Survivor No. 3

Last summer, 12-year-old Kali Hardig went swimming in a water park in Arkansas and became infected with the waterborne parasite Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba. She became one of the few who has survived the infection.

Source: BuzzFeed
Published: Jul 17, 2014
Length: 25 minutes (6,476 words)

A Damned Paradise

Human rights attorney Mario Joseph and Tourism Minister Stéphanie Villedrouin are both trying to improve Haiti, but they are following radically different paths. One wants justice, the other wants tourists.

Source: Spiegel
Published: Jul 18, 2014
Length: 13 minutes (3,350 words)

Islands in the Stream

The Bee Gees were pop music geniuses whose work in 1978 “accounted for 2 percent of the entire record industry’s profits.” Yet they were still underappreciated—and also still capable of making ill-conceived creative decisions.

Published: Jul 18, 2014
Length: 11 minutes (2,817 words)

One of a Kind

Seth Mnookin reports the story of how one couple, Matt Might and Cristina Casanova, worked with researchers to diagnose their son’s disease and connect with other families whose children also had the same genetic disorder. Mnookin’s story also exposes some of the problems within the cloistered research community. We featured Might’s story about his search to diagnose his son’s disease in 2012.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Jul 17, 2014
Length: 24 minutes (6,198 words)

West Philadelphia, Reborn and Razed

Can a university step in where a city fell down? John Fry, the president of Drexel University, is out to prove just that.

Source: Politico
Published: Jul 13, 2014
Length: 14 minutes (3,749 words)

My Runaway Childhood

After an abuse-filled upbringing, the author left home for good at thirteen, legally emancipated herself from her mother, and had to take control of her own life.

Source: Narratively
Published: Jul 14, 2014
Length: 14 minutes (3,748 words)

Tempest In a Test Tube

Vanessa Grigoriadis on the complicated, high profile custody battle between actor Jason Patric and his ex-girlfriend Danielle Schreiber.

Source: Rolling Stone
Published: Jul 15, 2014
Length: 18 minutes (4,727 words)

The Forgotten Internment

The little-known story of the U.S. internment of Alaska’s indigenous Aleut people during World War II: “‘She’s right. My wife is right. We were treated like animals.'”

Source: Maisonneuve
Published: Jul 16, 2014
Length: 17 minutes (4,473 words)

Ship’s Fare

From Gourmet Magazine, a discussion of the advent of cuisine at sea, as well as the author’s personal experiences dining on the high seas.

Source: Gourmet
Published: May 17, 1949
Length: 12 minutes (3,200 words)

Lessons from America’s War for the Greater Middle East

A historical look at how we ended up waging war in the Middle East—starting with Jimmy Carter more than 30 years ago—and how we continue to misunderstand what “winning” even means.

Published: Jul 16, 2014
Length: 18 minutes (4,526 words)