Extra Life: How I was Saved by Video Games

Scott C. Jones on being repeatedly molested as a child and how video games have helped him to navigate years of living with self-doubt.

Published: Dec 30, 2018
Length: 19 minutes (4,983 words)

Blood Cries Out

On a Missouri farm, two families worked the land side by side, until a murder shattered their American dream.

Source: The Atavist
Published: Nov 30, 2018
Length: 92 minutes (23,000 words)

Louisiana School Made Headlines for Sending Black Kids to Elite Colleges. Here’s the Reality.

Ivy League schools love stories of underprivileged students overcoming all the odds to make it to the top, so that’s what T.M. Landry fed them — at the expense of the students themselves.

Published: Nov 30, 2018
Length: 22 minutes (5,690 words)

Party Monsters

The era Peak Television has segued directly into the Nadir of Criticism, and it’s not good for anyone.

Source: The Baffler
Published: Nov 28, 2018
Length: 14 minutes (3,536 words)

Writing to Avoid Erasure

After finding a note left by his grandfather, Aram Mrjoian considers how writing about the Armenian diaspora could help prevent history from being forgotten.

Source: Longreads
Published: Nov 30, 2018
Length: 10 minutes (2,624 words)

Beneath The Surface Of Bruce Springsteen

At Esquire, Bruce Springsteen talks to Michael Hainey about Trump’s divisive politics, raising kids to become solid citizens, how to learn to deal with the baggage of your upbringing to be the person you truly want to be, and how, at age 69 after two serious bouts of depression, he’s still figuring it all out, just like the rest of us.

Source: Esquire
Published: Nov 27, 2018
Length: 30 minutes (7,648 words)

Yesterday Is a Wild Parrot

While his father recovers from heart surgery, a son spends time with him at home and tries to make sense of his father’s hallucinations and confusion. This story was named a “Notable Essay” in Best American Essays 2018.

Source: wildness
Published: Oct 1, 2017
Length: 10 minutes (2,562 words)

‘I Don’t Want to Shoot You, Brother’

Officer Stephen Mader chose not to shoot R.J. Williams, choosing instead to de-escalate. He was right — Williams’ gun wasn’t loaded, so he was never a real threat — but another office on the scene shot him anyway. And then Mader got fired.

Author: Joe Sexton
Source: ProPublica
Published: Nov 29, 2018
Length: 53 minutes (13,431 words)

Perversion of Justice

Jeffrey Epstein allegedly assaulted dozens of underage girls, many repeatedly. His plea deal led to just 13 months in jail, was kept from his victims, and protects his abettors from prosecution. The prosecutor who approved the deal is now the U.S. Labor Secretary. How?

Source: Miami Herald
Published: Nov 28, 2018
Length: 74 minutes (18,700 words)

‘If Bobbie Talks, I’m Finished’: How Les Moonves Tried to Silence an Accuser

Text messages between Les Moonves and a struggling Hollywood manager named Marv Dauer reveal how the two men traded favors to cover up a sexual assault allegation. Moonves directed Dauer to delete the messages to cover his tracks. Dauer insists he was doing whatever he could to get parts for his clients.

Published: Nov 28, 2018
Length: 19 minutes (4,925 words)