The Remarkable Brain of a Carpet Cleaner Who Speaks 24 Languages
Vaughn Smith lives in Maryland. He’s 46 years old. He also learns languages with the seeming ease of a run around the block — including endangered indigenous tongues like Salish. In this fascinating profile that’s part ridealong and part science dive, Jessica Contrera takes you inside the life (and brain) of a man with a very particular set of skills.
When I introduced him to Richard Simcott, who organizes an international conference for polyglots, Vaughn switched between 10 languages as they spoke, telling stories in Welsh, Bulgarian, Serbian, Norwegian and more.
Because for Vaughn, every language is really a story about the people it connected him to.
The Death Spiral of an American Family
In this heartbreaking portrait of one American family, Eli Saslow offers a look at “backwards mobility” and the country’s collapsing middle class.
It had been almost a month since Dave, 39, found his father lying unresponsive in bed next to his cellphone and a bill from a collections agency, having died of a heart attack at age 70, and ever since then Dave had been trying to make sense of what his father had left behind. He’d read through his father’s credit card statements and then talked to a banker, who concluded that the final estate of David Ramsey Sr. was of “inconsequential value.”
No Escape From Guantánamo
“For the former detainees of America’s war on terror, stigma, poverty and continuing persecution present formidable obstacles to resettlement.”
‘My Sincere Condolences’
Inside the struggles and heartaches of FEMA’s massive COVID funeral assistance program.
A QAnon Con
“An Internet mob wanted to rescue a 13-year-old girl. Instead, they terrified her, derailed real trafficking investigations, and incited ‘save the children’ violence.”
The Vaccine Tore Her Family Apart. Could a Death Bring Them Back Together?
“Laurel Haught moved out of her own home to escape her unvaccinated daughter. Now they are facing a funeral, the coming holidays and the divide splitting many American families.”
Have Democrats Reached the Limits of White Appeasement Politics?
In short: Pretty much.
Two Kids, a Loaded Gun and the Man Who Left a 4-Year-Old to Die
The children will never recover from what happened inside a D.C. apartment. The owner of the illegal gun faces far less serious consequences.
The Last Days Inside Trailer 83
“As climate disasters increase, a last-gasp FEMA camp for wildfire survivors tests the government’s obligation to the displaced.”
‘The Mansion on Emerson Street’
“After more than a year of allowing most homeless camps to remain intact so as not to displace people during the pandemic, cities across the country are now beginning to confront another public health crisis unfolding on their streets.”
Longreads 