Flights

One woman looks at her life of air travel to explore her drive to keep moving and taking risks, despite airplane anxiety.

Source: Witness
Published: Mar 1, 2017
Length: 15 minutes (3,965 words)

Operation London Bridge: The Secret Plan for the Days After the Queen’s Death

There’s plenty the British don’t speak of. But the death of the 90-year-old Queen might be one of the least spoken about—and best planned for—inevitabilities faced by an entire nation. Sam Knight delivers a minute-by-minute account of what could happen when Elizabeth II, who has outlasted twelve U.S. presidents, dies within the walls of Buckingham Palace. Code word: “London Bridge is down.”

Author: Sam Knight
Source: The Guardian
Published: Mar 16, 2017
Length: 32 minutes (8,200 words)

When Medieval Monks Couldn’t Cure the Plague, They Launched a Luxe Skincare Line

Whether you were European royalty desperately seeking a cure for impotence or a working-class neighbor looking for the latest deodorant, Santa Maria Novella was the place to go.

Published: Mar 14, 2017
Length: 8 minutes (2,134 words)

The Forgotten Black Woman Behind Betty Boop

The comic character Betty Boop is enjoying a renaissance, with new cartoons, a new trademark red lipstick, and women’s fashions on offer. Gabrielle Bellot explores the original inspiration for Betty Boop — a black jazz singer named Baby Esther Jones — whose signature voice and scat-inspired patter inspired not only Betty’s look, but her signature phrase, “Boop-oop-a-doop.” As Bellot says, Boop was far more than just a cartoon character — quite the opposite — as the first feminist depicted in animated film.

Published: Mar 15, 2017
Length: 7 minutes (1,978 words)

George Saunders: What Writers Really Do When They Write

George Saunders reflects on his writing process, suggesting that the magical, romantic notion where fully formed art leaps from the author’s brain on to the page does the writer, the reader, and the work a disservice. In reality, it takes “hundreds of drafts” and “thousands of incremental adjustments” to form a story into a “hopeful thing.”

Source: The Guardian
Published: Mar 4, 2017
Length: 13 minutes (3,368 words)

A Real Life Look at the Crazy Odds and Tortured Dreams of Making It in La La Land

La La Land made the spoils of the spotlight look seductively attractive. This portrait of two of LA’s countless talented aspirants brings you back to earth.

Published: Feb 17, 2017
Length: 7 minutes (1,992 words)

The Roots of Cowboy Music

At the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, writer Carvell Wallace reflects on what it means to be black and American.

Source: MTV
Published: Mar 15, 2017
Length: 23 minutes (5,883 words)

Chromophobia

Western architecture is paralyzed by a fear of color, argues David Batchelor in this extract from his classic polemic, Chromophobia. Paralyzed — and fascinated.

Source: White Noise
Published: Mar 9, 2017
Length: 13 minutes (3,459 words)

Falling in Love with Words: The Secret Life of a Lexicographer

In an excerpt from her new book, Merriam-Webster lexicographer Kory Stamper describes how she fell in love with words and offers a peek into the complex process of making dictionaries.

Source: Longreads
Published: Mar 14, 2017
Length: 26 minutes (6,691 words)

This Article Won’t Change Your Mind

The facts on why facts alone can’t fight false beliefs.

Author: Julie Beck
Source: The Atlantic
Published: Mar 13, 2017
Length: 24 minutes (6,136 words)