A New Last Chance: There Could Soon Be a Baby-Boom Among Women Who Thought They’d Hit an IVF Dead End.

“Fourteen of Halem’s 18 embryos were deemed ‘complex abnormal’ — what IVF doctors sometimes call ‘chaotic,’ with more than one abnormal chromosome. But four of the abnormals were ‘good-looking’ to Braverman’s eye. Three of the embryos, all male, were ‘monosomies’ (missing one chromosome); the fourth embryo, a female, had an extra bit of chromosome 17, making it a partial trisomy. Otherwise, they looked healthy, so Braverman suggested transferring a couple of them. ‘Why don’t you try this?’ he urged Halem.”

Source: The Cut
Published: Sep 17, 2017
Length: 28 minutes (7,200 words)

It Was One Wet Hot Vax Summer at Seacrets

“Ocean City has about 7,000 year-rounders but sees some 8 million visitors a year. Of all the Delmarva beach towns, it may be the most spectacular study in contrasts. Families come to play on its gaping-wide beaches while barely legal kids who visit to get hammered are escorted out of beachside bars before 5 o’clock.”

Source: Washingtonian
Published: Sep 1, 2021
Length: 12 minutes (3,129 words)

The Enduring Legacy of Elijah McClain’s Tragic Death

“In summer 2020, the nation’s attention turned to the killing of a 23-year-old Aurora man. His death prompted a flood of more than 8,500 letters from outside the state of Colorado—all begging Governor Jared Polis for justice. We read every one.”

Source: 5280 Magazine
Published: Sep 1, 2021
Length: 17 minutes (4,454 words)

A Seat at the Table

In this interview, food writer Bettina Makalintal reflects on finding her voice, the trendification of ube, and why she’d rather not refer to Filipino cuisine — or any cuisine — as “the next big thing.”

Author: Liz Yap
Source: Out of Print
Published: Apr 10, 2021
Length: 20 minutes (5,142 words)

The Girl in the Picture

“A sketch artist and a grieving mother set out to solve a cold case. The more they dug, the more terrifying the truth became.”

Source: The Atavist
Published: Aug 31, 2021
Length: 34 minutes (8,600 words)

When the Toughest Trees Met the Hottest Fire

“The other name of the coast redwood is Sequoia sempervirens. The second word in Latin means ‘evergreen.’ Its tactics are legendary. Knock over a redwood and it is not dead. A circle of new redwoods, called a fairy ring, will grow around its wide base. The tree has cloned itself, and Big Basin is full of redwoods formed in rings, starting life in the ruins of death.”

Source: E&E News
Published: Aug 16, 2021
Length: 26 minutes (6,670 words)

Murray Sinclair on Reconciliation, Anger, Unmarked Graves—and a Headline for this Story

“I’ve been accused many times over the course of my career of giving into the system and becoming part of the tools of oppression. And what I said to people was, talk to the others within the system and ask them: ‘Is he really going along to get along?’ And they’ll tell you: ‘He’s not. He’s causing a disturbance every day he walks in the office.’”

Source: Maclean’s
Published: Aug 18, 2021
Length: 8 minutes (2,185 words)

The Incredible Story of Ray Caldwell, the MLB Pitcher Who Survived a Lightning Strike to Finish a Game

“Caldwell is on his back, arms spread wide, out cold on the mound. The lightning strike had hit him directly.”

Source: ESPN
Published: Aug 24, 2021
Length: 13 minutes (3,313 words)

Margaritaville and the Myth of American Leisure

“Margaritaville, as Parrotheads will tell you, is a state of mind. But it’s also—delightfully, sometimes inexplicably—a real place now open in Times Square.”

Source: Eater
Published: Aug 30, 2021
Length: 16 minutes (4,200 words)

Pokimane Has Done Enough—and Has So Much Left to Do

“As a master reactor, Anys knows the rules of manufactured controversies over manufactured selves. She could have engaged the drama YouTubers who went after her in mid-2020, taking ownership of her centrality in that day’s attention economy. She could have immediately made a response video and clocked a couple million YouTube views. She could have used the opportunity to reassert her brand. She did not. Instead, she went on Twitch to make a pizza.”

Source: Wired
Published: Aug 26, 2021
Length: 17 minutes (4,397 words)