Curtis Sittenfeld: Breeze Point
The most uplifting news of the past six months? Two giant pandas in Hong Kong finally mate after ten years, when their zoo is closed to visitors due to Covid.…
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6: The Silent Partner
As Ned is in Grand Cayman working undercover to investigate Leigh Ritch, he hears talk about a “general,” sometimes called “Pineapple Face.”
Hamlet Was Wrong
The delicate science of hiring nihilism, examined in five deeply-personal case studies.SOURCES AND LINKS The Peter Principle by Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull “Kinetic Sculpture Race” in Humboldt County, CA…
FREEDOM OF SPEECH: Osita Nwanevu
Osita Nwanevu, a staff writer at The New Republic, explains why he’s not worried about “cancel culture.”
Hannah Lillith Assadi: The People of Music
The New York Times recently revealed a top-secret Pentagon unit tasked with investigating encounters between UFOs and military pilots. Which got Hannah Lillith Assadi, the author of Sonora, wondering: If…
5: A Different Kind of Animal
The kingpin of the smuggling syndicate — Leigh Ritch — is safely out of reach in the Cayman Islands. But he’s worried …
Goodbye, Farewell and Amen
Getty ImagesHow do we remember one of the deadliest nights in human history? We don’t. Part four.SOURCES AND LINKS Full interview with Korean War veteran Bill Sinclair Full interview with…
FREEDOM OF SPEECH: Suzanne Nossel
For the next couple of weeks on Deep Background, we’re bringing you a special series exploring questions of liberty, equality, and freedom of speech, To kick off our series, Suzanne…
John Wray: Status Report
In late June, President Trump visited Yuma, Arizona to celebrate 200 new miles of border wall declaring, “It stopped COVID, it stopped everything.” John Wray, the acclaimed author of five novels,…
Run The Jewels Return!
***Run the Jewels are raw and so is the language in this episode***Killer Mike and El-P return to Broken Record to discuss the creation of their fourth album, RTJ4, and…
4: The Gentleman Smuggler
Shine takes Ned to Beaufort, North Carolina, where an abandoned boat full of marijuana had been discovered years prior. Locally, that case had gone cold, but Shine knows all about…
SPECIAL: Turning Fact into Fiction with Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay, the best-selling author of Bad Feminist and Hunger and the co-host of the podcast Hear to Slay, discusses her new short story “String Theory.”You can listen to “String…