Brazil’s Roads to Destruction By Aaron Gilbreath Every year, vehicles on Brazil’s ever-expending road network hit over 400 million Brazilian animals, causing series declines in some species — and Brazil isn’t the only country expanding its infrastructure.
In Death, A Champion for Life Well Lived By Krista Stevens “She no longer feared death because she could hold it in her hands at any time.”
The Octopus’ Branding Makeover: From Devil-Fish to Brilliant Invertebrate By Krista Stevens “Each arm, with its own brain inside, moves completely independent of the others. So much so that arms have been known to steal food from each other.”
The Traffic Jam on Mount Everest that Cost 11 Lives By Krista Stevens “The crowd seemed incredible—like a bag of Skittles had been scattered down the slope.”
Rural California Feeds the Nation, But Too Many Rural Residents Can’t Feed and House Themselves By Aaron Gilbreath In a fertile valley that boats an $8 billion agricultural economy, the people who work the fields and in processing plants rarely enjoy the economic security that the fields’ corporate owners do.
Thou Shalt Not Mess With a Mom in a “Mamacita Needs a Margarita” Sweater By Aaron Gilbreath “This mom runs on caffeine, wine, and Amazon Prime” is a funny t-shirt slogan, but there is a serious social phenomenon behind it.
The Cobra in the Can and other Shenanigans at LAX By Krista Stevens And then there was the man “who tried strutting through security with 84 songbirds taped to his body.”
All Hail the Inventor of the Crock Pot: Irving Nachumsohn By Krista Stevens Irving Nachumsohn invented the crock pot so that his family didn’t have to use the stove to prepare dinner on hot summer evenings. You’re welcome.
Thumbing a Ride: What I Learned from Siskel and Ebert By Dipti S. Barot Dipti S. Barot pays homage to the two irreplaceable voices who informed her love of good movies.
How Jazz Pianist Erroll Garner Fought for His Rights By Aaron Gilbreath When Columbia Records breached one of their big star’s contracts back in the 1950s, he sued and won.
Downsizing in the Shadow of Disaster By Catherine Cusick When housing markets price people out of safety, they cram into disasters waiting to happen.
The Adaptation of Language Evolution By Carolyn Wells Language has always changed, but the introduction of technology means it is adapting in ways we have never experienced before.
Willie Nelson’s 50-year Love Affair with Trigger, His Faithful Guitar By Krista Stevens “A guitar sounds better as it gets older, just like a Stradivarius does.”
Woman Writes Story Challenging Gender Dynamics; Is Thwarted by…Long-Standing Gender Dynamics By Sari Botton How can we combat sexism in publishing if we’re so worried about damaging the reputations of offending men?
How Mister Rogers Found Inspiration in the Everyday By Krista Stevens ‘“I think that how we were first loved — or not — has a great deal to do with what we create and how,” Fred once told me.’
It Was Putin, on British Soil, Using his Poison Factory By Krista Stevens Trying to keep a mouthy Russian oligarch safe from Vladimir Putin is harder than it looks. Especially when the oligarch has a penchant for publicly poking the bear.
The Living Nightmare of Homeownership By Catherine Cusick The manmade dream of owning a home wasn’t built on a solid foundation.
The Alabama “Corrections” System: An American Horror Story By Krista Stevens “When you lay down to go to sleep, you better be prayed up, because there’s no guarantee you’re waking up.”
The Soundtrack to Hell By Krista Stevens “Not only was the whine agitating—EHHNNNNNNNN—but its constant drone was like a cruel mnemonic for everything that bothered him.”
The Boeing 737 MAX: “Fatally Flawed” By Krista Stevens Boeing’s failings with the 737 MAX reveal a dangerous deviation from its engineering-first culture that used to put the safety of the flying public before profit.
A Town Split By a Play About the 1980s AIDS Epidemic By Aaron Gilbreath Sometimes art can challenge viewers enough to change them. Sometimes art just makes the narrow-minded angry.
How to Stay Out of Your Editor’s ‘Jerks’ File By Sari Botton Rule one of freelance writing: accept rejection with grace.
How To Destroy Texas While Helping The Coal Economy By Aaron Gilbreath A three-part collaboration exposes the state of Texas’ willingness to violate federal law for the sake of the coal industry.
The Beauty of “Bl-Bl-Bl-Blue Moon” By Krista Stevens As a society, we need to challenge our assumption that stammering makes someone somehow deficient.
What Hockey Gives and What Hockey Takes Away By Krista Stevens Hockey is good for the heart and soul, but treacherous for the brain.
Should We Create New Life As Our Planet Struggles to Support Life In General? By Aaron Gilbreath Knowing what we now know about global warming, is procreation irresponsible?
“Labor-Saving” Kitchen Gadgets End Up Creating More Work for Women By Ben Huberman Instand Pot: great. Dover eggbeater? Not so much.
Reporter Uncovers Airbnb Scam. Airbnb Shrugs, Pockets Money By Krista Stevens Oh by the way, Airbnb makes money on cancellations, too.
The Misidentification of Raheme Malik Perry By Krista Stevens When a hospice takes a man off life support in a case of mistaken identity, who is responsible?
David Letterman Is Truly Sorry By Sari Botton Ten years after calling Letterman out for creating a hostile work environment for women, Nell Scovell gets to talk with him about it.