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Man of Culture
Punjabi microbiologist Surendra Nath Sehgal spent his life’s work studying a bacterium found in the soil on Easter Island. Called Rapamycin, it became a wonder drug, changing the lives of millions. “Uma, it’s a fantastic compound, it’s a miracle,” Sehgal would tell his wife during these early encounters. “Anything it touches gives good results.” Back […]
Shifting Identity, Shamans, and the Week’s Top 5
“So long as there are nations, there will be people trying to get out of them, tracking ceaselessly from one to the other while maybe wishing they could belong to the world instead.” In making a cross-country move recently, I realized that I can be a different person in a new place. There’s a certain […]
The Heart of a Hunter and the Week’s Top 5
“Most of the time, I’m not as awake as I once was; danger, and hunger, no longer demand it. I’m grateful to feel safe, to have secure access to good food, and yet I also occasionally wonder: where has the hunter gone?” Happy Friday! We’ve got a compelling, thought-provoking feature for you this week. In […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, our editors recommend notable features and essays by Katie Barnes, Rachel Handler, Alex Hawkins, Lila Shapiro, and Raksha Vasudevan.
The Fascinating History Behind a Set of Miniature Murder Scenes
“Forensics pioneer and miniaturist Frances Glessner Lee crafted tiny dioramas in the 1940s to teach investigators to search for clues and assess a scene.”
The Secret Lives of MI6’s Top Female Spies
“For the first time ever, SIS officers reveal why women often make the best spies for our times.”
The Sweet and Sticky History of the Date
“Throughout the Middle East, the versatile fruit has been revered since antiquity. How will it fare in a changing world?”
Bomb the Multiplex: A ‘Barbenheimer’ Reading List
“With people turning a shared release date into a meme-fueled double feature, we rounded up our favorite reads about 2023’s oddest duo.”
The Radical Plan for Vaccine Equity
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the reliance on Big Pharma in the global North to supply life-saving vaccines to the rest of the world is ineffective and dangerous. In this in-depth feature, Amy Maxmen takes a look at global vaccine inequality, and the effort of a network of countries — led by Afrigen, a […]


