Want To See a Polar Bear? Just Follow the Bones By Michelle Weber Highlight In one Alaskan town, the bone pile is a bounty for hungry polar bears and enterprising tour guides.
The Rules For Being John Hinckley By Michelle Weber Highlight In a fascinating New York magazine profile of John Hinckley, recently released, writer Lisa Miller lays out the conditions of his freedom.
I Can Totally Believe It’s Actually Butter! By Michelle Weber Highlight Libby Copeland talks to butter aficionado and food writer Elaine Khosrova about the history of butter and how to savor it. But is it good for us or not?
Stories of Immigration as Protest: Letters to Donald Trump By Krista Stevens Highlight Barbara Zitwer, Colm Tóibín, Elham Manea, Linda Coverdale, Kyung-sook Shin, and Anne Landsman share their stories of immigration to protest Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban.
You Just Can’t Find a Good Deal in Kreuzlingen These Days By Michelle Weber Highlight In Roads & Kingdoms, Milan Gagnon tells the stories of Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, and Konstanz, Germany — one city full of empty storefronts, and the other full of empty souls.
‘Smoking freebase has pretty much been my job for the past year.’ By Michelle Weber Highlight In the New Yorker, Naomi Fry writes about Cat Marnell’s new memoir in a piece that’s part review, part analysis of women’s addiction stories.
On Mastery: Learning Kyudo — One of Japan’s Oldest and Most Respected Martial Arts By Krista Stevens Highlight After a trip to Japan to improve her archery skills, Leigh Ann Henion realizes that achievement with the bow and arrow comes only after mastering one’s mind.
Peanut Butter and Jelly: The NBA’s Secret Addiction By Krista Stevens Highlight The secret sweet and salty comfort food that fuels the NBA? None other than the lowly, delicious, peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind By Michelle Weber Highlight Sam Kriss, in a post he calls his “magnum opus” in The Outline, explores the age-old warning not to stare directly at the sun.
MAWA! The Christian Alt-Right Wants to Make America White Again By Michelle Weber Highlight Sarah Posner introduces some of the main players in “alt-right Christianity” in her exploration of American Evangelicals’ embrace of Trump.
On Being Trans, Disabled and Using the Washroom: ‘I have a right to exist safely in public spaces.’ By Krista Stevens Highlight Christian McMahon so rightly reminds us that everyone has “a right to exist safely in public spaces.”
Who’s Been Seeding the Alt-Right? Follow the Money to Robert Mercer By Michelle Weber Highlight Jane Mayer profiles hedge fund manager, alt-right supporter, political funder, and Ayn Rand-wannabe Robert Mercer in the New Yorker.
Don’t Fear the Painter, or the Tyranny of Whiteness By Michelle Weber Highlight In Chromophobia, David Batchelor explores color theory and argues for the West’s historical fear of color.
How a Story Becomes a ‘Hopeful Thing’: George Saunders on His Writing Process By Krista Stevens Highlight At the Guardian, the author recounts how it takes “hundreds of drafts” and “thousands of incremental adjustments” to form a story into a “hopeful thing.”
How Jazz Singer Baby Esther Jones Became Betty Boop By Krista Stevens Highlight Gabrielle Bellot explores the original inspiration for Betty Boop—a black jazz singer with an iconic style and voice.
There Are Reasons We Can’t Handle the Truth By Michelle Weber Highlight Julie Beck digs deep into news silos, alternative facts, and cognitive dissonance.
A Small Town Crushed By a Big Weight — the Military-Industrial Complex By Michelle Weber Highlight This meticulously-reported piece explores the bungled investigation into a 1994 double murder in Oak Grove, Kentucky, a small town weighed down by the military-industrial complex.
Before the Avon Lady, There Were a Bunch of Monks With a Bottle of Vinegar By Michelle Weber Highlight Meet the lifestyle and wellness hawkers of 13th century Italy: the Monks of Santa Maria Novella.
The Roots of Cowboy Music: ‘This Is the Music We Made. This Is the Land We Made.’ By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Commentary Oakland writer Carvell Wallace travels to Elko, Nevada, for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering and reflects on what it means to be black and American.
The Grim Reaper of Pubs By Matt Giles Commentary Tom Lamont’s exhaustive 2015 deep-dive on the death of pub culture in England is worth re-reading, considering the role a bar plays within a community.
27 Years and 1,000 Break-Ins: North Pond Hermit — Book Edition By Krista Stevens Commentary An excerpt from The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit — Michael Finkel’s book on Christopher Knight, the hermit who survived by committing 1,000 break-ins over nearly three decades.
Rachel Cusk on Eschewing her ‘Cuskness’ For Her Alter-Ego in ‘Outline’ and ‘Transit’ By Sari Botton Highlight Rachel Cusk talks to Heidi Julavits about the “trench” she digs between herself and representations of herself, in both memoir and “autofiction.”
I’d Gladly Pay You Tomorrow For a Hamburger Today, If Only My Debit Card Weren’t Frozen By Michelle Weber Highlight Ubiquitous digital payments: harbinger of a glorious future, or smokescreen for powerful interests that want to control (and undermine) choice and capitalism?
‘We Love Europa But Europa No Love Us.’ By Pam Mandel Highlight “We just want a normal life. We are here for survival.”
Enormous Changes… Arrived at Slowly, Over a the Course of a Politically Engaged Lifetime By Sari Botton Highlight On the persistent, patient activism of late author Grace Paley and her recurring character, Faith Darwin Asbury.
Filmmaker Kyrre Lien Traveled the World Interviewing Internet Trolls in Person By Krista Stevens Highlight Filmmaker Kyrre Lien was curious about what drives people who make hateful comments online, so he traveled the world to interview internet trolls in person.
Rebecca Solnit Explains Things–Expertly By Sari Botton Highlight Rebecca Solnit is expert at crystalizing common experiences in such a way that lays bare deeply ingrained patriarchal influences
The Fuzzy Chinese Face That Transcends Political Divisions By Michelle Weber Highlight Carl Swanson investigated the Panda Ball — a hoity toity event geared to raising $50 million to ensconce a pair of pandas in New York’s Central Park.
Welcome to Mars, Sorry About the Face-Melting! By Michelle Weber Highlight The Red Planet presents scientists with kinks they’ll need to figure out before you can book a shuttle.
Pivoting Away from Lung Cancer By Michelle Weber Highlight Big Tobacco takes a page from the Silicon Valley playbook: Welcome to the world of alternative nicotine platforms.
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