He Should Have Been a Boy

“He is so tired of being ’the man with the breasts.’ He heard a drunk say the other day as he passed by on the street. He’d consoled himself realizing that, after all, the drunk had said ’the man.’”

Source: Information
Published: Jan 14, 2021
Length: 21 minutes (5,380 words)

Highway to Hell: A Trip Down Afghanistan’s Deadliest Road

“The $300 million Kabul-Kandahar road was meant to be a symbol of the new Afghanistan. Today it reveals everything that has gone wrong in America’s longest war.”

Source: Rolling Stone
Published: Jan 22, 2021
Length: 28 minutes (7,027 words)

The Climate Crisis Is Worse Than You Can Imagine. Here’s What Happens If You Try.

“A climate scientist spent years trying to get people to pay attention to the disaster ahead. His wife is exhausted. His older son thinks there’s no future. And nobody but him will use the outdoor toilet he built to shrink his carbon footprint.”

Source: ProPublica
Published: Jan 25, 2021
Length: 17 minutes (4,374 words)

How I Helped My Dad Die

“His body wrecked by ALS, my father insisted that his death, like his life, was his to control.”

Published: Jan 27, 2021
Length: 22 minutes (5,600 words)

‘Moulin Rouge!’ Was Their Ticket. Then 2020 Happened.

It was a smash Broadway hit, then 25 company members got sick and the shutdown put everybody out of work. An oral history of a tumultuous year.

Published: Jan 21, 2021
Length: 18 minutes (4,540 words)

This Man Protected Wild Bears Every Day for 13 Years—Until He Made the Ultimate Sacrifice

“He would walk up to a half-ton wild animal with four-inch claws and two-inch fangs, and say, “Czar, I’m so worried! I can’t find little Booble.” In Alaska, that kind of behavior makes a man stand out—and not in a good way.”

Author: Nick Jans
Published: Jun 24, 2021
Length: 16 minutes (4,034 words)

The Case for Cannibalism, or: How to Survive the Donner Party

“In other words, the revulsion to cannibalism is not innate. It’s a societal taboo without a Darwinian explanation (such as incest).3 What sets it apart from other social taboos is its remarkable power. The Donner Party might be infamous for its cannibalism, but more than a dozen members of the party starved to death rather than eat the already dead.”

Source: Wired
Published: Jan 13, 2021
Length: 15 minutes (3,893 words)

Where Now Grizzly Bear?

“A recovering grizzly population means more young males—and they are programmed to disperse. In British Columbia, some head north along the coast, some go east into the interior, and a few head west, swimming to Vancouver Island and smaller coastal islands.”

Source: Hakai Magazine
Published: Jan 26, 2021
Length: 12 minutes (3,186 words)

The Accident on the Pacific Crest Trail

“There are as many dangers on the Pacific Crest Trail as there are breathtaking views. One young man began the 2,650-mile hike with dreams of wild adventure and personal transformation. He never made it home.”

Source: Alta
Published: Jan 18, 2021
Length: 19 minutes (4,762 words)

A Homecoming

“The imagery of veganism propagated by the wellness industry erases the long — and often radical — history of plant-based diets in the Black diaspora.”

Source: Eater
Published: Jan 14, 2021
Length: 23 minutes (5,810 words)