This eloquent piece looks at the sexual harassment allegations against Senator Al Franken and uses them as a springboard to examine humanity’s long history of identifying trustworthiness as a male trait and duplicity as its female counterpart – via Aristotle, Galen, Jezebel, Cassandra, Hamlet and others.
Produced by a consultancy specialising in China, an in-depth visual guide to the intrigue, power plays and key issues at stake in the country’s upcoming Party Congress, seen as a pivotal moment in Xi Jinping’s tenure.
A look at the way in which many Cubans get access to the international culture that has historically been denied to them – a weekly delivery of films, TV and other content on a USB stick.
Entertainment meets accounting in this piece looking at a lawsuit brought by the creators of the cult classic This Is Spinal Tap. They initiated the suit when they were told that despite a healthy percentage share in earnings from their creation, they would be entitled to under $200 in royalties over a period spanning 20 years.
An elegaic personal essay reflecting on President Kennedy’s legacy in his centenary year.
A stunning archaeological find is not only providing a window into a 3,500 year old society, but also challenging founding principles underpinning our views of how Western civilisation developed.
The author describes his “sordid double life” in Hackmud, a new online multiplayer game set in a dystopian future. The game itself is inaccessible in that you play the role of an AI, it is text based and you can only play by coding scripts, and yet the piece draws you in, painting a vivid picture of a lawless digital outpost, where no one is to be trusted, and everyone is on the make.
A long look at the infamous online marketplace for illegal goods, starting with a DEA raid on a grandpa in Utah who had just taken receipt of $27,000 of cocaine. http://www.bit.ly/wired-silkroad
An archival interview of John le Carré covers his life, writing career and the world of spycraft he depicts in his novels.