There Are Places You Cannot Go

“As darkness fell, Nhek and Soem, clutching the tree trunks as flotation devices, eased into the flow of the Mekong, submerging their sweaty bodies into the dark torrent. Water soaked their clothes and splashed their faces as the current carried them south toward freedom.”

Source: The Atavist
Published: Jul 31, 2019
Length: 37 minutes (9,421 words)

It Ought to Be Gothick

Does a building become less authentic if it’s restored to its original state after being damaged? Does Notre-Dame?

Published: Jul 26, 2019
Length: 9 minutes (2,391 words)

Driven to the end

Urged from a very young age to excel, Olympic cycling medalist Kelly Catlin committed suicide at age 23. ‘“I suspect a large part of why I am the way I am — both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ — is our childhood environment,” she wrote. “We are triplets. And we are, none of us, truly functional. … Those parched for affection from a young age do not quickly heal. I shall say no more.” “So what do I want?” she had written. “Love.”’

Author: Kent Babb
Published: Jul 29, 2019
Length: 24 minutes (6,052 words)

The Unexpected Magic of Mushrooms

Beneath a patch of woodland in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula there lies an organism over 1500 years old and heavier than three blue whales combined –  a mushroom. The secret of its longevity is an extremely low mutation rate – meaning it avoids potentially damaging alterations to its genetic code. Could this fungus hold the key to fighting some human diseases?

Source: BBC
Published: Mar 15, 2019
Length: 11 minutes (2,839 words)

The Quiet Cruelty of When Harry Met Sally

Memorable and funny as the movie is, this beloved rom-com gave us the horrible, corrosive idea of high- versus low-maintenance women.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Jul 19, 2019
Length: 6 minutes (1,685 words)

Meet Goop’s Number-One Enemy

“Whether it’s dubious wellness product claims, misconceptions about basic anatomy or confusion over reproductive rights, Dr. Jen Gunter will set you straight. How this ob-gyn from Winnipeg became the most important truth teller in women’s health.”

Source: Chatelaine
Published: Jul 19, 2019
Length: 11 minutes (2,960 words)

An Ocean Away From the Sanctuary of Manhattan, Signs of Peaceful Coexistence

As a Jewish New Yorker, Candy Schulman is surprised to find a small town in Andalusia celebrating the co-existence of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish cultures, despite the area’s dark racist history.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jul 29, 2019
Length: 10 minutes (2,622 words)

In a World Full of Cruelty and Injustice, Becoming a Mother Anyway

In this personal essay, a visit to Auschwitz makes Eliza Margarita Bates only more determined to have a baby, despite her painful chronic illness.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jul 26, 2019
Length: 26 minutes (6,506 words)

Blood Oranges

“The pain was incandescent: a sticky, piercing heat that felt a knife’s edge from ecstasy; it sent spasm after spasm through my limbs as I clung to the hospital sheets, straining toward the ceiling, yearning for the sky beyond it. I was half-gone, floating up to the cosmos, desperate for the frigid vastness of space, for my body to shatter into pieces and just float undisturbed, finally, finally. Back on earth, I was tethered, spread, split decisively open. My daughter slid from me, indignant, slick and firm as a plum, and stopped wailing as soon as they nestled her on my chest.”

Published: Jul 24, 2019
Length: 12 minutes (3,218 words)

Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months

Many countries are dealing with scorching temperatures this summer, and there is a growing consensus amongst climate scientists that the next 18 months will be critical in dealing with the global heating crisis.

 

 

Source: BBC
Published: Jul 24, 2019
Length: 6 minutes (1,648 words)