Tales of War and Redemption

“The violence I have seen has left me feeling hollowed out, unable to gild all the agony with some beautiful meaning.”

Author: Phil Klay
Published: Dec 4, 2017
Length: 20 minutes (5,228 words)

In Portland, You Can Steal Cars Over and Over—and Get Away With It. Here’s How.

Come for the food carts. Stay while the police search for your car.

Source: Willamette Week
Published: Nov 29, 2017
Length: 11 minutes (2,950 words)

Border Wars

When writer and scholar Zandria F. Robinson tries to understand what makes “southernness” a distinct quality in music, food, language, or attitudes about race, she realizes that borders and categories are porous.

Source: Oxford American
Published: Nov 21, 2017
Length: 32 minutes (8,191 words)

The Joys and Sorrows of Watching My Own Birth

A personal essay in which Shelby Vittek reflects on the bittersweet experience of watching the video of herself being born — and her now-divorced mom and dad becoming parents — again and again.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 4, 2017
Length: 13 minutes (3,315 words)

Louvre Abu Dhabi, an Arabic-Galactic Wonder, Revises Art History

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a beautiful new building with a rented artwork and a borrowed name — the museum needs time to develop a collection of its own. But what will be the character of this new collection, the first of its kind in the Middle East? In his review, art critic Holland Cotter reflects on what the museum does, and what it should do.

Published: Nov 28, 2017
Length: 8 minutes (2,200 words)

Lake Chad: The World’s Most Complex Humanitarian Disaster

As the massive Lake Chad started drying up in Central Africa, famine sent the native tribes scrambling to survive. Now political factions and jihadists have compounded the climate change and food shortages to throw this region where four nations meet into turmoil.

Author: Ben Taub
Source: The New Yorker
Published: Dec 4, 2017
Length: 31 minutes (7,981 words)

Raising a Teenage Daughter

For The California Sunday‘s “Teens Issue,” Elizabeth Weil writes about raising a teenage daughter. The piece is annotated by her 15-year-old daughter, Hannah W. Duane.

Published: Nov 30, 2017
Length: 6 minutes (1,684 words)

‘A Tale of Decay’: The Houses of Parliament Are Falling down

As politicians dither over repairs, the risk of fire, flood or a deluge of sewage only increases. But fixing the Palace of Westminster might change British politics for good – which is the last thing many of its residents want.

Source: The Guardian
Published: Dec 1, 2017
Length: 22 minutes (5,571 words)

Assertiveness Training

A personal essay in which Susan Sheu considers her estrangement from her conservative mom, who tried to teach her to stand up and be heard in a male-dominated world — but not to be too unladylike about it.

Author: Susan Sheu
Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 1, 2017
Length: 23 minutes (5,862 words)

The Making of an American Nazi

Luke O’Brien profiles Andrew Anglin, a one-time anti-racist vegan who’s grown up to become the publisher of the world’s biggest neo-Nazi website, The Daily Stormer. By chronicling hundreds of heart-stopping details from dozens of sources across decades of dangerous behavior, O’Brien’s work sets a brave and timely example for how to report on extremism responsibly.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Dec 1, 2017
Length: 40 minutes (10,000 words)