“Family Secrets,” iHeartRadio
I’ve been hooked on the podcast “Family Secrets” since the second season launched in August. Host Dani Shapiro, who learned later in life that her father wasn’t her biological dad, explores the power of secrecy within families and how unanswered questions can either create a lifetime of wonderment or blissful ignorance. —Jessica Lee, local government reporter
“She’s missing. I’m not gong to quit her: The long, loving search for Betsy, bovine escape artist,” The California Sunday Magazine
The saga of the search for one incredibly wily cow, and why her owner, Frank Koloski, can’t seem to give up the search. As writer Clio Chang writes: “If Koloski didn’t have much of an opinion about Betsy before she ran away, he certainly does now. He tells me that he thinks she is starting to enjoy the attention. ‘If she has a personality, she probably thinks she’s the s—,’ Koloski says fondly.” —Andy Putz, editor
“Who’s afraid of the pedestrian mall?” Curbed
It was kind of a ’70s thing: help downtowns compete with suburban shopping malls by making them, well, like suburban shopping malls. (Ironically, the champion of the concept was also the father of the mall: Victor Gruen.) Town after town — 200 or more — closed their main street to traffic and turned them over to pedestrians. Then, when that failed, they reopened them to cars and continued to struggle. This article by Alexandra Lange on Curbed thinks the time might be right to try again (though it cites Nicollet Mall as a success story, which seems premature). —Peter Callaghan, state government reporter
“The transcendence of Nick Cave: After losing his son, the post-punk icon found communion with his fans,” The Washington Post
Australian rocker Nick Cave was in town recently performing songs between question and answer sessions with the audience. Caitlin Gibson writes about this “reckless experiment” — the once-enigmatic singer opening up to his fans following the accidental death of his 15-year-old son. Cave has launched a weekly newsletter where he’s invited his fans to ask him about anything — God, grief, PJ Harvey — and he, in turn, responds with the same wisdom and poetry one can find in his songs. —Corey Anderson, design director
