Rob Krar’s Never-Ending Race

Rob Krar, an accomplished ultramarathon runner, has struggled with serious depression for decades. In leading ultramarathon camps with his wife, Christina Bauer, he’s discovered that more than a few of his campers battle depression and that while running for 100 miles can help keep the dark times at bay, being among those who understand helps even more.

Source: Outside
Published: Dec 16, 2019
Length: 25 minutes (6,438 words)

Seedy

Elizabeth Logan Harris recalls an incident in ’70s-era Radio City Music Hall when unwanted attention to her teenage body put her in league with her father.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 19, 2019
Length: 16 minutes (4,123 words)

In Jo’s Image

Jeanna Kadlec considers the impact of Little Women’s matriarchy — and its heroine — on the formation of her own queer identity.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 19, 2019
Length: 8 minutes (2,136 words)

Lockdown: Living Through the Era of School Shootings, One Drill at a Time

What’s an active shooter drill like? Hear directly from 20 students and learn “what they see, hear, and feel during what has become a routine experience in American schools” — read excerpts, or listen to the audio of their conversations.

Source: The Trace
Published: Dec 18, 2019
Length: 14 minutes (3,698 words)

Can Monoculture Survive the Algorithm?

“Art’s deepest impact comes when it is least expected. In contrast, algorithmic recommendations lead us down a path of pleasant monotony: a looming monoculture of the similar. To resist it, we should embrace obscurity, difficulty, diversity, and strangeness as just as important as recognizability or universality.”

Source: Vox
Published: Dec 17, 2019
Length: 25 minutes (6,455 words)

Jerry’s Dirt

“Jerry McGahan knew how to create a new variety of apple. He knew how to hunt with an eagle. He knew how to catch a porcupine. But most of all, he knew how to live well, which meant he knew how to die well.”

Published: Sep 6, 2019
Length: 48 minutes (12,135 words)

Meet the Mad Scientist Who Wrote the Book on How to Hunt Hackers

Andy Greenberg visits with Clifford Stoll, 30 years after the man wrote the original book on computer hacking, The Cuckoo’s Egg. Stoll discovered what is believed to be the very first state-sponsored computer hacker. (Who was behind it? The Russians. Quelle surprise.)

Source: Wired
Published: Dec 18, 2019
Length: 9 minutes (2,333 words)

A Woman’s Work: Becoming a Home of One’s Own

In the final installment of her six-part illustrated series, “A Woman’s Work,” Carolita Johnson considers what it takes to recover from grief, build strength for the future, and become one’s own center of gravity again.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 18, 2019
Length: 24 minutes (6,000 words)

The Rise and Fall of Delia’s, The Catalog That Ruled America

When malls still ruled retail, a fashion brand for young women defied pre-internet era practice: It had no brick and mortar stores, only a catalog. It became the hottest thing around, selling a lifestyle as much as products, and its business model foretold the future. So why did it fail?

Source: Fast Company
Published: Dec 11, 2019
Length: 9 minutes (2,369 words)

Click Here to Kill

Unsurprisingly, you can order a hit on someone using forums on the dark web geared to undertaking any heinous task for money. Some of these sites are known scams, designed to fleece the hit orderer for whatever amount they’re willing to pay. Others are sadly, for real.

Published: Dec 17, 2019
Length: 30 minutes (7,522 words)