Airports are places to get in and out of as quickly as possible for most people. Yet they’re heaven on earth for planespotters — or “jetrosexuals” — who defy suspicious glances in the name of fanatically filming and sharing our most misunderstood mode of transportation. Read it at BuzzFeed News.
A compelling piece by Peter Aldhous on the ways in which our own minds get in the way of examining those of animals. “If we want to understand the diversity of animal minds — and by doing so perhaps understand ourselves better, too — we have to judge them on their own terms.” Read it at Mosaic or BuzzFeed News.
In the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and others, Eli Saslow gets a rare glimpse into the life of America’s most influential civil rights leader — for now. “I got a radio show, a TV show, a direct line to the president, and what good is all that if I still can’t get something done when they choke a guy out on tape?” Read it at The Washington Post.
Students with disabilities make up 11% of the US undergraduate population, yet are largely left out of the current national dialogue surrounding campus sexual assault. Azmat Khan investigates the universities and systems that are failing to hear them. Read it at Al Jazeera America.
Kevin Roose visits Waterloo, Ontario to discover how the Canadian tech hub has reinvented itself after the fall of its star company. “In 2007, people would hold their chins up when they said they worked at BlackBerry…In 2011, the chins were down.” Read it at Fusion.
Folk legend Joni Mitchell spends a day with Carl Swanson to reflect on life as a musician and muse — on her own terms. “Basically, at this time, I’m trying to fix my legacy. It’s been butchered. It’s been panned, and scanned, and colorized.” Read it at New York Magazine.
Shut out of legitimate financial institutions, marijuana entrepreneurs are finding unusual ways to park their cash. Amanda Chicago Lewis reports on the budding industry of luxury bongs. Read it at BuzzFeed News.
A beautiful essay by Tracy Clayton on what it’s like to live with — and treat — an anxiety disorder. “If I had to describe what having anxiety feels like, I’d say that it’s kind of like walking through the world beneath tornadic skies without an umbrella, unsure if you’ll be able to find shelter if things get bad.” Read it at BuzzFeed News.
James Palmer reports from China where, in the absence of secure and legal ways of making deals, many businessmen build trust by spending late nights in brothels and with booze. “If you go out together, you really get to know a guy…You see how he handles his drink, you see how he deals with women.” Read it at ChinaFile.
This week for BuzzFeed News, Adam Serwer and Katie J.M. Baker unravel the conflicting history and messages of men’s rights leader Paul Elam. Read that and these other great stories from BuzzFeed News and around the web.
Paul Elam has become the face of the modern men’s rights movement by rallying against false rape accusations and divorce courts that favor mothers. But interviews with his estranged daughter and ex-wife show that his pet causes are very, very personal. Read it at BuzzFeed News.
An incredible piece by Elizabeth Weil that explores what happens when a child dies in the hand of a parent and family, physicians, and authorities don’t know whom to blame. “Does anyone know the truth?” Read it at Matter.
Mark Seal chronicles the massive hack into Sony Pictures prompted by The Interview — and the subsequent leaks that created devastating consequences for its senior executives. “We always say, ‘I’d love to be a fly on the wall,’ and these e-mails made us privy to all these conversations.” Read it at Vanity Fair.
Rock Hudson was desperately trying to get treatment for AIDS in France in 1985. Much of that story has been told but, as Chris Geidner finds, one part hasn’t: After a simple plea came in for White House help to get Hudson transferred to another hospital, First Lady Nancy Reagan turned down the request. Read it at BuzzFeed News.
After decades of being at the forefront of the marijuana legalization movement, California has been left in the dust by other states. Amanda Chicago Lewis explores how infighting between activists may turn 2016 another losing year. Read it at BuzzFeed News.
Americana is a small town in Brazil where descendants of Southern defectors, or “Confederados,” still rally around the Stars and Bars. Mimi Dwyer visits to learn how its residents are — or aren’t — reconciling a present they claim is innocent with the legacies of the past. Read it at Vice.
Jina Moore reports from Cambodia where, little more than two years ago, there wasn’t a single recorded case of women trafficked from Cambodia to China to marry. Now, there are more than 150 — and experts expect that number to soar. Read it at BuzzFeed News.
Hundreds of people have caught hellish bacterial infections and turned to Eastern Europe for a century-old viral therapy. With the world on the cusp of an antibiotics crisis, Azeen Ghorayshi asks, should we all follow suit? Read it at BuzzFeed News.
Alice Gregory dials into the Crisis Text Line, a service that seeks to make therapy more accessible to teens. “A lot of times, when chatting with young people, it’s clear that they just need someone to listen to them.” Read it at The New Yorker.
Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/anitabadejo/our-9-favorite-feature-stories-this-week-americana-marijuana
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