Inside the Delightfully Quirky, Absolutely Fabulous, and Utterly Exhausting World of Cruise Performers
A warm and fittingly entertaining look at the world of cruise ship entertainers.
Top Gun
A 2003 profile of Gaston Glock, the inventor of one of the most widely used handguns in the world, and something of an unusual character.
Russians at the Gates
In this thoughtful piece, the author recalls his childhood interactions with the Red Army soldiers posted to a base near his home in Dresden in the 1970s.
The Living Disappeared
An account of the babies born in torture centres during Argentina’s military dictatorship, and the search to find them, led by a group of grandmothers.
The Oldest Restaurant in Kabul: Where Tradition Trumps Rockets
A look at the recent history of Kabul through the story of an enduringly popular restaurant.
Skin in the Game
Like many popular video games the multiplayer first person shooter Counter-Strike is (very) big business, for star player and publisher alike. Less common is a secondary market for in game modifications that has developed into a minimally regulated multi-billion dollar gambling network.
Take Nothing, Leave Nothing
The author tells the story of how he came to receive a lifetime ban from the remote island of Tristan da Cunha, and reflects on the nature of tourism.
Is This Story Real?
This piece examines a memoir written by a former waiter at Paris’ celebrated Brasserie Lipp. In the manuscript, this unassuming man describes the horror of the Holocaust and deeds of extraordinary derring-do including infiltrating the SS, joining resistance groups, and hunting Nazis after the war whilst serving as a member of the French Foreign Legion. It’s far from clear whether large parts of the story are true or not, but perhaps that’s not the point.
Lost At Sea
The story of a couple who were on an American commercial ship sunk by a German U-Boat early in the war.
Peter Popoff, the Born-Again Scoundrel
A look at the empire of a successfully returned 1980s televangelist, who gives supporters his “miracle spring water”.