Claimed

After Fidel Castro took power in 1959 he nationalized the Cuban economy, seizing a wide variety of assets, including sugar mills, power plants, and hotels. Some of these assets belonged to American citizens doing business in Cuba. Seth Stevenson traces the strange history of these contested holdings, which have grown to a collective worth of roughly $8 billion, and questions how they will affect future relations between the two countries.

Source: Slate
Published: Nov 30, 2015
Length: 22 minutes (5,703 words)

Wow. Clickhole.

A behind-the-scenes look at Clickhole, a spinoff site from the Onion that was designed to mock the internet and has succeeded in creating satirical stories that have gone viral.

Author: Dan Kois
Source: Slate
Published: Jun 8, 2015
Length: 15 minutes (3,925 words)

Death in Space

What should be done if an astronaut dies in space? A look at the unique methodological and ethical questions that long-haul space travel raises.

Source: Slate
Published: Apr 7, 2015
Length: 8 minutes (2,160 words)

Plush Life

Looking at the psychology and economics of the Beanie Baby craze.

Source: Slate
Published: Feb 4, 2015
Length: 7 minutes (1,900 words)

The Definition of a Dictionary

In a two-story brick building in Springfield, Massachusetts, a team of definers, etymologists, pronouncers, daters, typists and lexicographers are hard at work on the long-awaited fourth edition of America’s premier dictionary. But perhaps their most important definition is still in the works: what should an online dictionary look like?

Source: Slate
Published: Jan 12, 2015
Length: 44 minutes (11,174 words)

A History of the Sexiest Man Alive

An in-depth history of People‘s “Sexiest Man Alive” issue.

Source: Slate
Published: Nov 18, 2014
Length: 20 minutes (5,235 words)

The Story of the Longest Held American Prisoner of War

The incredible story of former CIA agent John T. Downey, who was captured during the Korean War and imprisoned in China for more than twenty years.

Source: Slate
Published: Sep 24, 2014
Length: 27 minutes (6,812 words)

How My Parents Accidentally Got Caught Up in the Iranian Revolution

The author’s parents were working in Iran in the late ’70s as Christian missionaries when the Iranian Revolution occurred. A look back on their experience:

The community of expats was dwindling. Every week more people left, the congregation of the church smaller every Sunday. Dave’s Jewish colleague left the university in November, telling him, “It’s only a matter of time before they come for the Jews.” The Israeli dean of the dental school dressed up as a Bedouin and escaped by bus to Turkey.

The conversations at parties had once started with “Where are you from?” The question became “Why are you still here?”

Source: Slate
Published: Apr 2, 2014
Length: 17 minutes (4,477 words)

My Dementia

A writer’s account of developing and living with dementia:

I asked Peter to come along for my doctor’s appointment. Our primary care doctor politely entertained our doubts about the value of diagnosis. She heard out our pontifications about what we regarded as a worthwhile quality of life, and let us stew our own way into following her suggestion that I have an MRI. The scan results showed “white matter lesions”—an indication of clogged microvessels that prevent blood from reaching nearby brain areas. Dr. Eborn confirmed the Internet wisdom that microvascular dementia might benefit from cholesterol- and blood pressure-lowering medications to retard the clogging. However, a neurologist would first have to confirm a connection between my memory problems and the lesions.

One neurologist, one neuropsychologist, dozens of tests, and many hundreds of out-of-pocket dollars later, my neurologist delivered the D-word. Given how early I noticed my symptoms, she projected that two more neurological evaluations at two-year intervals would be needed before I would officially meet the criteria of dementia.

But in my heart I already knew: I am dementing I am dementing I am dementing.

Source: Slate
Published: Mar 19, 2014
Length: 43 minutes (10,987 words)

‘That “distressed baby” who Tim Armstrong blamed for AOL’s benefit cuts? She’s my daughter’

Author Deanna Fei speaks out on the fight to save the life of her daughter, who was born just five months into her pregnancy, at 1 lb., 9 oz.—and what happened when AOL CEO Tim Armstrong pointed to their family as a reason the company had to cut benefits:

I take issue with how he reduced my daughter to a “distressed baby” who cost the company too much money. How he blamed the saving of her life for his decision to scale back employee benefits. How he exposed the most searing experience of our lives, one that my husband and I still struggle to discuss with anyone but each other, for no other purpose than an absurd justification for corporate cost-cutting.

Author: Deanna Fei
Source: Slate
Published: Feb 9, 2014
Length: 6 minutes (1,689 words)