“A yearlong investigation into the African-grey trade reveals a web of poachers, egg smugglers, wealthy businessmen — and multitudes who want a talking bird.”
South Africa
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Myth of the Police State
“No one, not even the supposed beneficiaries, is protected.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Dying for Gold: Who Killed the Miners of Buffelsfontein?
“South Africa’s government blockaded hundreds underground. The results were deadly.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Rise of Plant Poaching: How a Craze for Succulents is Driving a New Illegal Trade
“In the wilds of South Africa’s Northern Cape, poaching ‘green diamonds’ has become an almost irresistible temptation.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Strange Saga of ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy’
“The racist 1980s comedy broke box-office records worldwide—then promptly disappeared. The story behind it is revealing.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Love and Murder in South Africa
“Those tears were the product of the education I’d come for.”
Posted inUncategorized
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This edition includes writing from Cynthia R. Greenlee, Krithika Srinivason, Noah Vineberg, Monica Mark, and Alex Pappademas.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Not-Quite-Redemption of South Africa’s Infamous Ultra-Marathon Cheats
In 1999, twin brothers in South Africa cheated in the Comrades, an ultra-marathon. They did it by swapping clothes in a portable toilet halfway through the race. Their actions stunned the country, and their names became synonymous with deceit. But why did they do it? It’s hard, sometimes, not to read everything that happens in […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
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 […]
Posted inHighlight, investigations, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
“Welcome to the House of Horrors”: When IP Address Mapping Goes Wrong
John and his mother Ann, who live in a house in Pretoria, South Africa, were two victims of faulty IP address mapping — and the U.S. government played a big role in the mess.