USA

Looking For Tom Lehrer, ComedyÕs Mysterious Genius

This piece goes in search of a genius who went to Harvard aged 15, wrote comic songs that were a huge hit and with which he toured the world, then almost entirely vanished from the stage. Talking to People magazine in 1982, as ever he had the best words to describe some of what had changed “Things I once thought were funny are scary – now I often feel like a resident of Pompeii who has been asked for some humorous comments on lava.”

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.

How to Fix Facebook – Before It Fixes Us

This piece has been doing the rounds in technology circles because of the unique profile of its author – a Facebook investor and mentor to Mark Zuckerberg. Having observed Facebook’s impact on US Elections and the UK EU Referendum, he issues a clarion call for reform.

The Showman

A May 2016 profile of Preet Bharara, the charismatic United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who announced yesterday that he had been fired by the Trump administration after refusing to stand down.

4chan: The Skeleton Key to the Rise of Trump

A message board allowing users to post anonymously has played a significant role in the recent history of internet culture (think – the birthplace of the meme), the development of new extreme right movements sometimes called the ‘alt-right’, and the series of events that put Trump in the White House.

How Rudy Giuliani Turned Into Trump’s Clown

Jeffrey Toobin’s profile of Rudy Giuliani is full of political insight, but also contains a healthy dose of revealing anecdotes – such as those about life at Giuliani’s favourite cigar club, complete with Alec Baldwin’s description of “Republican Manhattan”.