Cult Confessions: Faith and the Limits of Liberalism

Ellen Wayland-Smith’s family came from Oneida in upstate New York, known for its nineteenth-century utopian community and fine silverware. She had never considered that the origins of that utopia had more in common with a cult than Christianity.

Source: Catapult
Published: Mar 16, 2017
Length: 11 minutes (2,900 words)

Why Millennial Pink Refuses to Go Away

It’s a muted form of pink—more sophisticated than bubblegum, more luxurious than eraser pink—and it can be found on book covers, runways, Pinterest boards, cosmetics labels, and almost any Instagram feed. It’s been around almost as long as millennial-hating has been around, and it also shows no signs of letting up.

Published: Mar 19, 2017
Length: 19 minutes (4,900 words)

American Destiny?

Aperture’s spring issue, “American Destiny,” is an epic vision of our current economic and political landscape—“from agricultural workers to those toiling on the factory floor,” write the editors in their introduction. But Jörg Colberg argues that the issue doesn’t provide a complete vision because it fails to photograph those would ultimately shape this destiny: the wealthy.

Published: Mar 20, 2017
Length: 7 minutes (1,790 words)

Letters to Donald Trump

Barbara Zitwer, Colm Tóibín, Elham Manea, Linda Coverdale, Kyung-sook Shin, and Anne Landsman share their stories of immigration to protest Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban as an abomination in a country built and fuelled by people from away.

Source: Granta
Published: Mar 13, 2017
Length: 10 minutes (2,717 words)

Will Roger Federer Ever Be Done?

A profile of tennis great Roger Federer, who won the Australian Open in January after five years without a Grand Slam title, and at 35 is showing no signs of retiring any time soon.

Source: GQ
Published: Mar 20, 2017
Length: 16 minutes (4,000 words)

The NBA’s Secret Addiction

On how the lowly peanut butter and jelly sandwich fuelled the 2007-08 Boston Celtics to an NBA title, becoming the sweet and salty stuff of superstitious sport legend that has since spread like an addiction across the league.

Source: ESPN
Published: Mar 21, 2017
Length: 13 minutes (3,386 words)

Literature by the Numbers

In Nabokov’s Favorite Word is Mauve, data journalist Ben Blatt takes a mathematical approach to writers of fiction.

Source: Longreads
Published: Mar 21, 2017
Length: 11 minutes (2,982 words)

In Japan, an archery quest leads to unexpected lessons

Leigh Ann Henion was drawn to archery by her grandfather’s passion for it. She travels to Japan to improve her archery skills by learning Kyudo — a form of archery that is one of Japan’s oldest martial arts. In her short, yet intense course, sensei Kazuhisa Miyasaka helps her realize that achievement with the bow and arrow comes only after mastering one’s mind.

Source: Washington Post
Published: Mar 16, 2017
Length: 12 minutes (3,064 words)

The Strange, Spectacular Con of Bobby Charles Thompson

Who was this ripoff artist who rubbed shoulders with Karl Rove and used a veterans nonprofit to steal millions of dollars from donors?

Source: Washingtonian
Published: Mar 19, 2017
Length: 22 minutes (5,595 words)

What Happens When You Stare at the Sun?

“The injunction not to look directly into the sun isn’t just medical — it’s always political.”

Author: Sam Kriss
Source: The Outline
Published: Mar 20, 2017
Length: 11 minutes (2,849 words)