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Recommended Writing

All longform pieces recommended on The Slow Scroll

The Quest for Universal Flu Vaccines
Asimov Press26 Jan 2025 • ~3500 words

Modern flu vaccines have an average efficacy of just 40 percent, and they must be revamped each year. How can we make vaccines that are “universal” — both broadly-protective and highly potent?

The Changing Face of the Houthis
New Lines Magazine27 Jan 2025 • ~4050 words

How the movement adapted to dominate Yemeni politics.

In Sprawl We Trust
Current Affairs26 Jan 2025 • ~7150 words

How did the US become filled with sprawl? Simplistic debates about "centralized planning" versus "the free market" belie the truth: that a strong coalition of private and public interests helped create the sprawl that dominates our landscape.

How the Capybara Won My Heart—and Almost Everyone Else’s
The New Yorker26 Jan 2025 • ~6400 words

It’s not hard to understand why capys have a cultlike following on Instagram and TikTok. I fell for the giant rodent decades ago.

A Witness in Assad’s Dungeons
The New Yorker26 Jan 2025 • ~9300 words

Mazen al-Hamada fled Syria to reveal the regime’s crimes. Then, mysteriously, he went back.

What We Learn About Our World by Imagining Its End
The New Yorker26 Jan 2025 • ~4500 words

Some fear we’ll be buried in brimstone; others expect to be extinguished by A.I. But is there comfort to be found in our apocalyptic visions?

The end of neoliberalism?
Aeon26 Jan 2025 • ~5000 words

The case of Mexico shows that, despite a proliferating discourse that it is over, neoliberalism is as relentless as ever.

Sleuths, salvagers and revivalists
Inside Story26 Jan 2025 • ~2900 words

Jim Davidson discusses three books that explore the evolution of language.

My Last Trial
The Atlantic24 Jan 2025 • ~3950 words

Amanda Knox shares her journey through an 18-year legal battle in Italy that began with a wrongful murder conviction.

Nevada’s Lithium Could Help Save the Earth. But What Happens to Nevada?
New York Times24 Jan 2025 • ~4250 words

Many climate experts see its deserts as a place to build the green-energy future. For two local activists, the price is too great.