Michael Zelenko
Legendary Journalist Sebastian Junger Is (Almost) Done Covering Wars
Sebastian Junger, who rose to fame with his best-selling book The Perfect Storm, spent months in Afghanistan’s hostile Korengal valley in 2007 and 2008. Four years after Restrepo, his film about the experience, Junger is releasing more of...
The Human Cost of Your Mother's Day Flowers
Work in the cut-flower industry is notoriously dangerous. Flowers are fickle and sensitive to pests and disease.
The Human Cost of Your Mother's Day Flowers
This Mother's Day weekend, Americans will purchase more than $2 billion worth of flowers. Almost 80 percent of those come from Colombia, a country where women toil under dangerous conditions in vast farms and factories to cut roses for export. Maybe...
Sperm Whale Shit Will Make You Rich
Our planet pumps out an ungodly amount of poop every day, but few of those turds—if any—are as valuable as the mysterious and rare fudge dragons dooked out by sperm whales. What makes sperm whale ass ham so damn expensive?
Colombian Union Leaders Are Being Hunted by Paramilitary Groups
Anti-union violence has been endemic to Colombia, with roughly 3,000 organizers killed by assassins and paramilitaries in the last quarter.
Colombian Union Leaders Are Being Hunted by Paramilitary Groups
Anti-union violence has been endemic to Colombia for decades, with roughly 3,000 organizers killed by assassins and paramilitaries over the last quarter century. In fact, more than half of all murders for union-organizing activity worldwide take place...
‘Colombia’s Deadliest City’ Is Fighting Back Against Gang Extortion
Buenaventura, Colombia’s busiest port, is dominated by drug violence. But citizens have now had enough of paying out protection money.
What Happens When a Colombian City Ruled by Extortion Finally Says No?
As Colombia’s busiest port, Buenaventura does business with harbors around the world. Because of its strategic location, the port is also a primary artery for cocaine leaving the country. As Colombian paramilitaries have reinvented themselves into...
Welcome to the Bananapocalypse
We know you love your big, juicy Cavendish bananas—the average American consumes about 28 pounds of them every year. But recently, a deadly, incurable blight called Panama disease has been liquidating crops worldwide, so say goodbye to your favorite...
The Prawn Goodbye
The average American consumes almost four pounds of shrimp a year—three times as much as they did 30 years ago and far more than any other seafood product. Now, a mysterious plague is wiping these little critters out, and there's very little we...
The Prawn Goodbye - A Mysterious Plague Is Wiping Out Shrimp Around the World
The average American consumes almost four pounds of shrimp a year—three times as much as they did 30 years ago and far more than any other seafood product. Now, a mysterious plague is wiping these little critters out, and there's very little we can do...
If the Drug War Is Failing, Where'd All the Cocaine Go?
In the US, 40 percent fewer people used cocaine in 2012 than they did in 2006. Less high school seniors say they've used coke in the last 12 months than any time since the 70s, and there's been a 58% drop in the drug's seizure at the southwest border...