Current Events > Article: Lost in the Meritocracy

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This is part of a series of topics I'm making that shares my love of longform journalism, with a particular focus on storytelling. This time, the topic is higher education.

Lost in the Meritocracy

How I traded an education for a ticket to the ruling class.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2005/01/lost-in-the-meritocracy/303672/

Previous Articles:

The Adults in the Room

On leaving Deadspin and digital media in 2019.

https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/the-adults-in-the-room-1837487584

The Innocent Man

On August 13, 1986, Michael Morton came home from work to discover that his wife had been brutally murdered in their bed. His nightmare had only begun.

Part 1:

https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/the-innocent-man-part-one/

Part 2:

https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-innocent-man-part-two/

A Thousand Pounds of Dynamite

In August, 1980, an enigmatic box covered in a bewildering array of switches appeared in an upstairs office of Harvey's Wagon Wheel Casino, near Lake Tahoe.

https://magazine.atavist.com/a-thousand-pounds-of-dynamite

The Day Treva Thorneberry Disappeared

In the mid-eighties the cheerful high school student vanished. After more than a decade had passed, her friends and family in her tiny North Texas hometown of Electra had no idea where she wasor if she was dead or alive. They certainly didnt know that almost two thousand miles away her fate was kept secret by a teenage girl named Brianna Stewart.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-day-treva-throneberry-disappeared/

Dear Leader Dreams of Sushi

North Korea is a mythically strange land, an Absurdistan, where almost nothing is known about the people or, more important, their missile-launching leaders. There is, however, one man, a humble sushi chef from Japan, who infiltrated the inner sanctum, becoming the Dear Leader's cook, confidant, and court jester. What is life like serving Kim Jong-il and his heir? A strange and dangerous gig where the food and drink never stop, the girls are all virgins, and you're never really safe. We sent Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Adam Johnson to meet the man who survived all the craziness.

https://www.gq.com/story/kim-jong-il-sushi-chef-kenji-fujimoto-adam-johnson

A Theory of Relativity (Japans Rent-a-Family Industry)

People who are short on relatives can hire a husband, a mother, a grandson. The resulting relationships can be more real than youd expect.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/japans-rent-a-family-industry

The Strange and Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit

For nearly thirty years, a phantom haunted the woods of Central Maine. Unseen and unknown, he lived in secret, creeping into homes in the dead of night and surviving on what he could steal. To the spooked locals, he became a legendor maybe a myth. They wondered how he could possibly be real. Until one day last year, the hermit came out of the forest.

https://www.gq.com/story/the-last-true-hermit

The Last Ride of Cowboy Bob

He wore a Western hat, never spoke a word, and robbed bank after bank. When the feds finally arrested him, they discovered that their suspect was actually a soft-spoken woman. They thought theyd never hear from her again but she had other plans.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-last-ride-of-cowboy-bob/

A Home at the End of Google Earth

Separated from his older brother at a train station, five-year-old Saroo Munshi Khan found himself lost in the slums of Calcutta. Nearly 20 years later, living in Australia, he began a painstaking search for his birth home, using ingenuity, hazy memories, and Google Earth.

https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2012/11/a-home-at-the-end-of-google-earth

Stalolin posted...

A Home at the End of Google Earth

Separated from his older brother at a train station, five-year-old Saroo Munshi Khan found himself lost in the slums of Calcutta. Nearly 20 years later, living in Australia, he began a painstaking search for his birth home, using ingenuity, hazy memories, and Google Earth.

I remember that I saw the movie that this was based on, and I really enjoyed it.

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Thanks a lot for this, TC.

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g0ldie posted...

I remember that I saw the movie that this was based on, and I really enjoyed it.

Do you remember the name of it? I remember thinking it would make a good movie when I read it.

Doctor_Dementia posted...

Thanks a lot for this, TC.

No thank YOU for the support.

Lion

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_(2016_film)

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Stalolin posted...

Lost in the Meritocracy

How I traded an education for a ticket to the ruling class.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2005/01/lost-in-the-meritocracy/303672/

I read this, and it's a good read. Thanks for sharing!
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No problem!