Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

What happens when you give thousands of pedants a place online to let loose the full force of their passions? Something flawed, but beautiful.

Source: Wired
Published: Feb 17, 2020
Length: 17 minutes (4,445 words)

Garbage Language: Why Do Corporations Speak the Way They Do?

Let’s drop a pin in this and take it off-line so we can futureproof the intiative with these key learnings and co-create innovative win-wins that require an omni-channel push but no critical ask. Actually, let’s not.

Published: Feb 20, 2020
Length: 16 minutes (4,188 words)

The End of Miss America

If only the actual Miss America were as gorgeous and erudite as this essay about the decrepitude of a stagnant pageant in a changing world.

Author: Lyz Lenz
Source: Jezebel
Published: Feb 20, 2020
Length: 15 minutes (3,814 words)

The High-Stakes Fight Over Bolivia’s Lithium

“Bolivia has the largest known resources of lithium. Can it build an industry to supply the world’s growing demand?”

Source: Protocol
Published: Feb 16, 2020
Length: 9 minutes (2,296 words)

Hacking Diabetes

A network of amateur programmers is transforming the illness with a DIY app.

Source: The Walrus
Published: Jan 30, 2020
Length: 20 minutes (5,116 words)

Between Russell Simmons and The World and Oprah

Russell Simmons moved to Bali to avoid the legal fallout from a litany of #metoo accusations, but that didn’t stop him from spending time, recently, in New York City. Veteran journalist Kevin Powell conducted many interviews with him there, attempting to understand his one-time idol’s perspective. In the wake of Oprah Winfrey’s withdrawal from producing On the Record — a documentary about Russell’s many alleged abuses — Powell wrestles with many difficult things: Russell’s attitude toward his accusers; the intersection of sexism and racism: toxic masculinity in hiphop; his own past mistakes; and Oprah’s mysterious choice to back out of the film.

Published: Feb 19, 2020
Length: 45 minutes (11,471 words)

Smorgasbords Don’t Have Bottoms

On publishing in the late 2010s.

Author: Editors
Source: n+1
Published: Feb 17, 2020
Length: 24 minutes (6,200 words)

Trust and Consequences

The government required him to see a therapist. He thought his words would be confidential. Now, the traumatized migrant may be deported.

Published: Feb 15, 2020
Length: 22 minutes (5,600 words)

My Journey Through Tijuana for the Best Surgery $2,000 Can Buy

In Tijuana, uninsured freelancers Amy Martyn and her husband Aaron pursue inexpensive orthopedic surgery for his doubly broken ankle. For both better and worse, they get what they paid for.

Author: Amy Martyn
Source: GEN
Published: Feb 18, 2020
Length: 15 minutes (3,987 words)

House of the Century

In this personal and critical essay, Daisy Alioto reconsiders the nature of architecture while researching window alarms.

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 20, 2020
Length: 15 minutes (3,903 words)