Crime The New Yorker

The Voyeur’s Motel

A man bought a motel 30 or so years ago, installed a home engineered viewing platform above the rooms and set about snooping on his customers with gusto for the next 30 years. He did so with a pseudo-scientific agenda that led him to document what he saw in minute detail. The resulting document is an extraordinary, ghoulish blend – a detailed study of this man’s madness, the intimate lives of the people he spied on, and the changing nature of America over the last quarter of the 20th century. Simply the most extraordinary story, it will stay with you for some time.

Society The Atlantic

The Refugee Detectives

A look at the work of Germany’s Bamf, the agency with the thorny task of deciding which refugees receive permission to remain in their country. They have many techniques at their disposal, some that can establish identity with little doubt, many more that can only offer “Hinweis” – a clue as to the truth of the story they’re being told.

Nature The Economist

Climbing the World’s Biggest Tree

The iconic sequoia tree grows to immense heights, has a massive circumference, lives for many centuries, and will often have no branches for up to half of the trunk’s length – making them a daunting prospect for a would-be climber.

Foreign Policy Technology

Fear This Man

David Vincenzetti is the founder of Hacking Team, a cyber warfare outfit helping governments spy on people. A former employee describes him as “crazy and dangerous”.

Politics The New York Times

Kidnapped Royalty Become Pawns in Iran’s Deadly Plot

This piece kicks off with an evocative depiction of the scene typically found at the V.I.P. terminal of Baghdad International Airport. It was there where in April 2017 a group of Qataris were held on arrival when their luggage was found to contain $360 million in cash. Their presence was linked to a royal hunting trip turned kidnapping that would significantly affect the Middle East’s geopolitics.

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