1. Slumber Party! — BuzzFeed News
Casper leads a new crowd of startups in the $14 billion mattress industry, trying to turn the most utilitarian of purchases into a quirky, shareable adventure. Wake up to the new world of selling the fundane. Read it at BuzzFeed News.
2. Level 14 — ProPublica / California Sunday Magazine
A devastating investigation by Joaquin Sapien into the rampant neglect and disorganization that led to the shuttering of a California group home for troubled kids. After decades of failing to reform its juvenile system, is the state finally ready to make meaningful change? Read it at ProPublica or California Sunday Magazine.
3. The Nerd Hunter — The New Yorker
Though far from a household name, to industry insiders Hollywood casting director Allison Jones is nothing short of a revolutionary. Stephen Rodrick explores how Jones has been quietly changing the face of American comedy, one nerd at a time. Read it at The New Yorker.
4. Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock Wants to be More Than a Myth — BuzzFeed News
It’s been eight years since Modest Mouse’s last album, and 11 since they found unlikely mainstream success. Jonathan Valania catches up with frontman Isaac Brock, who's had a very long time to think about what he’s done. Read it at BuzzFeed News.
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5. The Many Faces of Tatiana Maslany — The New York Times Magazine
Lili Loofbourow explores the multi-faceted actress's disparate characters on Orphan Black, and how they signify how women are — and aren't — allowed to be on television. “The greatest gift as an actor...is you get to go, Well, I’m doing this as a character, but really, this is me, this is me at my worst, my worst bits of me.” Read it at The New York Times Magazine.
6. Eat Pray Roll — Matter
Mary H.K. Choi felt like she needed a vacation from being an adult, so she turned to the drug of her youth — ecstasy. In this essay, she explores what it means to grow older, to forge connections, to reconcile what you thought your life would be with what it has become. Read it at Matter.
7. Why Matthew Perry Can't Quit — BuzzFeed News
After 10 years on Friends, Matthew Perry could have chosen to do whatever he wanted — but what he’s always wanted is to work. With Perry's reboot of The Odd Couple, Kate Aurthur discovers how the actor seems finally to have found the right role. Read it at BuzzFeed News.
8. Sugar Days — Virginia Quarterly Review
Sierra Crane-Murdoch recounts her time spent working on a sugar beet processing plant in North Dakota's Red River Valley. "If the American dream had not abandoned my fellow workers, they had abandoned it ... They would move on to the next job, and the next, because the nation needed its hoboes." Read it at the Virginia Quarterly Review.
9. An Excerpt from Masha Gessen’s New Book on the Tsarnaev Brothers — BuzzFeed News
In this excerpt from The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy, journalist Masha Gessen recounts the Boston Marathon bombing’s immediate aftermath through the eyes of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s friends and classmates. "On one track was the full knowledge that they were looking at a picture of their friend; on the other was the certainty that Jahar could not possibly be responsible." Read it at BuzzFeed News.
