William Barber Takes on Poverty and Race in the Age of Trump

Jelani Cobb profiles the Rev. Dr. William Barber, who has worked for the past three years to revive Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: May 14, 2018
Length: 30 minutes (7,583 words)

The Promise of Vaping and the Rise of Juul

Nicotine vape devices were originally perceived as ways to help adults quit smoking actual cigarettes. Instead, American teens have embraced nicotine-delivery technology with a ferocity that has parents, pediatricians, and public schools scrambling for solutions.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: May 7, 2018
Length: 26 minutes (6,621 words)

Deana Lawson’s Kingdom of Restored Glory

Author Zadie Smith dives deep into the photography of Deana Lawson.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: May 7, 2018
Length: 18 minutes (4,647 words)

An MSG Convert Visits the High Church of Umami

If you love the satisfying, deep flavor of many umami-rich foods, you love MSG whether you know it or not. One fellow MSG fan made a pilgrimage to the company responsible for enhancing so much flavor, and enhancing life itself: Ajinomoto outside of Tokyo.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Apr 27, 2018
Length: 6 minutes (1,727 words)

A Voyage Along Trump’s Wall

With a group that includes Teddy Roosevelt’s great-grandson and Senator Tom Udall, New Yorker writer Nick Paumgarten floats the most rugged section of the Rio Grande to see the canyon lands and wilderness experience that Trump’s border wall would destroy.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Apr 23, 2018
Length: 32 minutes (8,109 words)

How Far Can Becky Hammon Go in the N.B.A.?

A WNBA legend and basketball Olympian, Becky Hammon made further history when she was hired as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, the first-ever female assistant on the NBA sidelines. And judging by her career trajectory, along with a nudge from coaching legend Gregg Popovich, she might as well be the first head coach.

 

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Apr 10, 2018
Length: 23 minutes (5,882 words)

The Silence: The Legacy of Childhood Trauma

Junot Diaz breaks his silence about being raped by a trusted adult when he was 8 years old — a horrific trauma that ended his childhood, destroyed his sense of self, prompted a suicide attempt, and has shaped every day of his life since.

Author: Junot Diaz
Source: The New Yorker
Published: Apr 16, 2018
Length: 19 minutes (4,958 words)

Outside Voices

After never knowing a moment’s privacy, Sloane Crosley finally moves into the one-bedroom apartment of her dreams in the city that never sleeps. And then she never sleeps again, because all of her windows face Jared.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Mar 16, 2018
Length: 25 minutes (6,250 words)

The White Darkness

David Grann tells the story of Henry Worsley, a British military man and “apostle” of polar adventurer Ernest Shackleton. Worsley earned fame by retracing Shackleton’s failed expedition to reach the South Pole. He, along with two teammates reached their destination on January 9th, 2009. A case study in the art of story pacing, this piece is a testament to the triumphs and perils of human ambition and endurance.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Feb 12, 2018
Length: 85 minutes (21,418 words)

What Does It Mean to Die?

Though she was declared brain-dead by the hospital that treated her, Jahi McMath has remained on a ventilator for four years. Her family and a neurologist argue that she’s still very much alive, challenging the long-held notions of what it means to be dead.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Jan 29, 2018
Length: 36 minutes (9,000 words)