Living the Life
An insight into the world of Hollywood talent agents in all their glory and infamy.
David’s Ankles
A thoughtful piece on the transcendental beauty and structural fragility of one of the most celebrated works of art in the world, Michelangelo’s statue of David.
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.
Europe’s Famed Bog Bodies Are Starting to Reveal Their Secrets
This is the story of Tollund Man, found in a peat bog in Denmark in 1950. He was in remarkable condition given that he had died 2,300 years previously – his face wearing a cryptic half-smile, much of the rest of his body intact, and a noose tied tight around his neck.
An Ad Hoc Affair
A profile of Jane Jacobs, a writer and urban planning activist, that lauds her “clear-eyed vision of humanity”.
The Man Who Solved His Own Murder
An account of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy killed in London ten years ago – a story of incompetence, intrigue, criminality and authoritarianism. It’s worth listening to the audio too.
The Concept of ‘Cat Face’
A longform look at machine learning and where Google have taken it since their acquisition of the British artificial intelligence company Deep Mind.
Plastic Surgery With a Mouse Click
An article that looks at how deep the special effects industry’s abilities run in changing the way that film and TV stars appear. Beyond simply documenting how this industry works, the piece raises some questions about what viewers actually want – reality or artifice?
The enigma of Assad: How a painfully shy eye doctor turned into a murderous tyrant
A piece tracing Bashar al-Assad’s journey towards ever-greater tyranny.
Death in the Forest
Looking at mushroom foraging around the world, and the extraordinary lengths people go to secure valuable or rare varieties.