Queen of Crime
A look at the life and work of Agatha Christie, a woman who can lay good claim to being the most widely read novelist in history.
The Real Heroes Are Dead
Seventeen years after 9/11, this fine piece of writing has lost none of its heartrending impact. The terrible context of the piece ties a knot in the reader’s stomach as they make their way through a love story, then war stories, to the narrative’s inevitable conclusion.
Who Really Stands to Win from Universal Basic Income?
This piece kicks off with an insight – “Economics is at heart a narrative art, a frame across which data points are woven into stories about how the world should work.” It then proceeds to examine universal basic income as an economic narrative, its roots in English history, and the lessons learned from its application in countries around the world.
Hiroshima
The New Yorker devoted its August 31st 1946 issue in its entirety to this article on the nuclear bomb attack on Hiroshima a year earlier. The article would later be described, in the same magazine’s August 31st 2016 issue, as “a landmark in journalism, in publishing, and in humanity’s awareness of itself and its own awful potential.”
China’s Selfie Obsession
A piece examining the phenomenal success of MeituÕs social apps, installed on over a billion devices, and changing self-image across their user base.
Michael Flynn, General Chaos
A revealing profile of the recently toppled National Security Advisor provides insights into the Trump White House.
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.
Margaret Atwood, the Prophet of Dystopia
A profile of the novelist who has conjured up a series of dystopian worlds that on occasion now seem all too recognisable.
Carl Icahn’s Failed Raid on Washington
An eye-opening piece on the billionaire financier’s pugilistic approach, and his political machinations during the Trump presidency.
A.I. Versus M.D.
A story examining what happens when artificial intelligence gets better than human doctors at medical diagnosis.