There is more than a whiff of the hatchet job to the piece on The Guardian written by a self-described “friend of the paper” who has had a “falling out” with his erstwhile chum. There’s nothing like a bit of personal animosity to make for an interesting read. Beyond that though, it’s a case study of the dynamics of running one of the world’s largest media groups (and burning $45m a year in cash while doing so.).
A piece that examines the response to a severe drought in Cape Town. Whilst undoubtedly a crisis, it has also become “a kind of vast, unplanned, crazy—and fabulous—social experiment”.
A deep dive into how independent film makers are striving to make it work in the era of Netflix and Amazon Prime, and the impact on the major studios.
A piece looking back at Alfonso Cuaron’s 2006 masterpiece Children of Men, which presents a dark yet recognisable version of the world, with one key difference – humans have lost the ability to reproduce. The article finds parallels in the state of the world portrayed in the film and the political moment we find ourselves in today, assesses its cultural impact and explores its cinematography, including its iconic single-shot scenes.
An extraordinary story profiling the Internet Research Agency, a Russian agency allegedly dedicated to spreading misinformation online about Russia’s enemies, both foreign and domestic.
In 1960 Harper Lee, on assignment for Vogue, set about her allotted task – defining love. At the heart of her response, rather unexpectedly, was the Duke of Kent.
This piece looks at what a highly successful, disruptive organisation like Buzzfeed can learn from its antecedents as disruptors, who are now part of the establishment it is taking on.
A piece looking at a bitter fight amongst geologists, stemming from the assertion made by a Princeton academic that the so-called fifth extinction (the one that got the dinosaurs) “was caused not by an asteroid but by a series of colossal volcanic eruptions.” The debate is still relevant today, as scientists try to predict future extinction events that risk wiping us out.
Straight from the pages of a Cold War thriller, this is the story of Konstantin Kilimnik, the long time right-hand man to Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign Chairman. Kilimnik is now believed to have been an asset of Russian intelligence for a significant portion of his career as a consultant to a range of figures in international politics and business. Robert Mueller’s enquiry charged him on June 8th with two charges relating to obstruction of justice. For more on his former boss Manafort, see these from previous Journal editions (bit.ly/atlantic-manafort & bit.ly/slate-manafort).
A gambler made a fortune betting on the trickiest of markets – horses. This piece tells the story of how he made close to a billion dollars betting on Hong Kong races.