Inside the San Quentin Marathon

One day a year, the men locked up in California’s oldest prison get a shot at glory.

Author: Jesse Katz
Source: GQ
Published: Feb 24, 2016
Length: 12 minutes (3,118 words)

Why It’s So Hard to Run an Abortion Clinic

The obstacles run the gamut—from government regulation to banks that won’t give loans to clinics—but their effective is cumulative. Winter looks at why so many clinics have been forced to shut the doors.

Published: Feb 24, 2016
Length: 14 minutes (3,501 words)

When the Messiah Came to America, She Was a Woman

On the rise and fall of American utopia.

Source: Random House
Published: Feb 25, 2016
Length: 31 minutes (7,852 words)

An Honest Thief

Five years ago, Aaron Swartz was caught illegally downloading millions of academic articles from nonprofit online database JSTOR, and was later indicted by the government for the theft. Swartz subsequently took his own life. Peters details how Swartz fought for the free exchange of information, and lost.

Published: Jan 26, 2016
Length: 20 minutes (5,071 words)

The Real Story of Germanwings Flight 9525

Last year, a young pilot crashed an airliner into the French Alps, killing the crew and 144 passengers. Hammer investigates how it happened.

Source: GQ
Published: Feb 22, 2016
Length: 23 minutes (5,859 words)

A South Florida Boxing Rivalry Leads to Cold-Blooded Murder

A rivalry between two boxers becomes a one-sided case study in obsession and jealousy, culminating in a fatal bullet wound. Elfrink relays both men’s stories in the wider context of South Florida’s boxing history.

Source: Miami New Times
Published: Feb 23, 2016
Length: 20 minutes (5,237 words)

A Year and a Day in a Mars Simulator: Reflections at the Halfway Mark

At Aeon, Sheyna Gifford, mission physician for NASA’s HI-SEAS IV space exploration analogue, reflects on six months in a Mars simulator. When the six-person crew emerges on August 28th, 2016 — after a year and a day “off-planet” — they’ll have completed the longest NASA-funded Mars simulation in history.

Published: Feb 24, 2016
Length: 13 minutes (3,400 words)

Busting Cactus Smugglers in the American West

Inside the global black market for cacti, and the undercover agents who infiltrated it.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Feb 24, 2016
Length: 15 minutes (3,975 words)

We Belong Together

How Randy Newman and his family have shaped movie music for generations.

Author: David Kamp
Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Feb 18, 2016
Length: 22 minutes (5,631 words)

The Single American Woman

For the first time in American history, single women outnumber married women. They’re also becoming a political force.

Published: Feb 22, 2016
Length: 23 minutes (5,859 words)