Stephen Tobolowsky: The X Factor, Part 1

How to audition. “Message to young actors: When you first come to L.A. and you start to despair, remember the X-Factor. Hollywood is not like school. There is no syllabus and there are no grades-here you can succeed by complete failure.”

Source: The Awl
Published: Aug 2, 2010
Length: 16 minutes (4,021 words)

The Empty Chamber

Just how broken is the Senate?

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Aug 9, 2010
Length: 45 minutes (11,337 words)

The Cuomo Family Business

Andrew Cuomo was his father’s id, aggressive where Mario was cerebral—the muscle that helped win Mario three terms as governor of New York. Now he looks like he’s about to take over his father’s old job. Has he learned enough from both of their mistakes?

Published: Aug 1, 2010
Length: 25 minutes (6,364 words)

What You Want: Flickr Creator Spins Addictive New Web Service

Connecting people to one another is not just Caterina Fake’s hobby — she has made it her career. As the cofounder of Flickr, the landmark photography site, Fake provided a place for shutterbugs to share their work; they have uploaded more than 4 billion pictures. It was a seminal service that helped launch the era of user-generated content, spurring entrepreneurs to build Web sites and businesses based on volunteer contributions. Now, with Hunch, Fake is back, and she’s using her social skills to tackle one of the most vexing problems in computer science: online recommendations.

Source: Wired
Published: Jul 28, 2010
Length: 16 minutes (4,173 words)

Mao, King Kong, and the Future of the Book

From Mao to Microsoft, a conversation on the unrecorded history of online publishing.

Author: Bob Stein
Source: Triple Canopy
Published: Aug 1, 2010
Length: 15 minutes (3,978 words)

The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy

Just over ten years later and with just one fewer soul on board, the vanishing of a French jumbo jet brings back memories of the SwissAir Flight 111 crash. Here, a heartbreaking account that continues to instruct today.

Source: Esquire
Published: Jul 1, 2000
Length: 32 minutes (8,066 words)

Under Pressure: The Search for a Stress Vaccine

Source: Wired
Published: Jul 28, 2010
Length: 22 minutes (5,700 words)

Fallen Soldiers’ Families Denied Cash as Insurers Profit

Source: Bloomberg
Published: Jul 28, 2010
Length: 15 minutes (3,902 words)

A Girls’ Guide to Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia! Just the vacation spot for a headstrong, adventure-loving, cocktail-imbibing, fashion-conscious chick. Long averse to non-Muslim curiosity seekers, the Kingdom is now flirting with tourism, though drinking is forbidden and women can’t drive—or do much of anything—without a man. Armed with moxie and a Burqini, the author confronts the limits of Saudi Arabian hospitality, as well as various male enforcers, learning that, as always, it matters whom you know.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Aug 1, 2010
Length: 25 minutes (6,462 words)

The Age of Laura Linney

Published: Jul 28, 2010
Length: 25 minutes (6,255 words)