The Tech Elite’s Quest to Reinvent School in Its Own Image

The creator of online education juggernaut Khan Academy has started a brick-and-mortar school in Silicon Valley. But can tech’s disruption culture create a stable learning environment?

Author: Jason Tanz
Source: Wired
Published: Oct 26, 2015
Length: 15 minutes (3,990 words)

The Broken Pop of James Bond Songs

What can the endurance of the messy, campy canon of James Bond theme songs tell us about contemporary popular music?

Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 29, 2015
Length: 12 minutes (3,049 words)

The Scapegoat

“When I called someone, it was, ‘This is Mary Mapes with 60 Minutes,’ ” she says. “After I got fired, it was, ‘This is Mary Mapes with no one.’ ”

Source: D Magazine
Published: Oct 29, 2015
Length: 17 minutes (4,494 words)

Why Homejoy Failed

Can home cleaning services be Uber-ified? How a promising startup grew fast and failed hard.

Source: Backchannel
Published: Oct 26, 2015
Length: 13 minutes (3,480 words)

The Outcast

Greg Torti has lived the life of a convicted sex offender for nearly two decades: forced to live with his family on the outskirts of town and discriminated against while looking for jobs. Is it a life deserved? Not if you believe the real story behind Torti’s conviction.

Source: Texas Monthly
Published: Oct 23, 2015
Length: 31 minutes (7,917 words)

The Most Haunted Road in America

Ghost boy, cannibals, disappearing trucks: A journey into the darkness of New Jersey to uncover the mysteries of Clinton Road.

Source: Atlas Obscura
Published: Oct 27, 2015
Length: 19 minutes (4,944 words)

Why Food Allergy Fakers Need to Stop

A brief history of food allergies in America, coupled with an explanation of why their popularization may endanger those with legitimate allergies, as kitchens and restaurants come to take them less seriously.

Source: Boston Globe
Published: Oct 14, 2015
Length: 24 minutes (6,014 words)

The Transformation of David Brooks

Funt goes deep on the evolution of a New York Times columnist.

Author: Danny Funt
Published: Oct 27, 2015
Length: 19 minutes (4,859 words)

The Lowdown on the Lowline

How a proposed high-profile underground park fits into a changing Lower East Side.

Source: Atlas Obscura
Published: Oct 22, 2015
Length: 25 minutes (6,284 words)

The Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black

An examination of traffic stops and arrests in Greensboro, N.C.

Published: Oct 26, 2015
Length: 23 minutes (5,757 words)