Short Reviews: A Fight to Be Heard
Reading Time: 3 minutes When former pro footballer Steve Gleason learned he had a particularly horrible illness, he also found he was going to have a son. His story, in this documentary.
The Granddaddy of Campus Mass Shootings
Reading Time: 3 minutes This year marks the 50th anniversary of the University of Texas Tower shootings. A creative new documentary brings the larger story to life.
A Criminal for Peace: Walking with Daniel Berrigan
Reading Time: 12 minutes Ed Curtin honors the extraordinary life of his friend, anti-war activist Daniel Berrigan, a deeply courageous man who was also magical, and full of surprises.
Short Reviews: Asperger’s Are Us
Reading Time: 2 minutes A documentary about some surprising people in our midst.
How We Lost Our Way: South By Southwest’s Squandered Potential
Reading Time: 4 minutes When WhoWhatWhy finally got around to attending the cultural extravaganza called South by Southwest, we were intrigued to see what’s driving the zeitgeist. We were a bit surprised at what we found.
Funny, Wise Quotations on Taxes
Reading Time: 7 minutes Are you in pain from the IRS? Well, you’re in good company. Check out what these characters have to say about paying taxes — Al Capone, Albert Einstein, Dave Barry, Mark Twain, Mae West, and many others.
NRA Lobbies Congress to Lift Ban on Weaponized Anthrax
Reading Time: 3 minutes The NRA argues that keeping weaponized anthrax out of the hands of law-abiding Americans is a violation of the Second Amendment. Now it is doing something about it.
Dangerous iPhone App: iPinkEye Virus from Extreme Nose Push-Ups
Reading Time: 3 minutes Dangerous new virus crosses the human-computer barrier. Are you at risk?
A Child Massacre Examined
Reading Time: 3 minutes A surprising number of people actually claim that the entire mass shooting event at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was fabricated. They’re dangerously wrong — and this documentary proves it, while bringing some of the children back to life, if only for a moment.
What Sundance Film Festival Reveals About Politics
Reading Time: 4 minutes How festival programmers choose which films to feature tells us a lot about tolerance (or lack thereof) for Deep Politics
Martin Luther King Also Had a Nightmare
Reading Time: 9 minutes In honor of Martin Luther King Day, WhoWhatWhy presents — through a fascinating collection of pictures — a brief history of American racism, a look at the kind of hatred, atrocities, and soul-searing humiliation that spurred King into action. Rather than the stuff of dreams, much of it was a living nightmare. We first published this piece in 2015, but it remains more relevant than ever — because we seem to be going backwards. We want you to see, with your own eyes, just how ugly it can get.
Buried Alive: The Living Hell of Solitary Confinement, and a Way Out
Reading Time: 2 minutes More than 80,000 US prisoners are held in solitary confinement. This video documents one man’s effort to trigger a change and give prisoners another chance.
Check Out What We Achieved — With Your Help
Reading Time: 4 minutes Here’s a sampling of what we accomplished in 2015 —
with your help. It shows the power we all have, when we choose to exercise it. Exciting stuff!
Last Minute E-Gifts for People of Conscience
Reading Time: 2 minutes What do you get somebody who has everything? Maybe the answer is… you don’t get anything for them at all. Instead, in their name, you could get something for….everybody. Here are a few of the more interesting from among untold good causes.
Classic Who: Magical, Practical Gifts that Change Lives
Reading Time: 8 minutes Scatter fairy dust with one-of-a-kind gifts that change lives: a job resumé secretly created with the help of a head-hunter; one lesson — guitar, surfing, photography, whatever — with a real pro; spooky gadgets from the Spy Store; toys for regressing adults, and more!
Thanksgiving Dinner at Trump Castle
Reading Time: 2 minutes For Thanksgiving, King Donald invited the other Republican presidential hopefuls to a feast. And they acted pretty much true to form.
Sanity Break: Chef Paul Funeral Procession
Reading Time: 1 minute We don’t usually post this kind of thing, but Editor in Chief Russ Baker was in New Orleans and caught video footage of the typical New Orleans style funeral procession for “Chef Paul” Prudhomme and thought our readers might appreciate it.
The Skinny on Secrets from Those Who Tell
Reading Time: 4 minutes If you have secrets — whether they are deep and dark, or downright tacky — then you may be surprised, entertained, and comforted by this collection of insights from people who, if still living, have a lot to hide themselves.
Houston Does Not Have a Problem
Reading Time: 3 minutes A massive government survey sought to determine how happy federal employees are with their jobs. WhoWhatWhy looked at it so you don’t have to, and we found some humor between the lines.
Editors’ Picks for Sept 29
Reading Time: 4 minutes Republicans — the last global warming deniers, DEA agents kept jobs despite misconduct, a second chance for first offenders in Georgia, and more picks.