“How do you reinvent yourself after being a global superstar? The former R.E.M. frontman is still figuring that out.”
longreads
The Pill Messiah
“Douglas Randall Smith would have you believe he’s on the verge of a medical breakthrough that could end the opioid epidemic and keep millions of people alive.”
Recognizing the Stranger
“What in fiction is enjoyable and beautiful is often terrifying in real life.”
To Catch a Catfish
“How one detective took on an international network of romance fraudsters.”
Where Are All The Caribou?
“For millennia Indigenous communities have relied on the far north’s caribou herds for sustenance. But as the herds dwindle, the future becomes difficult to predict.”
‘How Do You Reduce a National Dish to a Powder?’: The Weird, Secretive World of Crisp Flavors
“Why can you buy lasagne flavour snacks in Thailand but not in Italy? Which country can cope with the hottest chili? And why do Germans like paprika so much?”
Their Bodies Were Donated to Harvard. Then They Went Missing
“The generous donors gave their bodies to science — but they were snuck out of the morgue and sold to a dark and ghastly corner of the oddities world.”
The G.O.A.T of Landscape Management? Goats.
“In cities across Texas, rugged ruminants are chowing down on the plants that plague us.”
How Sandra Hüller Approached Playing a Nazi
“The German actress probes characters with unusual depth. But to portray a Fascist wife, in ‘The Zone of Interest,’ she reversed her usual approach—and withheld her empathy.”
How Citizen Surveillance Ate San Francisco
“When a homeless man attacked a former city official, footage of the onslaught became a rallying cry. Then came another video, and another—and the story turned inside out.”