Each week, members of the WFPL news team spotlight interesting stories we've read and enjoyed, for your weekend reading pleasure:Gabe Bullard:Our personal tastes and fashions change over time, but have you ever noticed that many elderly men seem sartorially preserved in a time period a few decades in the past? NPR's Robert Krulwich has uncovered why. Demand for new clothes (even underwear) drops dramatically after age 50. Read No, Thank You': The Mysterious Transformation of 50-Year-Olds. 'Bonus: In the analog world, I've been setting aside blocks of time every night this week to read 'Columbine,' Dave Cullen's outstanding analysis of the Littleton, Colo., school shooting. The book debunks just about everything you may think you know about the event and the shooters. I can't find any excerpts of the book online, but Cullen wrote about Columbine before the book came out. Here is a piece he wrote for the 5-year anniversary of the shooting. Read The Depressive and the Psychopath.Laura Ellis:I don't know why what I'm reading this week is so morbid. I promise, I'm okay. I really am. I have two things this week. The first is a piece called How Doctors Die. Reading the title I thought maybe it was going to be about freak accidents in the operating room, but no. It's actually a very thoughtful and interesting piece about end-of-life decisions, and how doctors who regularly witness those decisions (and their consequences) end up making different choices than laypeople. Read How Doctors Die.
Bonus: The other thing I read this week that I've been talking about a lot is this short hit from the
Smithsonian blog. Did you know that there are a bunch of dead bodies on Mt. Everest? And they just stay there? And subsequent climbers use them as landmarks?? No one gets them down because everyone is just trying to stay alive. Someone in the comments said that once you surpass a certain altitude on Everest, your body is actively dying. The question is whether you can make it to the peak and back to your camp before you finish the process. Freaky! And I will never climb Mt. Everest. Read There Are Over 200 Bodies on Mount Everest, And They’re Used as Landmarks. Rick Howlett:Don't be misled by the title. This is a compelling, behind-the-scenes look at an established director's comeback project. From Stephen Rodrick in the New York Times Magazine. Read Here Is What Happens When You Cast Lindsay Lohan In Your Movie. Devin Katayama: I've begun one of two books I received for Christmas — Manvotionals: Timeless Wisdom and Advice of Living the 7 Manly Virtues. The idea behind the book is a joke (at least that's how I perceived it),coming from my mother. The book itself provides excerpts from literature over centuries all aimed at making one a better man/person. The book, though manly as it is, can actually be applied to anyone's life and presents thoughts and ways to live life honestly and with purpose. Think of it as the the complete opposite of The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists.
