Of all the articles written about Obama over the years, the ones that intrigued me most were the ones that helped me get to know the man and what he stood for, just a little bit better. With this reading list we remember the man, his time in office, and take a peek at what’s in store after the White House.
Our Picks
Arab Past, American Present: My Family’s Invisible History
America is a nation of immigrants, yet the country treats immigrants with increasing hostility. Recounting her Syrian family’s move to the US, writer Lauren Alwan wrestles with her own Arab identity, and she explores the ways immigrants shed their culture in order to assimilate, and the generational effects of invisibility.
Stop Making Sense, or How to Write in the Age of Trump
An essay on the importance of embracing in literature the conflict and destruction likely to arise in America in the coming four years. The piece is written from the perspective of a Bosnian-born novelist who got stuck in the United States in 1992 because of conflict in his native country that upended everything he felt sure of.
The Great Exception
“We’ve got the scientists. We’ve got the universities. We have the national labs. We have a lot of political clout and sophistication for the battle. And we will persevere,” says California governor Jerry Brown. This first piece in a series explores the relationship between the Golden State and Donald Trump’s Washington.
Joe Biden: ‘I Wish to Hell I’d Just Kept Saying the Exact Same Thing’
The vice president looks back — and forward. Veteran journalist Jonathan Alter’s exit interview with Joe Biden.
How Designers Engineer Luck Into Video Games
“Humans have taken the reins from the gods, and luck has become a design tool capable of changing players’ experiences and expectations.” A look at how game developers strike a balance between luck and fairness.
What We Get Wrong About Hannah Arendt
The lessons we are drawing from her work may not be the one we most need to learn.
Dweller on the Threshold: On Being Trans, But Not Having Always Known
A raw, honesty essay on coming to terms with gender identity and trying to navigate existence in a culture fraught with issues around gender and sexuality. “I’m still not sure whether I’ll ever be ready to gain male privilege, to part with cis privilege.”
The Hermit Who Inadvertently Shaped Climate-Change Science
Billy Barr moved into a remote part of the Rocky Mountains in search of solitude over 40 years ago. To avoid boredom, he documented snow levels, animal sightings, and the date flowers first bloomed. “…collectively his work has become some of the most significant indication that climate change is rearranging mountain ecosystems more dramatically and quickly than anyone imagined.”
Michael Joyce’s Second Act
In 1996, David Foster Wallace profiled tennis player Michael Joyce in one of the most celebrated pieces of sports writing ever published. Who has he become since?
How Jokes Won the Election
“It’s the thrill of hyperbole, of treating the extreme as normal, the shock (and the joy) of seeing the normal get violated, fast. “Buh-leeve me, buh-leeve me!” Trump said in his act, again and again. Lying about telling the truth is part of the joke.”