Fiction Confidential

Before he became the patron saint of every tattooed-chef-in-a-gentrifying-neighborhood, Anthony Bourdain wrote novels. What can they tell us about the man behind the bad-boy persona?

Source: Eater
Published: Jan 25, 2017
Length: 17 minutes (4,333 words)

Camp Dread

The fleeting solace of consuming Melania Trump as camp.

Source: Real Life Mag
Published: Jan 19, 2017
Length: 9 minutes (2,306 words)

Zilong Wang and the Cosmic Tale of the White Dragon

“Zilong Wang’s journey seems more fable than narrative. With little previous experience on a bike, he pedaled into cycling’s heart. Raised on no religion, he somehow found America’s soul.” An account of Zilong Wang’s 3,400-mile bike ride and spiritual journey across America.

Author: John Brant
Published: Oct 28, 2015
Length: 15 minutes (3,975 words)

What Happens After Standing Rock?

Tay Wiles reports on how the Dakota Access Pipeline protests have spread greater understanding of environmental issues among Natives and non-Natives alike, and how they’ve inspired a new generation of protesters who are collaborating to raise awareness of and oppose other projects that impact Indigenous people, their rights, and their land.

Author: Tay Wiles
Published: Jan 23, 2017
Length: 12 minutes (3,248 words)

Drinking Chai to Savannah: Reflections on Identity, Inclusion and Power in the South

On a girls’ road trip to Savannah with six of her immigrant friends, Anjali Enjeti recalls a traumatic racist incident she experienced as a teen—an interaction that framed her understanding of her otherness, in Georgia, and America.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jan 24, 2017
Length: 9 minutes (2,425 words)

Netflix Wants the World to Binge-Watch

“The answer may reside in Brazil. It’s here, in the shadows of Globo, that Netflix has been creating, revising, and perfecting the first draft of its international playbook.” Over the past few years, the streaming service has grown to prominence in Brazil, setting the stage for expansion into more than 100 other countries.

Author: Lucas Shaw
Published: Jan 12, 2017
Length: 12 minutes (3,113 words)

The First Days Inside Trump’s White House: Fury, Tumult and a Reboot

“At the center, as always, is Trump himself, whose ascent to the White House seems to have only heightened his acute sensitivity to criticism.”

Source: Washington Post
Published: Jan 23, 2017
Length: 6 minutes (1,589 words)

California V. Trump: The Fight Begins for Health Care, Immigration and the Future of America

Many Californians reject Trump’s values, policy and thinking about climate change, immigration and equality, and they are sending a clear message: they will resist. With the sixth largest economy in the world that contributes billions to the federal budget and huge amounts of America’s domestic food supply, California wields a lot of power and offers a vision of America’s future. But can it influence federal decisions?

Source: Newsweek
Published: Jan 23, 2017
Length: 26 minutes (6,733 words)

Survivor Syndrome; or, Snacking While Jewish

“Milk was served proudly, whenever we could have it, as a way to celebrate life. Someone had been so close to death and seen so much of it and then survived.”

Published: Jan 18, 2017
Length: 7 minutes (1,891 words)

Beauty Shopping With My Mother, A Former Cultural Revolution Red Guard

A former beauty editor reflects on the differences between the definition of beauty in America and in China during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, where an “unadorned woman was a symbol of liberation from a patriarchal capitalist system.”

Author: Noël Duan
Source: Racked
Published: Jan 19, 2017
Length: 7 minutes (1,974 words)