When Your Barber Assumes You’re a Racist Too

At 37, Isaac Fitzgerald reviews his relationship to his hair and his appearance throughout his life. But more than that, he considers the ways in which he’s grown past staying silent when racist barbers —and others who took his Gavin McInnes-inspired cut to mean he was a white supremacist, too — ran their mouths, uncensored, about people of color.

Source: Gay Magazine
Published: Mar 12, 2020

The Storykiller and His Sentence: Rebecca Solnit on Harvey Weinstein

Rebecca Solnit considers Harvey Weinstein’s 23-year prison sentence through the lens of storytelling, and who gets to do it now that at least two men who were “in charge of stories” — Weinstein and Woody Allen — have in the past week lost so much of their power, and women are now finding their voices.

Source: LitHub
Published: Mar 12, 2020
Length: 11 minutes (2,765 words)

The Killing of a Colorado Rancher

When Jake Millison went missing, his family said he’d skipped town. But his friends knew him better than that, and they refused to let him simply disappear.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Mar 12, 2020
Length: 22 minutes (5,716 words)

Why the US Sucks at Building Public Transit

“Whether it’s traditional subway and commuter rail systems, modern streetcars and light rails, high-speed intercity rail, or even the humble bus with dedicated lanes and train-like stops, the U.S. lags perilously behind. It is a national embarrassment and a major reason our cities are less pleasant, more expensive places to live.”

Source: Motherboard
Published: Mar 9, 2020
Length: 27 minutes (6,779 words)

Seaweed Soup (Miyuk Gook 미역국)

My mother told me seaweed has twenty-one different minerals. She sent me two kinds in a box. I put one in a teacup and added hot water. Sipped the wisdom of her. Used her to make broth. Broth is one step in the recipe.

Source: The Rumpus
Published: Mar 10, 2020
Length: 18 minutes (4,639 words)

The Broken Country

On disability and desire.

Source: VQR
Published: Mar 11, 2020
Length: 13 minutes (3,255 words)

The Secret History of a Cold War Mastermind

“Gus Weiss, a shrewd intelligence insider, pulled off an audacious tech hack against the Soviets in the last century. Or did he?”

Source: Wired
Published: Mar 11, 2020
Length: 36 minutes (9,000 words)

Dogs of War

“At the outbreak of WWII, a private poodle breeder and her dog show pals launch an outlandish scheme to recruit and train thousands of pets for war duty. In the face of military skepticism and the carnage of war, a new kind of hero emerged.”

Published: Mar 9, 2020
Length: 25 minutes (6,321 words)

The End Is Coming

The last generation is going to have to be composed of people better and braver than we are now—and it is our job to help them end up that way. We must take the first steps toward learning to make the unthinkable thinkable, so that they can take the last ones.

Source: The Point
Published: Mar 11, 2020
Length: 6 minutes (1,516 words)

How to Live: Lessons from Last Night’s Reading

For one young writer, author events provided the guidance and humanity he needed to help craft his literary life.

Source: Poets & Writers
Published: Feb 8, 2020
Length: 9 minutes (2,405 words)