1. “My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward,” by Mark Lukach
We met at 18. We wed at 24. At 27, I checked my wife into a psych ward—for the first time. How mental illness re-shapes a marriage.
2. “This Doctor Knows Exactly How You Feel,” by Erika Hayasaki
A rare condition causes neuroscientist Joel Salinas to experience other people’s emotions and sensations. Is mirror-touch synesthesia a superpower or a curse?
3. “The Drug Lord With a Social Mission,” by Maia Szalavitz
Matt Bowden (sometimes known as Starboy, an “interdimensional traveler”) helped create one of the most viral outbreaks of new drugs in history. He might also have the antidote.
4. “Save the Honeybee, Sterilize the Earth,” by Josh Dzieza
A decade ago, people started panicking about the collapse of the honeybee population and the crash of our food supply. But today there are more honeybees than there were then. We have engineered our way to a frenzied and precarious new normal.
5. “From Our Prison to Your Dinner Table,” by Graeme Wood
At America’s strangest workplace, laborers are making toys for kids, picking grapes for wineries, and farming tilapia for Whole Foods—all for $1.50 an hour.
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