They Have Nothing to Hide?’ By Longreads Feature Nathan Wessler, a lawyer with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, monitors a government that increasingly monitors its citizens.
My Journey to the Heart of the FOIA Request By Spenser Mestel Feature Fifty years ago, the Freedom of Information Act gave the public access to government secrets — all you had to do was ask. How a simple request became a bureaucratic nightmare.
Junk Food is 21st Century Imperialism By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight The first in a New York Times’ series about global obesity looks at the place of processed foods in Brazil.
On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re a Cartoonist Hustling for Money By Michelle Legro Commentary Bob Mankoff created a successful business model for cartoonists to get paid. Then Condé Nast ruined it.
A Bakery Death Reveals the Vulnerable Lives of Temporary Workers By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight A reporter goes undercover in a Canadian factory to document the vulnerable people in the temporary workforce.
Two Ex-Googlers Want to Make A Lot of Viral Tweets By Danielle Tcholakian Commentary The internet is not pleased with start-up bros who want to “disrupt” bodegas.
When Is an Internet Company Evil? By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight What is Facebook *really* about? Surveillance and advertising, not about “the power to build community” as its new mission statement so disingenuously puts it.
Breaking Into China’s Counterfeit Supply Chains By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight How private detectives crack down on China’s rampant counterfeit industry.
Why Oil-Loving Louisiana Should Embrace America’s Coming Offshore Wind Boom By Justin Nobel Feature The budding wind power industry is rich in jobs, and the people of south Louisiana are ready for clean energy.
Ellen Pao Is Ready to Name Names By Michelle Legro Highlight In an excerpt from her upcoming book, Pao reveals the harassment and discrimination she experienced at a Silicon Valley venture firm.
Can Apple End Smartphone Addiction? By Catherine Cusick Highlight Technology platforms rely on hijacking our attention. Can Apple help us win it back?
Instagram Wants to Make the Internet a Nicer Place to Be By Mike Dang Highlight The photo sharing service has been creating tools and algorithms to let its users close comments and ban offensive words.
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