The Shoes Under the Art World

Why does the Art World still treat women like second-class citizens? The author draws on her experiences as a female painter coming of age in the ’60s to paint a stark portrait of industry sexism.

Author: Pat Lipsky
Source: The Awl
Published: Oct 12, 2015
Length: 13 minutes (3,261 words)

I Would Rather Be Herod’s Pig: The History of a Taboo

The story of how pigs became the world’s most divisive meal. An excerpt from Mark Essig’s book, Lesser Beasts.

Author: Mark Essig
Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 14, 2015
Length: 21 minutes (5,293 words)

Berkeley Breathed on the Return of ‘Bloom County’ After 25 Years

An NPR Fresh Air interview with the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist on reviving his comic strip on Facebook, and how social media has changed his relationship with fans.

Author: Sam Briger
Source: NPR
Published: Oct 14, 2015
Length: 13 minutes (3,386 words)

The Story Behind the Wesleyan Molly Bust

Earlier this spring, a bad batch of Molly caused a dozen students at Wesleyan University to be hospitalized. Greenhouse reconstructs the events of that night and the subsequent drug busts while also asking a larger question: just how liberal can a liberal arts college be?

Source: Rolling Stone
Published: Oct 9, 2015
Length: 25 minutes (6,460 words)

Inside an FBI Hostage Crisis

A cavalcade of law enforcement tries to come up with a hostage rescue plan after an angry loner kidnaps a young boy.

Published: Oct 9, 2015
Length: 29 minutes (7,361 words)

From Jamaica to Minnesota to Myself

A personal essay by Marlon James, published by The New York Times earlier this year. James has just won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for his novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings.

Published: Mar 10, 2015
Length: 8 minutes (2,181 words)

Pond Scum

Kathryn Schulz takes down Henry David Thoreau: “It is true that Thoreau was an excellent naturalist and an eloquent and prescient voice for the preservation of wild places. But ‘Walden’ is less a cornerstone work of environmental literature than the original cabin porn: a fantasy about rustic life divorced from the reality of living in the woods, and, especially, a fantasy about escaping the entanglements and responsibilities of living among other people.”

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Oct 13, 2015
Length: 22 minutes (5,660 words)

House of Horrors

First, an LA landlord made a film about murdering his tenants. Then he knifed one.

Source: LA Weekly
Published: Oct 12, 2015
Length: 17 minutes (4,439 words)

Lunch with the FT: Jonathan Franzen

Why do people find Jonathan Franzen so aggravating? Lucy Kellaway investigates at lunch.

Source: Financial Times
Published: Oct 9, 2015
Length: 10 minutes (2,723 words)

Rocket Men

Three rocket scientists set out to create a breath analyzer that detects high ammonia levels—which can cause serious brain damage—in a person’s body.

Author: Kris Newby
Published: Oct 9, 2015
Length: 17 minutes (4,490 words)