Queen of Snow Hill

To the larger world, Marlanna “Rapsody” Evans came rushing out of nowhere like a breath of fresh air in a dank field of female MCs, where rumors of butt injections, baby-daddy drama, dis records, Twitter beefs, and Fashion Week fisticuffs too often taint discussions about women’s flow and relevance, where lyricists of substance get labeled “conscious” and thus niche. Not Rapsody. She’s been slowly building her cred as Jamla’s wunderkind, guided by super-producer and hip-hop scholar Patrick “9th Wonder” Douthit, grindin’ around the world while holding fast to the values she learned from Mama Laila, her parents, and her vast family, which includes four siblings, a dozen aunts and uncles on her mother’s side alone, and a cadre of cousins. Many of her kin still reside in Snow Hill, a town of roughly two thousand in North Carolina’s Coastal Plains region, full of tobacco farms and open fields, jukes and corner stores, a penitentiary, and a smattering of churches. The DuPont plant in nearby Kinston employs many residents; Rapsody’s father, Roy, worked there as a mechanic for years.

Source: Oxford American
Published: Nov 20, 2018
Length: 22 minutes (5,500 words)

How Do You Recover After Millions Have Watched You Overdose?

Police departments and amateur videographers are filming drug addicted people in active overdose and posting the footage on social media in an attempt to publicly shame users to get clean. The reality? Drug addiction is complicated and humiliation isn’t always effective.

Published: Dec 11, 2018
Length: 9 minutes (2,448 words)

Atlanta’s Patron Saint of Pit Bulls

Jason Flatt’s animal rescue operation, Friends to the Forlorn, has saved 600 dogs and counting since 2009 and specializes in rescuing pit bills.

Published: Dec 13, 2018
Length: 13 minutes (3,266 words)

As Beauty Does

In this personal essay, writer Chaya Bhuvaneswar contemplates the powerful evolution of a woman’s beauty over time.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 17, 2018
Length: 12 minutes (3,169 words)

The 2-Year-Old Instagram Influencers Who Make More Than You

Kid stars on Instagram are a growing part of the influencer marketing industry, working increasingly with clothing and toy brands.

Source: Fast Company
Published: Dec 17, 2018
Length: 11 minutes (2,973 words)

Help Border Patrol, or border crossers?

In Roma, Texas, a major thoroughfare for illegal immigration on the Texas-Mexico border, encountering Border Patrol agents and the immigrants desperate to evade them is an inescapable part of life. Residents repeatedly face legal and ethical questions: Do you help, and, if so, whom? The immigrants or the Border Patrol? Almost daily, they weigh fear against compassion, resentment against concern.

Published: Dec 16, 2018
Length: 12 minutes (3,000 words)

A Dog’s Life

“People who have not loved a dog will never experience the most honest, pure and unconditional relationship a human can have. But to love a dog is to sign up for heartbreak.” What would you sacrifice for your pet? When Shawna Richer’s dog, Scout, became paralyzed, she had to make a choice: would she put her down, or do whatever it took to save her?

Published: Dec 15, 2018
Length: 20 minutes (5,100 words)

CBS Paid the Actress Eliza Dushku $9.5 Million to Settle Harassment Claims

Eliza Dushku is an actress best known for her recurring role on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and was repeatedly harassed by her co-star, Michael Weatherly, on the CBS series “Bull.” She believes she faced retaliation after she complained, and was written off the show. Investigators who looked into the case said Dushku’s story was emblematic of larger problems at CBS.

Published: Dec 13, 2018
Length: 9 minutes (2,258 words)

His Only Living Boy

Roger Stringer, a father and gun owner in Mississippi, testifies against his older son, Zac, in the shooting that kills his younger son, Justin. Zac goes to prison, but eventually Roger learns that the rifle in the incident — a Remington Model 700 — is at fault.

Source: The Trace
Published: Dec 12, 2018
Length: 33 minutes (8,260 words)

My Brother, My Self

In this personal essay, Katie Prout tries to untangle the story of her brother’s complicated, life-long battle with alcoholism against the backdrop of her family’s history of addiction.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 14, 2018
Length: 25 minutes (6,270 words)