There Was Nothing We Could Have Done, Because We’re Racist and You’re Black By Michelle Weber “The prevalent perception of black women as unruly bodies and incompetent caretakers overrules even the most dominant stereotype about us—namely, that we are superhuman.”
Musicians Come Clean on How They Live, Create, and Thrive While Sober By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Chris Heath at GQ interviews nine sober musicians on thriving creatively.
Our Understanding of Sun Exposure and Health Keeps Evolving By Aaron Gilbreath Who would have thought scientists would ever compare wearing sunscreen to smoking cigarettes? At Outside magazine, Rowan Jacobsen explores.
‘She changed my heart. And that changed my mind.’ By Krista Stevens “There was so much I could have given her, but it pales in comparison to what she gave me.”
This Heist’s for the Birds By Michelle Weber “I always say, If there is a $50,000 bill flying around, someone is going to try to catch it.”
Why Murder-Suicide is on the Rise Among the Elderly By Krista Stevens “He thought he could live with the punishment of grief—he had done what his wife had asked—but the punishment of the law would be another matter.” Ann Neumann investigates why mercy killings and murder-suicides are on the rise.
Tommy Tomlinson: The Weight I Carry By Krista Stevens “On top of all that, some of us fight holes in our souls that a boxcar of donuts couldn’t fill.” Tommy Tomlinson shares the physical and emotional costs of weighing 460 pounds.
“Welcome to the House of Horrors”: When IP Address Mapping Goes Wrong By Cheri Lucas Rowlands John and his mother Ann, who live in a house in Pretoria, South Africa, were two victims of faulty IP address mapping — and the U.S. government played a big role in the mess.
On Alcoholism, Sobriety, and Running Toward a Future By Krista Stevens “…no one sober knows if they’re going to be sober forever. It was a forgiving moment, and it humbled me.”
Repairman-man-man-(wo)man By Catherine Cusick Lauren Hough recounts a decade of misadventures as a female cable tech in the DC Metro Area.
Defrauding the Competition By Catherine Cusick As competitors prank each other into account suspensions, the business of reinstating Amazon Marketplace businesses is booming.
On the Books We Choose and Those We Don’t By Krista Stevens “All the people you could have been had you chosen differently—they haunt the bookstore alongside the person you became and could still become.”
The Promise of Passive Income from Amazon: Too Good To Be True? By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Two self-proclaimed “Amazon coaches” say they can train you in their business models so you can make thousands of dollars reselling cheap Chinese products on the world’s largest ecommerce store.
Evidence Over Intelligence: How Robert Mueller Sought Justice for Pan Am Flight 103 By Krista Stevens The 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 has had a lasting effect on Robert Mueller and the FBI.
The Curious Case of Justin Alexander: Adventure Tourist or Murder Victim? By Krista Stevens In the Parvati Valley, the road to enlightenment is paved with danger.
A Race to Claim a Piece of Space: The Out-of-This World Obsession of Meteorite Hunters By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Meteorite hunters Mike Farmer and Robert Ward travel to Carancas, a tiny village at 12,000 feet in Peru’s remote altiplano, to examine a crater in the hope to claim precious rock from space.
The Bat-Borne Virus That Threatens to Become the Next Pandemic By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Steven Bedard, a former field biologist, travels around Bangladesh with a team of public health investigators studying Nipah, a bat-borne virus with the potential to become the next pandemic.
You’re Fine, and So Is Your Baby By Michelle Weber If new parents say they don’t have intrusive thoughts about harm befalling their babies, “they’re lying.”
‘I Don’t Know What Else to Do. So I Run.’ By Krista Stevens “You see that you can never go back. And with this knowledge a peculiar grief descends.”
‘I’m Not Saving These Pit Bulls—They Are Saving Me’ By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Jason Flatt’s animal rescue operation, Friends to the Forlorn, has saved 600 dogs and counting since 2009 and specializes in rescuing pit bills.
The Overdose Video: America’s Latest Genre of Horror Film By Krista Stevens Posting videos of the drug addicted in active overdose to social media in a bid to publicly shame them to get clean is as about as effective as you’d expect it to be.
‘Mommy, Are We Famous?’: On the Rise of Kid Influencers on Instagram By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Kids are a growing part of Instagram’s influencer marketing industry. At Fast Company, Katharine Schwab reports on the rising stars of the platform — and the parents managing their “careers” behind the scenes.
One Foot (and Paw) in Front of the Other: How Far Would You Go For Your Dog? By Cheri Lucas Rowlands What would you sacrifice for your pet? When Shawna Richer’s dog, Scout, became paralyzed, she had to make a choice: would she put her down, or do whatever it took to save her?
The Portrait of the Artist as a Criminal By Krista Stevens Max Harris didn’t cause the warehouse fire in which 36 people died, yet he’s being held responsible for it.
When No One Pulls the Trigger, the Gun Is to Blame By Cheri Lucas Rowlands At The Trace, Casey Parks tells the story of a Mississippi father seeking justice after learning a faulty rifle is responsible for the death of his younger son.
Thank You for Not Being Afraid, Pat Maginnis By Michelle Weber Compromise and political reform only take you so far; sometimes you need to shake the whole system.
Piecing Together the Story of an Oregon Serial Killer By Aaron Gilbreath Finally telling the story of the women who were raped and murdered along Oregon’s Highway 20.
‘It Happened to My Father the Way It Happened’: The Truth About Green Book By Cheri Lucas Rowlands At Vanity Fair, film critic K. Austin Collins explores the shaky “true story” of Green Book, the film by Peter Farrelly starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali.
The Rich Man and the Sea By Michelle Weber Laurie Penny spends four days on a boat confronting the archetypal story of “man vs. blockchain.”
Sea Lion Herschel: Steelhead Salmon Scapegoat By Krista Stevens They tried every deterrent, including forced relocation, but Herschel the sea lion and his posse returned year after year to enjoy the free steelhead salmon buffet in Puget Sound.