What is Code?
This article is 38,000 words long and is all about code. It’s a year old. It’s also a masterpiece.
Sitting Up
A piece describing itself aptly as ‘A brief history of chairs’, looking at how different societies approach the act of sitting.
The Agency
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.
An interview with Paul Kimmage: Team Sky’s charade has been exposed
An explosive interview with a cycling journalist on the controversy currently plaguing Team Sky.
Margaret Atwood, the Prophet of Dystopia
A profile of the novelist who has conjured up a series of dystopian worlds that on occasion now seem all too recognisable.
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.
Person of Interest 2016 Longlist
A delightfully caustic rundown of (in)famous people that have had a big impact this year – it manages to avoid some of the obvious choices and links to further reading on each entrant.
Where oil rigs go to die
A piece tracing the final journeys of oil rigs destined for ship breaking yards.
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.