A Dog’s Inner Life: What a Robot Pet Taught Me About Consciousness

“‘Clearly this is not a biological dog,’ my husband said. He asked whether I had realised that the red light beneath its nose was not just a vision system but a camera, or if I’d considered where its footage was being sent. While I was away, he told me, the dog had roamed around the apartment in a very systematic way, scrutinising our furniture, our posters, our closets. It had spent 15 minutes scanning our bookcases and had shown particular interest, he claimed, in the shelf of Marxist criticism.”

Source: The Guardian
Published: Aug 10, 2021
Length: 16 minutes (4,208 words)

After Two Teen Suicides Last Year, How Will Summit County Address an Ongoing Mental Health Crisis?

“A tragic stretch in April 2020 shone a light on the mental health issues facing the mountain community. With the new school year set to start, area residents are continuing to heal while asking themselves how they can learn from the past.”

Source: 5280 Magazine
Published: Aug 1, 2021
Length: 19 minutes (4,821 words)

Thousands of Patients Were Implanted With Heart Pumps That the FDA Knew Could Be Dangerous

“Inspectors repeatedly found manufacturing and device quality problems with the HeartWare heart pump. But the FDA did not penalize the company, and patients had the device implanted on their hearts without knowing the facts.”

Author: Neil Bedi
Source: ProPublica
Published: Aug 5, 2021
Length: 20 minutes (5,233 words)

There Has Been Blood

“For more than five decades, the Thai palm oil industry has been marred by rampant exploitation, violence, and corporate greed. Thailand is the world’s No. 3 producer of palm oil.”

Source: Eater
Published: Aug 3, 2021
Length: 25 minutes (6,471 words)

The Ingenious Ancient Technology Concealed in the Shallows

But for over a generation now, the number of salmon returning to the coast of British Columbia has fallen sharply, due to more than a century of commercial fishing and development. In addition, climate change is threatening the ecosystem itself. This strikes at the heart of both Indigenous communities and society as a whole. If not the continued return of the salmon, what will the future bring?

 

Source: Hakai Magazine
Published: Aug 3, 2021
Length: 14 minutes (3,500 words)

What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind

“Grief, conspiracy theories, and one family’s search for meaning in the two decades since 9/11.”

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Aug 9, 2021
Length: 53 minutes (13,254 words)

Forgiving Jaskirat Sidhu

“Who deserves absolution, and when, is one of humanity’s most vexing questions—one families devastated by the Humboldt Broncos tragedy can’t seem to avoid.”

Source: Maclean’s
Published: Aug 4, 2021
Length: 20 minutes (5,045 words)

Theo Henderson’s Podcast Influences L.A. City Policy. For 7 Years, He’s Lived Mostly in the Park.

“There are 60,000 unhoused people in L.A. County — (Theo) Henderson prefers ‘unhoused’ because he says ‘homeless’ has become a slur — as many as 40,000 of whom are considered, like him, to be ‘unsheltered,’ living outside the shelter system in tents, informal communities, and camps.”

Source: Curbed
Published: Oct 14, 2020
Length: 10 minutes (2,505 words)

‘I Got a Second Chance’: From Puff Daddy to Diddy to Love

“Sean Combs was the original influencer. Now the artist and mogul is defining his next era—and launching a record label.”

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Aug 3, 2021
Length: 21 minutes (5,255 words)

The Fugitive and the Chameleon

“Mario’s father had gone by many names. Luis Archuleta. Lawrence Pusateri. The man the son knew as Ramon was just a fraction of his way into what may be one of the longest fugitive runs in U.S. history — a 50-year game of cat-and-mouse that played out across the West, from the streets of Colorado to the shores of California and many dusty, sun-bleached points in between.”

Source: Deseret News
Published: Aug 2, 2021
Length: 24 minutes (6,154 words)