The Death of a Once Great City

Kevin Baker connects the dots between empty penthouses and empty storefronts in New York City, tracing how the rich have transformed what once was a significant cultural entity into “the world’s largest gated community.”

Published: Jun 19, 2018
Length: 53 minutes (13,442 words)

Paisley Park, Prince’s Lonely Palace

For the New Yorker, Amanda Petrusich tours Paisley Park, the home and recording studio of the late Prince.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Jun 25, 2018
Length: 13 minutes (3,469 words)

Arabs on the Beach in Alexandria

A young woman vacating in Alexandria examines Egyptians’ rejection of Arabness and Africanness, and how Bedouins play into the mythologies of otherness in Egypt.

Author: Noor Naga
Source: The Common
Published: Apr 30, 2018
Length: 20 minutes (5,135 words)

A Theory of Animals

“They are determined to get rid of us, and we can no longer rely on our community’s miraculous evolution alone to protect us. We cannot expend all our energy every day just to survive, just to see another morning, like a desert animal.”

Source: Jezebel
Published: Jun 19, 2018
Length: 8 minutes (2,240 words)

24 Hours At My Local Dunkin’ Donuts

In a bid to get to know the members of her community, Laura Yan spends 24 hours in the Nostrand Avenue branch of Dunkin’ Donuts in New York City.

Author: Laura Yan
Source: The Outline
Published: Jun 18, 2018
Length: 14 minutes (3,562 words)

Natural Causes

Land art in the time of climate change.

Source: Even Magazine
Published: Jun 6, 2018
Length: 21 minutes (5,320 words)

Liz Phair Taught Me Everything About Being a Grown-Up

Twenty-five years after releasing her debut album Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair’s early music is still helping define peoples’ lives, dudes included.

Source: Esquire
Published: Jun 15, 2018
Length: 7 minutes (1,959 words)

Why Did I Teach My Son to Speak Russian?

When bilingualism isn’t obviously valuable, you have to decide what you think of the language.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Jun 14, 2018
Length: 17 minutes (4,475 words)

The Power in Knowing: Black Women, HIV, and the Realities of Safe Sex

In the third installment of Minda Honey’s #Dating_While_Woke series, an invitation to appear in a PSA prompts her to reflect on the responsibilities of safe sex, and her imperfect past.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 18, 2018
Length: 11 minutes (2,763 words)

As Goes the South, so Goes the Nation

Princeton professor Imani Perry considers how Alabama, her home state, has remained stuck in the past as well as how it continues to transform.

Published: Jun 16, 2018
Length: 24 minutes (6,026 words)