The Last London

“And now it feels, in the addiction and vertigo of the digital revolution, as if this ancient organism is wheezing, drawing its final breaths. We were never more than an extension of the geology of the Thames Valley.”

Published: Mar 30, 2017
Length: 27 minutes (6,850 words)

Where Are You Really From

Many people aren’t from one place and are in constant motion. So why must we choose one nationality from a drop-down menu?

Source: Real Life Mag
Published: Mar 29, 2017
Length: 10 minutes (2,503 words)

A Brief History Of Driving While Black

One man takes us through just a few examples of what it’s like to live in a racist police state.

Source: BuzzFeed
Published: Mar 20, 2017
Length: 7 minutes (1,891 words)

State of Being: Envisioning California

“California, the best of it, is what lives and prospers in a liminal, unnamed space—somewhere between dreams, disappointments, and recalibration.” An essayist describes how California—Los Angeles and San Francisco in particular—moves through you.

Source: Boom California
Published: Mar 21, 2017
Length: 18 minutes (4,732 words)

Woman of Color in Wide Open Spaces

While visiting national parks to detox from the oppressive whiteness of the MFA experience, Minda Honey is reminded the only places to retreat from whiteness in this country are the spaces women of color hold for each other.

Source: Longreads
Published: Mar 29, 2017
Length: 11 minutes (2,986 words)

The Genius of Pinheads: When Little Brains Rule​

In Scientific American, Erik Vance reports on how the tiny brain of the orb weaver spider — a creature that weighs between .005 milligrams and three grams — is just as adept at complex tasks as exponentially larger spiders. This “brain miniaturization” “may hold clues to innovative design strategies that engineers might incorporate in future generations of computers.”

Author: Erik Vance
Published: Mar 28, 2017
Length: 8 minutes (2,013 words)

Survival of the Friendliest

Evolution isn’t all about nature red in tooth and claw.

Source: Nautilus
Published: Mar 23, 2017
Length: 9 minutes (2,476 words)

Why Should a Melon Cost as Much as a Car?

Japan’s high-end fruit market elevates produce to works of art.

Published: Mar 28, 2017
Length: 8 minutes (2,219 words)

Handmaids Rising

Margaret Atwood on what ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,” written in 1984, means in the age of Trump.

Published: Mar 10, 2017
Length: 10 minutes (2,560 words)

Canadians Adopted Refugee Families for a Year. Then Came ‘Month 13.’

It’s a year-long commitment to privately sponsor a Syrian refugee family in Canada, where sponsorship includes funding and helping the family navigate Canadian culture and society. Sponsors assist newcomers with daily tasks of living, including grocery shopping, banking, getting jobs, learning English, and ferrying families to appointments and activities. In the fourth and final installment of Refugees WelcomeThe New York Times’ year-long series on Syrian refugees in Canada — Jodi Kantor and Catrin Einhorn profile the Hajj family and members of their sponsorship group, reporting on what happens at month 13 — the point at which the sponsorship agreement officially ends.

Published: Mar 25, 2017
Length: 17 minutes (4,443 words)