Editors’ Picks

Picks

How Your Cup of Coffee Is Clearing the Jungle

“However it happened, anywhere between 20,000 and 130,000 people — estimates range wildly — are farming illegally within Bukit Barisan Selatan.”

Out of Control

“How the pandemic laid bare America’s diabetes crisis.”

How the Pandemic Ends

“Here, then, is the current pandemic dilemma: Vaccines remain the best way for individuals to protect themselves, but societies cannot treat vaccines as their only defense.”

What Mike Fanone Can’t Forget

“There is a thin blue line between order and chaos, and at that moment, Mike Fanone was it.”

Hidden Nashville

“It’s things that people never consider about homeless people. Like not having a pillow. I cannot describe to you how it feels to lay down in my own bed with a pillow. I’m just so grateful for a pillow, because I went so long without one.”

‘I Found Your Mom’

In October 2020, 41 years after his mother’s disappearance, Paul Wulff received an unexpected phone call.

Ghosts

“I didn’t know how to write about my sister’s death—so I had AI do it for me.”

A Dog’s Inner Life: What a Robot Pet Taught Me About Consciousness

“‘Clearly this is not a biological dog,’ my husband said. He asked whether I had realised that the red light beneath its nose was not just a vision system but a camera, or if I’d considered where its footage was being sent. While I was away, he told me, the dog had roamed around the apartment in a very systematic way, scrutinising our furniture, our posters, our closets. It had spent 15 minutes scanning our bookcases and had shown particular interest, he claimed, in the shelf of Marxist criticism.”

After Two Teen Suicides Last Year, How Will Summit County Address an Ongoing Mental Health Crisis?

“A tragic stretch in April 2020 shone a light on the mental health issues facing the mountain community. With the new school year set to start, area residents are continuing to heal while asking themselves how they can learn from the past.”

Thousands of Patients Were Implanted With Heart Pumps That the FDA Knew Could Be Dangerous

“Inspectors repeatedly found manufacturing and device quality problems with the HeartWare heart pump. But the FDA did not penalize the company, and patients had the device implanted on their hearts without knowing the facts.”

There Has Been Blood

“For more than five decades, the Thai palm oil industry has been marred by rampant exploitation, violence, and corporate greed. Thailand is the world’s No. 3 producer of palm oil.”

The Ingenious Ancient Technology Concealed in the Shallows

But for over a generation now, the number of salmon returning to the coast of British Columbia has fallen sharply, due to more than a century of commercial fishing and development. In addition, climate change is threatening the ecosystem itself. This strikes at the heart of both Indigenous communities and society as a whole. If not the continued return of the salmon, what will the future bring?

 

What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind

“Grief, conspiracy theories, and one family’s search for meaning in the two decades since 9/11.”

Forgiving Jaskirat Sidhu

“Who deserves absolution, and when, is one of humanity’s most vexing questions—one families devastated by the Humboldt Broncos tragedy can’t seem to avoid.”

Theo Henderson’s Podcast Influences L.A. City Policy. For 7 Years, He’s Lived Mostly in the Park.

“There are 60,000 unhoused people in L.A. County — (Theo) Henderson prefers ‘unhoused’ because he says ‘homeless’ has become a slur — as many as 40,000 of whom are considered, like him, to be ‘unsheltered,’ living outside the shelter system in tents, informal communities, and camps.”

‘I Got a Second Chance’: From Puff Daddy to Diddy to Love

“Sean Combs was the original influencer. Now the artist and mogul is defining his next era—and launching a record label.”

The Fugitive and the Chameleon

“Mario’s father had gone by many names. Luis Archuleta. Lawrence Pusateri. The man the son knew as Ramon was just a fraction of his way into what may be one of the longest fugitive runs in U.S. history — a 50-year game of cat-and-mouse that played out across the West, from the streets of Colorado to the shores of California and many dusty, sun-bleached points in between.”

‘This Is Going to Change the World’

“As the new millennium dawned, a mysterious invention from a charismatic millionaire became a viral sensation—then went down in flames. Ever since, I’ve wondered: Was it all my fault?”

Typos, Tricks and Misprints

“Why is English spelling so weird and unpredictable? Don’t blame the mix of languages; look to quirks of timing and technology.”

The Best Four Years of Your Life?

“My future — the vague, all-consuming ideal we’re taught to live for — felt like a more dominant force in my life than my present.”