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Our Picks

Can Hobby Lobby Buy the Bible?

In a few short years the evangelical owners of Hobby Lobby have amassed one of the world’s largest private collections of biblical antiquities. Their pace of acquisition has raised questions in the antiquities field, especially as they get ready to open their massive Museum of the Bible in the nation's capitol.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Dec. 16, 2016
Length: 18 minutes (4660 words)
The League of Extraordinary Assholes

A philosophical meditation on the nature of jerks.

Published: Jan. 1, 2016
Length: 9 minutes (2297 words)
Playing for Time

As his son battles terminal cancer, a father channels his grief into the creation of a video game unlike any other.

Author: Jason Tanz
Source: Wired
Published: Jan. 5, 2016
Length: 26 minutes (6688 words)
Roots and Genes

Nelson uses Alex Haley’s seminal 1976 book "Roots" as a backdrop to explore the quest for African American identity and the appeal of genetic ancestry testing.

Source: Aeon
Published: Jan. 4, 2016
Length: 19 minutes (4787 words)
Someday Never Comes
On Marie Kondo and our own mortality.
Author: Laura Miller
Source: Slate
Published: Jan. 3, 2016
Length: 6 minutes (1624 words)
The Devastating Story of Washington’s Peeping-Tom Rabbi

A chilling and painstakingly reported account of the fall of a prominent D.C. rabbi. Barry Freundel secretly filmed 52 women while they undressed for a mikvah, or sacred ritual bath.

Author: Harry Jaffe
Published: Jan. 3, 2016
Length: 23 minutes (5950 words)
The Mogul of the Middle
Friend goes inside the offices of STX Entertainment in Burbank, California, providing a revealing look at how movies are green lit, made and marketed in a foundering industry.
Author: Tad Friend
Published: Jan. 4, 2016
Length: 44 minutes (11000 words)
The Strange, Sad Quest to Match a Severed, Embalmed Head with its Story

The embalmed head found in the woods defied logic. It had been carefully preserved yet carelessly discarded, and appeared almost alive. But who was she and where was her body?

Published: Dec. 15, 2016
Length: 8 minutes (2080 words)
My Brother, the Murderer
A woman provides a new suspect for a 45-year-old murder mystery.
Source: D Magazine
Published: Jan. 1, 2016
Length: 16 minutes (4129 words)
It’s in the Stars: A Reading List About Astrology
In 2015, I started to copy my weekly horoscopes into my journal. I didn’t do it every week, but I did it often enough that it became something like a practice. 2015 was rough, and it feels right to start off 2016 on an optimistic, mystical note.
Author: Emily Perper
Source: Longreads
Published: Jan. 3, 2016
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