Rise of the Sea Urchin

Sea urchin as fine dining delicacy. A profile of a Scottish man in Norway who dives into icy waters to collect the urchins known as Norwegian greens, which get shipped to some of Europe’s finest restaurants.

Author: Franz Lidz
Source: Smithsonian
Published: Jul 1, 2014
Length: 12 minutes (3,064 words)

Sex Without Fear

The effect an HIV-treatment pill is having on the gay community: “For some men, Truvada’s new use seems just as revolutionary for sex as it is for medicine. ‘I’m not scared of sex for the first time in my life, ever. That’s been an adrenaline rush,’ says Damon L. Jacobs, 43, a therapist who has chronicled his own experience with the drug on Facebook so enthusiastically that some assume Gilead, the drug’s manufacturer, must be paying him.”

Author: Tim Murphy
Published: Jul 13, 2014
Length: 19 minutes (4,899 words)

Love Under Lock and Key

Lois ran the education program at Joliet. Dan was serving 85 years. This is their love story.

Source: Chicago Reader
Published: Dec 1, 2005
Length: 28 minutes (7,081 words)

Romance, Relationships and Religion: A Reading List

Emily’s picks this weeks includes stories from Jewcy, Cosmopolitan, Buzzfeed, and Religion News Service.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jul 13, 2014

Inside the Box

“After learning to hover you were taught to land, then what to do when an engine failed, then to fly off your instruments in the clouds.” A marine learns to fly a helicopter and goes to combat in Afghanistan.

Published: Jul 9, 2014
Length: 10 minutes (2,688 words)

Nightmare on Elm Drive

Did Lyle and Erik Menendez really murder their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion and then make taped confessions? In this piece from 1990, the legendary reporter Dominick Dunne talks to the mystery witness who says she heard everything, and uncovers the secrets that turned the Menendezes’ American dream into a fatal nightmare.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Aug 1, 1990
Length: 56 minutes (14,122 words)

Just Undo It: The LeBron James Profile That Nike Killed

A profile of LeBron James written in 2011 for Port, a men’s magazine, that was funded by Nike. Nike was unhappy with the profile and the story was killed, but appears now on Deadspin.

Source: Deadspin
Published: Jul 10, 2014
Length: 28 minutes (7,147 words)

How the GI Bill Became Law in Spite of Some Veterans’ Groups

The true story of the G.I. Bill of Rights, which initially faced some opposition from veterans’ groups. “Roosevelt envisioned long-term benefits for the country. ‘The money invested in this training and schooling program will reap rich dividends in higher productivity, more intelligent leadership, and greater human happiness. … We have taught our youth how to wage war; we must also teach them how to live useful and happy lives in freedom, justice, and decency.'”

Published: Jul 10, 2014
Length: 17 minutes (4,365 words)

Ghosts of Greenwood

“Freedom Summer baptized Mississippi as part of the nation,” Moses said. “It was no longer a rule unto itself.” On Mississippi, race and civil rights—then and now.

Source: ProPublica
Published: Jul 8, 2014
Length: 27 minutes (6,891 words)

Death in Cell 10

How a murder and a suicide at a San Diego County jail became intertwined.

Published: Jun 25, 2014
Length: 8 minutes (2,175 words)