Fishing in Guantanamo Bay
The recent history of Caimanera, the fishing town immediately adjacent to the US military base and prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Homer and Harold
Harold Israel and Homer Cummings were from very different backgrounds and met when the latter was the state’s attorney in the former’s 1924 murder trial. Cummings proceeded to deliver a performance that “will live in the annals as a standard by which other prosecutors will be judged.” More remarkable even than that is the enduring involvement they had in each other’s lives. The story of the trial was noteworthy enough to be made into a film, but the story of their lifelong association is just as remarkable.
The Dark, Dangerous World of Illegal Mining
The horrendously dangerous existence of illegal miners in South Africa working outside the law.
Searching for California’s Lost Viking Treasure Ship
A look at the work of the people who are convinced that a Viking treasure ship is buried somewhere in the California’s Colorado Desert.
Attack, Attack, Attack
After a period out in the cold, President Trump’s controversial adviser Steve Bannon is apparently back in the inner circle. The piece contains illuminating details, including the assertion that Bannon owns a portrait representing his own face on Napoleon’s body – a gift from Nigel Farage.
How Aristotle Created the Computer
A piece looking at the history of computers through ideas, rather than through devices – tracing the path from Aristotelian logic to computer science.
The angry sea will kill us all
A piece looking at the destruction wrought by climate change on the Pacific Islands of Kiribati (on average 2-3 metres above sea level), already vulnerable due to unscrupulous phosphate mining stretching back a century. http://bit.ly/stuff-sea
The Sound And The Fury: Inside The Mystery Of The Havana Embassy
An account of the unexplained health issues encountered by US Embassy staff in Havana, particularly those that were intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover. The incident has had an enduring impact on America’s diplomatic capabilities in Cuba at a pivotal moment of transition.
Style Is an Algorithm
A piece examining the somewhat terrifying possibility of entirely algorithmically driven cultural tastes, from fashion to art, music, food, home decor and more. It asks what our response is to the central promise of recommendation algorithms “If you like this, you will get more of it, forever” and the new value exchanges that are their outcome.