‘Trainspotting’ Oral History: Danny Boyle, Ewan McGregor Reflect on Cult ’90s Brit Hit

‘Trainspotting’, Danny Boyle’s commercial and cult hit that showcased drugs, friendships, youth culture, and the best movie soundtrack of the 1990s, turned 20 last year, and on the eve of its sequel, ‘T2 Trainspotting,’ which hits U.S. theaters in early March, Hollywood Reporter offers a modified oral history of the original film. The piece is a total nostalgic romp, from the actors’ deciding whether or not to do heroin in order to properly portray a heroin addict to the ultimate casting of Ewan McGregor and how to mollify American audiences unaccustomed to the Scottish accent.

Published: Feb 9, 2017
Length: 11 minutes (2,945 words)

‘Failing is a Skill of General Utility’: An Interview with Sarah Manguso

Anna Furman interviews Sarah Manguso about the process of writing her new book, 300 Arguments, her writing influences, failure and thwarted ambition, and how she’s sleeping post-inauguration.

Source: Hazlitt
Published: Feb 10, 2017
Length: 10 minutes (2,658 words)

Don’t Call My Daughter Princess. Call Her Madam President.

Having taken feminist progress for granted, Sarah Stankorb must now reconcile her slow support of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential race with assuring her 4-year-old daughter she can be president someday.

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 14, 2017
Length: 11 minutes (2,917 words)

Living In the Now

Lonni Sue can paint, but not name a painting; learn new music without knowing a tune. Scientific American opinion editor Michael Lemonick explore what she’s is teaching us about memory.

Source: Aeon
Published: Feb 13, 2017
Length: 15 minutes (3,890 words)

Steven’s First Limo Ride

Steven is both the young protagonist’s stuffed frog and new little brother in this piece of short fiction about a troubled family, told from the blunt, optimistic point of view of a 10-year-old.

Source: Entropy
Published: Feb 8, 2017
Length: 21 minutes (5,472 words)

Terminal Democracy

At airports, ideals of free movement collide with protocols of restriction and privilege. That makes them vital sites of protest.

Source: Real Life Mag
Published: Feb 6, 2017
Length: 9 minutes (2,281 words)

Dying wish: the gift of being able to die at home

Andrew McMillen writes on palliative care as a critical service, and of the “power and the grace” required to care for those who are terminally ill and grant their dying wish: to die peacefully, at home.

Source: The Australian
Published: Feb 11, 2017
Length: 13 minutes (3,427 words)

The Graffiti Kids Who Sparked the Syrian War

Mark MacKinnon tells the story of Naief Abazid — who, at the urging of some older boys, graffitied a school wall on a lark in Daraa, Syria, at age 14. The “writing on the wall” enraged Syria’s Baathist dictatorship, and became the source of ignition in the Syrian war — a conflict now nearly six years old — which has claimed over 400,000 lives, displaced nearly 5 million refugees, and has had lasting repercussions the world over.

Published: Dec 2, 2016
Length: 63 minutes (15,996 words)

This Was How Things Ended

An essay about breakups.

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 13, 2017
Length: 10 minutes (2,600 words)

Tom Hiddleston on Taylor Swift, Heartbreak, and Great Bolognese

A profile of the English actor, who displays an intense enthusiasm for seemingly everything in his life, and who appears to remain deeply affected by the loss of a recent relationship.

Source: GQ
Published: Feb 8, 2017
Length: 17 minutes (4,284 words)