Doomsday Pattern

Atomic bombs smell like a waterfall. You can get some radiation out with soap and water. Oh, and nothing is safe.

Source: Real Life Mag
Published: Oct 9, 2017
Length: 20 minutes (5,209 words)

Secrets of the South

Novelist Kaitlyn Greenidge writes about her weekend in Chesapeake, Virginia for the 150th anniversary of United Order of Tents, a secret society of black women established after the end of the civil war, which has long provided much needed financial and other kinds of support to black communities.

Source: Lenny
Published: Oct 6, 2017
Length: 13 minutes (3,319 words)

The Mind of John McPhee

After publishing thirty books over the last fifty years, one of America’s most revered and private nonfiction writers finally wrote a book about himself, or at least, about his writing process. And for this article, McPhee agreed, for the first time, to let someone profile him.

Published: Sep 28, 2017
Length: 21 minutes (5,330 words)

Dirty John

When Debra Newell met John Meehan for a first date, she thought he was handsome, and kind, but shabbily dressed, and a little strange. When they married in Las Vegas less than two months later, she kept her family in the dark. It was only after she learned about his past that she began to fear for her life, and the lives of her children.

Published: Oct 8, 2017
Length: 84 minutes (21,000 words)

We Snuck into Seattle’s Super Secret White Nationalist Convention

What they found will disgust but not surprise you. (Hint: Lots of young tech guys.)

Source: The Stranger
Published: Oct 4, 2017
Length: 13 minutes (3,337 words)

Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades

The New York Times investigates three decades worth of sexual harassment allegations against the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The Weinstein Company’s board fired Harvey Weinstein shortly after this investigation was published.

Published: Oct 5, 2017
Length: 15 minutes (3,904 words)

Southern Gallery: Tom Petty

Goodbye, Tom Petty. Revisit this chatty, informal, fun interview with the rock legend from Oxford American’s 2000 Southern music issue.

Source: Oxford American
Published: Jul 15, 2000
Length: 15 minutes (3,849 words)

No Enemies

For a generation of Chinese intellectuals, the events of 1989 were a chance to erase the ghosts of the past. But what happens when your side loses? When the entire country moves backward, not forward? Jacob Dreyer tells the story of modern China through the lives of four men: visual artists Xu Bing and Ai Weiwei, novelist Mo Yan, and activist Liu Xiaobo, who died this year in captivity.

Source: Even
Published: Oct 4, 2017
Length: 28 minutes (7,100 words)

How the Elderly Lose Their Rights

Julie Belshe had thought her parents had been kidnapped: Their house in Clark County Nevada was locked and dark, and they didn’t answer their phone for days. She discovered they had been removed from their home and taken to an assisted living facility, their possessions were sold and their money confiscated. It wasn’t a mistake. It was the law.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Oct 4, 2017
Length: 32 minutes (8,200 words)

In Six Seconds, Giphy Could Make Billions

GIFs have long served as signals of cultural fluency. Now they’re poised to become a big business.

Source: Fast Company
Published: Oct 3, 2017
Length: 16 minutes (4,182 words)