Life

Tonya Harding Would Like Her Apology Now

An eloquent profile of Tonya Harding, the former professional ice skater caught up in a scandal at the time of the 1994 Winter Olympics, and subject of the new Oscar contender I, Tonya. The piece encompasses poignant reflections on survival, life after infamy, and subjective views of the truth.

Don’t Eat Before Reading This

The 1999 piece that helped launch Anthony Bourdain’s career as a writer and broadcaster. In it, he offered readers the inside track on the restaurant industry, warts and all. It was apparently sent in to the magazine as an unsolicited manuscript.

Eyes Aloft

An insight into the world of aviation enthusiasts. Their activity is memorably described – “Their interests are so basic that they seem abstract: to appreciate planes; to record them; to appreciate them by recording them; and to record their own passion for recording.” Yet the piece shows how the information that they gather about the comings and goings of air traffic (including military and VIP flights) can fan out into public and political life.

The Perfect Man

Billy Mitchell is really, really good at Pac-Man – his high score is 3,333,360 – a perfect game. The unusual way his mind works is gently unpicked in this profile.

Chasing the Pearl of Lao Tzu

The dizzying, multi-layered story of a huge pearl that has been at the centre of elaborate hoaxes, claims and counter-claims, and havoc in the lives of those connected to it for over 80 years. http://bit.ly/atlantic-pearl