Barbie’s Got a New Body

After 57 years, the world’s best-selling doll has a new body. Three new bodies, actually: petite, tall and curvy. Eliana Dockterman goes inside the Mattel branding machine to discuss what’s at stake for the company, and what their decision says about American beauty standards.

Source: Time Magazine
Published: Jan 28, 2016
Length: 12 minutes (3,098 words)

Wounded Warrior Project Spends Lavishly on Itself, Insiders Say

A critical look at a non-profit that models itself after for-profit corporations.

Published: Jan 27, 2016
Length: 10 minutes (2,725 words)

Violet

Violet was born at 25 weeks and five days—more than three months ahead of her due date. This is a story about becoming parents in the face of uncertainty.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jan 28, 2016
Length: 22 minutes (5,727 words)

Huge News! The Penis Implant is Here

Wallace talks the only doctor authorized by the FDA to do a specific penis enlargement surgery, and the men who’ve elected to pay $13,000 to become more endowed.

Source: GQ
Published: Jan 26, 2016
Length: 15 minutes (3,812 words)

How Esurance Lost Its Mascot to the Internet

“There is,” as Crockett writes, “an age-old decree that exists on the Internet called Rule 34: ‘If it exists, there is porn of it.'” This is the story of Esurance’s cartoon mascot Erin, who was ultimately nixed by the company after her image became masturbation fodder for the internet masses.

Source: Priceonomics
Published: Dec 18, 2015
Length: 9 minutes (2,328 words)

Modern Grief: Digital Ephemera and Coping with Loss

At The Walrus, Nancy Westaway finds comfort in the digital footprints left behind by her husband Jonathan, who died of esophageal cancer at the age of 50.

Source: The Walrus
Published: Jan 28, 2016
Length: 10 minutes (2,509 words)

Escape From the Internet!

A lifestyle-blogging couple builds a cult following with their website, Young House Love, and then struggles to walk away from internet fame.

Published: Jan 17, 2016
Length: 13 minutes (3,276 words)

The Future of the Egyptian Revolution

At the Guardian, journalist Jack Shenker examines the state of the Egyptian Revolution, five years later.

Source: The Guardian
Published: Jan 26, 2016
Length: 19 minutes (4,765 words)

Unearthing the Sea Witch

Ursula, one of Disney’s most memorable villains, was inspired by a drag queen named Divine.

Source: Hazlitt
Published: Jan 14, 2016
Length: 15 minutes (3,947 words)

Rebranding the Koch Brothers

In what David Axelrod described as an “extraordinary exercise in rebranding,” the billionaire brothers are now trying to shake their plutocratic image by showcasing a concern for the poor through a variety of initatives.

Author: Jane Mayer
Source: The New Yorker
Published: Jan 25, 2016
Length: 28 minutes (7,114 words)