A devastating e-bike tragedy. Children fired out of cannons. The media circus surrounding George Santos. A psychology professor studying the science of awe. And a deep dive into a beloved (and dirty) Peanuts character.
Peter Flax | Bicycling Magazine | January 31, 2023 | 8,136 words
Exactly two years ago, 12-year-old Molly Steinsapir got onto an e-bike with her best friend, crashed, and died. I remember when it happened โ the tragedy was covered widely, in no small part because Mollyโs mom took to social media to talk about it. Now, in a moving and nuanced feature, Peter Flax examines the question of who, if anyone, is liable for Mollyโs death. Flax, who owns two bikes made by the manufacturer of the one Molly rode, a company her parents are now suing, illuminates how the explosive growth of the e-bike industry, while a seeming net good for people and the planet, isnโt without dangerous consequences. There arenโt a lot of industry regulations, and there are pressing concerns about the quality of popular equipment. โAs a country we have decided we value entrepreneurship and business and letting people just go to market,โ Mollyโs mom, Kaye, tells Flax, โand then we find out if the thing is safe or not as it is sold and marketed and used.โ This is one of my favorite kinds of magazine feature, the personal story that serves as a lens for a bigger one, which in turn asks people to wrestle with urgent questions. Molly is gone, but her death may well save another 12-year-old girl somewhere. โSD
Abigail Edgeย |ย Narrativelyย |ย January 9, 2023ย |ย 6,964 words
I was a child who had to endure being padded up to the hilt and a safety lecture just to get on a bike. So this story, about a family who happily fired their children out of cannons (starting around the ripe old age of 14), left me agog. An insight into a different world, it is a delightful read about what happens if you actually do run away with the circus. David Smith was 27 when he and his wife, Jean, joined a traveling circus โ a surprising career move for a maths teacher. After a stint as a trapeze artist, where he would catch his wife as she hurtled through the air, he found cannon life and never looked back, continuing to be fired over 100 feet into his 70s. The coupleโs children grew up immersed in circus culture, seeing it change over the years as circuses fell out of favor; Davidโs son, David Jr., is still being fired out of cannons today. Pragmatically told, this is a measured take on an extraordinary family. โCW
Jesรบs A. Rodrรญguez | Politico Magazine | January 31, 2023 | 4,248 words
Okay, soย Politicoย doesnโt believe in Oxford commas. Demerit issued. But look past that, because Jesรบs Rodrรญguez turns on the gas for this scrumโs-eye view of what itโs like to have to cover George Santos, a man whoseย unrelenting mendacityย is shocking even by Congressional standards. If Frank Sinatra had a cold, Santos has an allergy to anything resembling virtue. But he does have the feeble bribery of a box of donuts, which he leaves outside his office for the frustrated journalists โ and the last of those donuts provides the apt (if obvious) literary device that fuels the piece. Empty calories, with a core of emptiness at its center: Is there a better culinary symbol for a man like this? Rodrรญguez knowsย youย know the answer, so he just lets the question sit as he chases Santos around the Capitol and surrounding offices, chronicling every platitude, snipe, and muttered aside along the way. This may be a piece about an elected official, but to call it political journalism does it a disservice. Sometimes you need to laugh to keep from crying, so enjoy the punchlines while you can. โPR
Henry Wismayer | Noema | January 5, 2023 | 6,377 words
โTo experience awe, to fully open ourselves up to it,โ writes Henry Wismayer, โhelps us to live happier, healthier lives.โ But whatย isย awe? How has the human sense of wonder over the centuries driven us toward various pursuits and ways of being? Wismayer spends time with Dacher Keltner, a Berkeley professor at the forefront of a scientific movement examining our least-understood emotional state. Iโve appreciated Wismayerโs recent contemplative essays on other subjects, likeย travelย andย tourism, and this hybrid of profile and reported essay is yet another thought-provoking read. Itโs informative about this new field of psychology but not at all dense, and I came away from it fresh, open-minded, and ready to experience the small wonders of my day. โCLR
Elif Batuman | Astra Magazine | October 27, 2022 | 2,245 words
Iโm still sad thatย Astra Magazineย is no more. Maybe itโs because Iโm seeing so much fervor for bot-written text lately (oh hi, ChatGPT) and I worry about its mind-boggling potential to pollute the internet with pap left unchecked, not to mention the repercussions of inevitable misuse. Thankfullyย Astraย remains online for now, which allows you to read Elif Batumanโs terrific deep dive on theย Peanutsย character Pig-Pen. Through Pig-Pen, Batuman explores what Charles Schultz had to say about American values in the 1950s and beyond, most notably, commentary on the darker side of society and relationships. But, in wearing his messiness with pride, is Pig-Pen perhaps the most authentic Peanut of all? โEveryone, it turns out, has a Dirty version of themselves: mussed, unkempt, scribbled over. This feels true.โ โKS
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This story is quite the spectacle. How can a tale about a family who shoots themselves out of cannons not be? Told methodically, it is a solid account of circus life through the generations.
David Sr. asked his son to come to Madison to fill in for him. David Jr. didnโt hesitate: He packed up his things and drove halfway across the country. Two days later, he was at the business end of a cannon.ย ย