The C.D.C. Waited ‘Its Entire Existence for This Moment.’ What Went Wrong?
An account (disputed in some quarters) of the Center for Disease Control & Prevention’s response to the covid-19 pandemic that is none too complimentary.
They Built a Utopian Sanctuary in a Minneapolis Hotel. Then They Got Evicted.
The story of a hotel that was “comandeered” during protests in Minneapolis and turned into a sanctuary run by volunteers.
Outgrowing growth: why quality of life, not GDP, should be our measure of success
An opinion piece laying out the argument for moving from GDP to quality of life as a better metric against which to measure progress.
Hans Rosling’s 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes – The Joy of Stats
Hans Rosling was an academic who excelled in using data in visual and accessible ways to tell the story of humanity’s progress. This excerpt from his Joy of Stats programme tells a powerful story in just four minutes.
Experience the Nightwatch
An interactive audiovisual guide to Rembrandt’s celebrated painting of Amsterdam’s city guard.
Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race
Reni Eddo-Lodge writes in this piece on race and prejudice: “Not seeing race does little to dismantle racist structures or improve the lives of people of colour. In order to do so, we must see race. We must see who benefits from their race, who is affected by negative stereotyping of theirs, and on whom power and privilege is bestowed – not just because of their race, but also their class and gender. Seeing race is essential to changing the system.”
William Barr’s State of Emergency
A profile of the United States Attorney General William Barr, in his second stint in the role, after first serving in George H.W. Bush’s administration in the early 1990s. His successor from his first incumbency had this to say on his influence in the Trump administration: “Those who think he’s a tool of Donald Trump are missing the point..If anything, it’s the other way around. Barr is vastly more intelligent than Donald Trump…Bill has longstanding views about how society should be organized, which can now be manifested and acted upon to a degree that they never could have before.”
The Secret, Absurd World of Coronavirus Mask Traders and Middlemen Trying To Get Rich Off Government Money
Wherever there is political and economic uncertainty, it’s a fair bet that there are people somewhere trying to make money from it. This story looks into the companies in the market for goverment contracts to supply protective equipment, including VPL Medical LLC, a company that was awarded a $6.4m contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs four days after it was incorporated.
Lavish Parties, Greedy Pols and Panic Rooms: How the ‘Apple of Pot’ Collapsed
The story of MedMen, a buzzy US cannabis startup that ran into trouble.
Mona Chalabi
Mona Chalabi is an enormously talented data journalist and illustrator who has worked with all sorts of prestigious organisations. Her Instagram feed is a trove of original work telling powerful stories with data and illustration. The piece linked to here compares the cost of 1 year’s NYPD micdonduct law suits, with the cost of 1 year’s free bus journeys for every New Yorker.