‘They Were Conned’: How Reckless Loans Devastated a Generation of Taxi Drivers

A two-part investigation examining how taxi industry leaders artificially inflated the price of medallions, which allow taxi drivers the ability to own and operate a cab, and trapped low-income drivers in reckless loans while government officials looked the other way.

Published: May 19, 2019
Length: 46 minutes (11,532 words)

Impossible Foods’ Rising Empire of Almost-Meat

A story of a bloodless culinary coup in the trillion-dollar market for meat? It’s possible!

Author: Chris Ip
Source: Engadget
Published: May 19, 2019
Length: 24 minutes (6,100 words)

Losing Religion and Finding Ecstasy in Houston

“I can’t tell whether my inclination toward ecstasy is a sign that I still believe in God, or if it was only because of that ecstatic tendency that I ever believed at all.”

Source: The New Yorker
Published: May 20, 2019
Length: 24 minutes (6,049 words)

Faith, Friendship, and Tragedy at Santa Fe High

Sabika Sheikh came from Karachi to experience the best of being an American high school student and instead got our very worst, leaving two crushed families behind — one Pakistani, one Texan.

Source: Texas Monthly
Published: May 1, 2019
Length: 39 minutes (9,949 words)

Drifters (Interstate 35)

Traveling is about more than freedom on the open road. It is a state of being for some people, and a form of self-discovery.

Source: Nowhere
Published: Nov 17, 2018
Length: 25 minutes (6,306 words)

The Psychiatrist in My Writing Class and His ‘Gift’ of Hate

Rani Neutill recalls a literary workshop in which a white man critiqued her ability to write in “proper” English.

Source: Longreads
Published: May 20, 2019
Length: 10 minutes (2,723 words)

The Omen of the Wasps’ Nest

As she prepares to leave the home she shared with her ex, Marlene Adelstein finds herself fixated on the husk of a nest hanging in the yard.

Source: Longreads
Published: May 17, 2019
Length: 14 minutes (3,712 words)

‘Little Grandpa’ and The List

When her grandfather died, Abigail Rasminsky learned about a part of his life she’d known nothing about.

Source: Longreads
Published: May 13, 2019
Length: 16 minutes (4,208 words)

How ‘Game of Thrones’ Gets Packed With Birds (and Not Just Ravens)

“As the final season of the beloved HBO fantasy epic Game of Thrones bashes and burns its way to a conclusion, many fans are already fearing life without their favorite characters. But just as much as I’ll miss Tyrion’s drunken one-liners and Arya’s shape-shifting vengeance, I’ll also miss my other Sunday pastime: birding within the Seven Kingdoms and across the Narrow Sea.”

Source: Audubon
Published: May 9, 2019
Length: 7 minutes (1,843 words)

Mother/Russia

The Americans shows us one way to write a female antihero.

Source: Longreads
Published: May 13, 2019
Length: 11 minutes (2,965 words)