Where oil rigs go to die
A piece tracing the final journeys of oil rigs destined for ship breaking yards.
The Wetsuitman
Two bodies – one found in Norway, the other in the Netherlands, and both wearing Tribord wetsuits. The police were unable to identify them. This article, from Norwegian tabloid Dagbladet, tells their story. The translation is ever so slightly clunky in places, but this is a truly gripping and eye-opening view of how a global crisis affects people on an individual level.
Ruffled Feathers
The story of the conservation efforts dedicated to preserving the majestic whooping crane, and the unlawful killing of two of their flock.
Surviving the Fall of ISIS
As the Islamic State is pushed back, the dangers continue to increase for those left in areas under their control.
The End of Independent Film As We Know It
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.
Deadly Game: Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un Risk Nuclear War
A sobering analysis of the tension between North Korea and the United States, written this April as global concern spiked around the volatile situation.
You Are the Product
John Lanchester reviews three books on social media, the war for attention, and Silicon Valley giants. His conclusion? “I am scared of Facebook”.
In a Perpetual Present
A story examining the unusual case of a middle aged woman who experiences everything in the present. The difference between her and many people in a similar situation is that rather than having the agony of losing the ability to form and access memories, she has never had it. This study of a life experienced without memory is illuminating and surprising.
Hiroshima
The New Yorker devoted its August 31st 1946 issue in its entirety to this article on the nuclear bomb attack on Hiroshima a year earlier. The article would later be described, in the same magazine’s August 31st 2016 issue, as “a landmark in journalism, in publishing, and in humanity’s awareness of itself and its own awful potential.”