Most Listable City

Alex Gordon surveys 150 years of writing about Pittsburgh and whether or not this type of boosterish frivolity helps the city’s residents — specifically people of color

Published: Feb 22, 2017
Length: 16 minutes (4,167 words)

Bird Man

On birding as an extreme sport, and how observing birds satisfies a “bone-deep, soul-deep need to classify and organize the world around us.”

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 28, 2017
Length: 10 minutes (2,641 words)

Follow the Oil Trail and You’ll Find the Girls

A filmmaker travels the U.S. and Canada to speak with Indigenous women about the constant threats to their safety and their lives.

Source: Longreads
Published: Mar 1, 2017
Length: 9 minutes (2,400 words)

The Story of Heady Topper, America’s Most Loved Craft Beer

How a difficult to obtain American double IPA brewed in a small town in Vermont developed a world-wide cult following, with beer fans traveling hundreds of miles just to get a taste.

Author: Sam Riches
Published: Mar 1, 2017
Length: 13 minutes (3,489 words)

I Did Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Workout. It Nearly Broke Me.

An investigation of “the world’s most important workout,” featuring the personal trainer responsible for keeping Ruth Bader Ginsburg in top-notch shape.

Source: Politico
Published: Feb 27, 2017
Length: 11 minutes (2,830 words)

De-Muslimization

Writer Rafia Zakaria reports back on flying while Muslim after the U.S. travel ban.

Source: The Baffler
Published: Feb 27, 2017
Length: 5 minutes (1,488 words)

I’ve Spent Thirty Years Trying to Solve One Horrific Murder Case

When Julian Pierce, a member of the Lumbee tribe, ran for North Carolina Superior Court judge in 1988, he ended up dead on his kitchen floor, but his murder helped unite African-Americans and Native Americans in a segregated county known for corruption and wrongful sentencing. One TV producer has been piecing together Pierce’s murder ever since.

Source: Narratively
Published: Feb 23, 2017
Length: 22 minutes (5,725 words)

The Holocaust’s Great Escape

A remarkable discovery in Lithuania — an escape tunnel from the Nazi killing site at Ponar — brings a legendary tale of survival back to life.

Source: Smithsonian
Published: Mar 1, 2017
Length: 19 minutes (4,827 words)

Our Lady of Strays

The world’s greatest dog sanctuary is on a small farm in Costa Rica, where hundreds of canines run wild over the land—eating huge piles of food and slobbering happily on Lya Battle and her small band of dedicated volunteers.

Source: Outside
Published: Feb 22, 2017
Length: 19 minutes (4,826 words)

Where the lakes have no names

Behind the scenes with Des Kappel, the toponymist in charge of naming the 90,000 remaining land features and lakes in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Currently tasked with matching land features to casualties of the First World War, Kappel’s work is often an emotional tour through history as he collects letters and photos of the fallen for inclusion in his database.

Published: Feb 24, 2017
Length: 15 minutes (3,800 words)