Fountain Girls

In this essay, listed as a Notable in Best American Essays 2017, one young women recounts growing up poor in small-town Colorado, a town plagued with problems yet named an All-America City, and after she moves on she wonders: What if the American dream is just a dream?

Source: Ecotone Journal
Published: Feb 23, 2017
Length: 21 minutes (5,401 words)

Woman Says Roy Moore Initiated Sexual Encounter When She Was 14, He Was 32

Leigh Corfman says that Roy Moore, a 2018 U.S. Senate candidate from Alabama, took her to his house when she was 14 years old and had sexual contact with her. Three other women say Moore pursued relationships with them when they were between the ages of 16 and 18.

Source: Washington Post
Published: Nov 9, 2017
Length: 14 minutes (3,538 words)

Louis C.K. Crossed a Line Into Sexual Misconduct, 5 Women Say

Several women have come forward to share their stories about how the comedian Louis C.K. masturbated in front of them or solicited them for an encounter.

Published: Nov 9, 2017
Length: 10 minutes (2,666 words)

The Dead Man Fund

How the world’s worst investor fleeced clients who couldn’t complain.

Source: Longreads
Published: Nov 9, 2017
Length: 6 minutes (1,672 words)

Diana Nyad: My Life After Sexual Assault

Legendary long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad tells and owns her story of survival. By tracing the lifelong impact of enduring sexual assault at age 14, Nyad — now nearing 70 as an undeniable champion in every decade of her life — builds a powerful case for speaking out.

Author: Diana Nyad
Published: Nov 9, 2017
Length: 8 minutes (2,120 words)

Arms Dealers

Peter Andrey Smith reports on the black market big business of body brokers — those who prepare donated human remains for study by students, doctors, and scientists. A single human cadaver, parted out efficiently, can fetch $100,000 in a lightly regulated industry that’s ripe for fraudsters trying to make a buck on the donated dead.

Published: Nov 7, 2017
Length: 17 minutes (4,453 words)

How to Sell a Country: The Booming Business of Nation Branding

What do you know about Minsk, the capital of Belarus? Or the nation of Georgia? If you know anything, it’s either a oversimplification like ‘danger’ or ‘forested’ or an enticing tagline about wine and prosperity. An entire niche industry helps create identities, sometimes to attract tourists, sometimes, as with Libya, to scrub its image clean.

Source: The Guardian
Published: Nov 7, 2017
Length: 23 minutes (5,810 words)

Johnstown Never Believed Trump Would Help. They Still Love Him Anyway.

A year after they elected Trump, residents of a town in western Pennsylvania say they continue to support the President even though he hasn’t made good on all his big promises.

Source: Politico
Published: Nov 8, 2017
Length: 16 minutes (4,148 words)

Anatomy of a Surrogacy

They wanted a baby, she wanted to carry it for them—for a fee. It’s a common transaction but illegal in Canada, and the system here leaves both parties vulnerable.

Source: Hazlitt
Published: Nov 6, 2017
Length: 37 minutes (9,436 words)

What Happens If China Makes First Contact?

The Atlantic‘s Ross Andersen travels to China to visit the world’s largest radio dish built for seeking out extraterrestrial intelligence. On the trip he meets Liu Cixin, China’s preeminent science-fiction writer, for a wide-ranging discussion about the risks of making contact.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Nov 8, 2017
Length: 24 minutes (6,105 words)