The Launch
A look behind the scenes at the science and business planning involved in the 20 year quest to make the perfect apple.
The business of sleep
A piece looking at the science of sleep, and how this essential human need is in conflict with the new attention economy.
The Weird, Dark History of 8chan
The story behind the online message board 8chan: “an anonymous digital safe haven for the type of discussions that made many of its users unwelcome elsewhere on the web: abhorrent racism, violent misogyny, and rampant anti-Semitism.” The site is in the news again after the El Paso shooting as the shooter used it to post an anti-immigration screed just a few minutes before opening fire.
What Happened to Aung San Suu Kyi?
Ben Rhodes, a former advisor to Barack Obama, writes about Aung San Suu Kyi’s journey from icon of democratic protest, to working as part of a regime committing ethnic cleansing. Some readers are suggesting that her former position only ever amounted to Western democracies projecting what they wanted to see.
Alan Dershowitz, Devil’s Advocate
A deeply researched profile of the now notorious defence lawyer Alan Dershowitz. Dershowitz made his name with a string of high profile clients including Claus Von Bulow, O.J Simpson, Harvey Weinstein, and latterly Jeffrey Epstein.
There are places you cannot go
The story, spanning 40 years, of the friendship between Cambodian Nhek Veng Huor and the American Cindy Coleman. The story is haunted by the spectre of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime, under whose rule “one in four Cambodians died”.
How the Boeing 737 Max Disaster Looks to a Software Developer
A software engineer looks in (great) detail at the well-document Boeing 737 Max issues from a software, design, and hardware perspective. He looks at the “market and technical forces” that could have lead to a less safe environment.
The untold story of the ‘circle of trust’ behind the world’s first gene-edited babies
When news broke of a Chinese scientist creating the world’s first gene edited babies, he was presented as a lone, rogue operator. This story suggests that in fact a number of people in fact knew of his work.
The Green Gang
The story of India’s Green Gang, “a gang of hundreds — no, thousands — of women, almost all of them poor and low-caste”. Their mission – to take on ” anyone who dared to hurt a woman, including violent in-laws, philandering husbands, domestic abusers, land-grabbers, bootleggers, molesters, and rapists.”