The Short & Brilliant Life of Ernest Matthew Mickler
When Ernest “Ernie” Matthew Mickler’s book White Trash Cooking appeared in 1986, it became an instant hit. Its author was viewed as either a talented Southern folklorist or a comical novelty. But his work was a rich cultural document of a vanishing rural Florida, and he proved that poor rural people can and should document their life-ways with dignity. This is Mickler’s story.
How ‘Cops’ Became the Most Polarizing Reality TV Show in America
What one of TV’s longest-running reality shows says about race and our relationship with the police.
From One Friendship, Lessons on Life, Death, AIDS and Childlessness
In this personal essay, S. Kirk Walsh reflects on her friendship with a gay man battling AIDS — how he taught her to grieve her own infertility, and live life more fully.
Diary of a Do-Gooder
In this personal essay, after years of trying to distinguish herself, Sara Eckel considers the value of door-to-door canvassing, phone-banking, and other anonymous tasks of everyday activism.
The Coping Economy
American companies increasingly expect employees to do more work for the same pay rate. Companies have helped them cope by providing mindfulness training and time to meditate, but are mindful workers better off, or are they just being groomed to accept their new stressful baseline and poor work-life balance?
Dirty Gold, Clean Cash
A Miami Herald investigation looks at how billions of dollars worth of gold from Latin American narco-traffickers illegally makes it into the U.S. and eventually becomes used in American jewelry, coins and smartphones.
My Brother’s Keeper
Sabine Heinlein tells the heartbreaking story of Terri Been, who has devoted years of her life to saving her brother’s after he was sentenced to death by the state of Texas almost two decades ago for a murder he definitively did not commit.
The New Age of Astrology
What’s behind the recent surge of interest in astrology — especially among millennials?
The Fall of Travis Kalanick Was a Lot Weirder and Darker Than You Thought
A behind-the-scenes account of how Travis Kalanick was ousted from Uber as chief executive officer.
When Barbie Went to War With Bratz
Jill Lepore looks at the problem of defining intellectual property when it comes to what young girls should play with: “The feud between Barbie and Bratz occupies the narrow space between thin lines: between fashion and porn, between originals and copies, and between toys for girls and rights for women.”
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