The Hiding Place: Inside the World’s First Long-Term Storage Facility for Highly Radioactive Nuclear Waste

In an excerpt from his new book Underland, Robert Macfarlane asks if we are being good ancestors on a visit to Onkalo, a Finnish “experiment in post-­human architecture” designed to be the world’s most advanced underground repository for highly radioactive nuclear waste.

Published: Jun 25, 2019
Length: 21 minutes (5,320 words)

Homeward Bound

Make a new canine friend in Maine and chances are good she’s from down south, as the dog-crazy Pine Tree State is among the most common destinations for southern rescue dogs. To understand why—and how they arrive—Kathryn Miles joined 37 very good dogs on a 1,600-mile road trip.

Source: Down East
Published: Jun 26, 2019
Length: 20 minutes (5,100 words)

“Children Are Being Poisoned”: California Moms Lead the Way to Pesticide Ban

After years of work, activists got the state of California to ban the dangerous pesticide chlorpyrifos, which drifts widely through the state’s Central Valley. These activists are now taking aim at other chemicals and hope their grassroots coalition shows others how to battle the farmers and policy makers who act like human health is just the cost of doing business.

Author: Sam Levin
Source: The Guardian
Published: Jun 27, 2019
Length: 5 minutes (1,436 words)

The Revenge of the Poverty-Stricken College Professors Is Underway in Florida. And It’s Big.

Two thousand, eight hundred employees at Miami Dade College have unionized. Will their efforts help get suffering adjunct professors healthcare, professional support, and a livable wage?

Source: Splinter
Published: Jun 19, 2019
Length: 19 minutes (4,976 words)

Reupholstering Behind Bars

On March 21, the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District and Massachusetts Correctional Industries (MassCor) inked a contract that set up prisoners at MCI-Norfolk to reupholster the 1,105 badly worn auditorium seats at Amherst Regional High and Middle Schools, between April and June of this year, to the tune of $101,800.

The auditorium seats needed to be repaired, the district budget was limited, and using prison labor cut costs.

(For more on this investigative story by a high school newspaper, read this overview from The Marshall Project.)

Source: The Graphic
Published: Jun 3, 2019
Length: 12 minutes (3,000 words)

The Unsolved Mystery of the Malibu Creek Murder

In the wake of a sleeping father’s murder in his tent, information emerged suggesting that someone is randomly shooting people and dumping bodies in this rugged, gorgeous region between the beach and the Valley. Theories abound. Only one thing is clear: Authorities did not use the information they had to protect the public.

Author: Zach Baron
Source: GQ
Published: Jun 20, 2019
Length: 41 minutes (10,345 words)

He Cyberstalked Teen Girls for Years—Then They Fought Back

While a student at Belmont High in Belmont, New Hampshire, Ryan Vallee — under the name of Seth Williamson — would initially befriend teen girls by texting them about their favorite ice cream or the name of their pets. They thought he was been sweet. He was after clues to their social network passwords. His aim? To hack their accounts in a bid to extort them for nude selfies. If he didn’t get what he wanted, his demands escalated.

Source: Wired
Published: Jun 24, 2019
Length: 20 minutes (5,243 words)

Trump Keeps Talking About the Last Military Standoff With Iran — Here’s What Really Happened

“In 2016, 10 sailors were captured by Iran. Trump is making it a political issue. Our investigation shows that it was a Navy failure, and the problems run deep.”

Source: ProPublica
Published: Jun 24, 2019
Length: 25 minutes (6,260 words)

The Surreal End of an American College

Low enrollment and financial straights have forced some schools to close before their students graduate. What changes can other small colleges make to avoid closure? And how do students deal with the news of losing their school?

Author: Alia Wong
Source: The Atlantic
Published: Jun 18, 2019
Length: 14 minutes (3,656 words)

Hideous Men

In a stunning excerpt from her memoir, What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal, E. Jean Carroll recalls being sexually assaulted by numerous men, and outright raped in the mid-’90s in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room by Donald Trump.

Source: The Cut
Published: Jun 21, 2019
Length: 26 minutes (6,503 words)