The Virologist

A profile of a 27-year-old entrepreneur whose speciality is creating clickbait websites.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Dec 29, 2014
Length: 22 minutes (5,574 words)

The Tragedy of the American Military

The story of “a country willing to do anything for its military except take it seriously.” How the public and politicians became disconnected from those who serve.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Dec 31, 2014
Length: 41 minutes (10,355 words)

The Henry Ford of Books

A profile of James Patterson, the world’s best-selling author, who has an army of co-writers and television deals in the works, but many detractors as well.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Dec 30, 2014
Length: 16 minutes (4,106 words)

The Promise in Elena Ferrante

An essay about women’s writing on the internet, Italian novelist Elena Ferrante, and the potential of fiction writing to expose certain truths.

Source: Jezebel
Published: Dec 29, 2014
Length: 13 minutes (3,259 words)

The End of Gangs in the City of Angels

Los Angeles gave America the modern street gang. Groups like the Crips and MS-13 have spread from coast to coast, and even abroad. But on the streets of Southern California they’ve seen a significant decline. Why?

Published: Dec 28, 2014
Length: 26 minutes (6,580 words)

Beyond the Simply Salacious: Five Stories on Adultery

Here are five stories born of adultery. Read about technological advancements for philanderers and their cuckolds, personal perspectives from the cheater and the cheatee, a forbidden lust-fueled crime story, and a piece on how adultery became bedfellows with American popular culture and music—back in 1909.

Source: Longreads
Published: Dec 30, 2014

Leviathan

Sedaris writes about a family trip to the beach, snapping turtles, and the evolution of his father into a “nice and agreeable” person.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Dec 29, 2014
Length: 15 minutes (3,788 words)

In Transition to Independent Living, The ‘Dignity Of Risk’ for the Mentally Ill

“Thirty-three years old, he was now trying the next step, to live on his own.”

Source: Washington Post
Published: Dec 27, 2014
Length: 17 minutes (4,317 words)

Becoming Zoey Tur

How Bob Tur, a storied helicopter news pilot, dealt with gender dysphoria and became Zoey.

Published: Dec 22, 2014
Length: 33 minutes (8,374 words)

Enemy Aliens

The forgotten history of World War I internment camps, and the story of imprisoned Austrian painter Paul Cohen-Portheim.

Published: Dec 28, 2014
Length: 16 minutes (4,008 words)