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The New Yorker
The Gluten Myth?
Michael Specter loves to bake, and is dismayed by the rise in gluten-free foods, which he — a skeptic by nature — thought to be faddish. In a thorough exploration of celiac disease and the enormous market in gluten-free foods, he comes to the conclusion that there could be factors other than gluten causing the symptoms many people complain of, but that there might be changes in the way bread is baked nowadays that could be causing digestion problems for some. Mainly, the story made me crave a sandwich. — John Schwartz
“Last Week Tonight”
Sweet Thoughts and Belly Laughs
Let’s talk about sugar. Everyone loves it. Today the average American eats about 22 teaspoons of the sweet stuff every day — the equivalent of 75 pounds a year. Much of that is in the form of added sugars, which manufacturers are dumping into nearly every processed food you can think of: crackers, bread, ketchup, tomato juice, salad dressings and even turkey jerky. But as John Oliver points out in this clip that is both hilarious and maddening, the food industry would prefer to keep this information under wraps — which is why some companies are fighting back against the new nutrition labeling standards that would require them to list the amounts of “added sugars” in their products. — Anahad O’Connor
NPR
1984: The Rise of the Geek and the Decline of Women in Computing
Did you know that many of the early computing pioneers were women? Me neither. When — and why — did that change? Apparently, sometime in 1984, roughly around the same time when personal computers started showing up in American homes — and the stereotype of nerds and techies as geeky, awkward boys began to take hold in the media. A fascinating morsel to chew on this week. — Jenna Wortham
Vox
Ebola: A Different Take
Fear of the Ebola virus in the United States has far outstripped information. This article doesn’t judge the response, but examines it in terms of evolution. Some psychologists argue that the wave of disgust is adaptive, a behavioral parallel to our physical immune systems. — Andrea Kannapell
Democracy
Is Big Philanthropy Good for Democracy?
This essay, by Gara LaMarche, the president of the country’s most influential network of liberal political donors, reflects on the distortive effect and antidemocratic nature of large-scale philanthropy. Mr. LaMarche asks a provocative question: Should taxpayers be forced to subsidize, through charitable tax exemptions, the political and policy clout of wealthy donors? — Nicholas Confessore