‘I Expected to Have a Day Job for the Rest of My Life’
How Philip Glass went from driving taxis to becoming one of the most celebrated composers of our time.
Why My Grandmother Carried a Plastic Brain in Her Purse
Dara Bramson’s grandmother decided to donate her brain to science, so Bramson visited the donation center to help understand the importance of research and challenges to donations.
The Perfect Man Who Wasn’t
Con man Derek Alldred met women on a dating site and swindled them out of more than a million dollars. The women found that there was little law enforcement could do to help them, so they banded together to take him down.
What Amazon Does to Poor Cities
Depressed cities hoping Amazon fulfillment jobs will lift them have been left wanting.
The Shallowness of Google Translate
Despite advances in machine learning and ever-bigger datasets, rumors of human translators’ imminent demise are greatly exaggerated.
The New Age of Astrology
What’s behind the recent surge of interest in astrology — especially among millennials?
Could Facebook Be Tried for Human-Rights Abuses?
In Myanmar, Facebook is the de facto internet. Does that mean they can be legally responsible for their actions — or lack thereof — when content there influences politics or incites violence?
The Making of an American Nazi
Luke O’Brien profiles Andrew Anglin, a one-time anti-racist vegan who’s grown up to become the publisher of the world’s biggest neo-Nazi website, The Daily Stormer. By chronicling hundreds of heart-stopping details from dozens of sources across decades of dangerous behavior, O’Brien’s work sets a brave and timely example for how to report on extremism responsibly.
The Digital Ruins of a Forgotten Future
Leslie Jamison profiles several long-term, hard-core users of Second Life, an online platform in which you create a fantasy alter-ego. Your “selective self” resides in a virtual world that allows you to leave behind everything you don’t like about yourself and your real life.
What Happens If China Makes First Contact?
The Atlantic‘s Ross Andersen travels to China to visit the world’s largest radio dish built for seeking out extraterrestrial intelligence. On the trip he meets Liu Cixin, China’s preeminent science-fiction writer, for a wide-ranging discussion about the risks of making contact.