Each week, members of the WFPL News team spotlight interesting stories we've read and enjoyed, for your weekend reading pleasure:
Gabe Bullard: On the Code Switch blog, Matt Thompson breaks down why we most often call marijuana marijuana and not cannabis, reefer, tea, afternoon deeliteor some other term. Turns out it has a lot to do with race, but not everything to do with race. Fascinating, man. Read The Mysterious History of 'Marijuana.'Devin Katayama:Try recalling a memory: fun, tragic, exciting. Any memory you choose may be subject to internal editing by the brain, according to some neuroscientists studying the effects of the “reconciliation” process. In researching memory for a story, it’s important to think about personal experiences and ways they’re recalled in the brain. Are you someone who has great long-term memory, or are you someone who often exaggerates (probably harder to admit). Either way, something to keep in mind—if you can—is how the brain processes memories. Read How Our Brains Make Memories.Erin Keane:In honor of this weekend's Fandom Fest, I've been brushing up on my comic lore. Stan Lee is here, after all, and what if I end up in line behind him at the downtown Heine Brothers and have nothing to say so I end up quoting Drunk Hulk tweets at him in a panic? That would be embarrassing. Instead, I'm brushing up on "Real Life Consequences of Accidents (Which Produce Super Powers in Comic Book Movies I Have Seen)," a fun piece by Tom Bligh in Barrelhouse's summer Superheroes issue. So now when I run into Stan Lee in the aquarium bar at the Galt House I can rattle off the actual results of radioactive arachnid bites (swelling, incontinence, discharge, Lyme disease) and with that, become his new best friend. Read Real Life Consequences of Accidents.Joseph Lord: My glasses broke recently, which means I had to go to the mall. While I was at the mall waiting for those glasses to be fixed, I stumbled on this story about the decline of malls. Essentially, it saysthese days are over. Read Even Teenagers Don't Want to Go to the Mall.Cameron Price:Prison is probably the one place where nobody ever wants to go. Yet, like anything that happens behind closed doors, we want to know everything about it. Enter Netflix's new original series "Orange is the New Black," which brings us behind the scenes of a women's federal prison and centers on the experiences of Piper Chapman, an inmate. The prison drama has gained much popularity among Netflix subscribers, but few of them may realize that Piper's time is based on the true story of a real person. Of course, some names have been changed to protect the innocent, but an interview with the real Piper Kerman by The Washington Post brings an interesting depth to the already quality show. Read Orange is the New Black Got You Upset About Prison?
