We love and cherish every story that we publish on The Outline, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have some favorites this year. For your reading pleasure, in no particular order, ten of our editors’ favorite stories from 2017 about power, culture, and the future.
How brands secretly buy their way into Forbes, Fast Company, and Huffpost stories
Journalism has some rules, even in 2017. Not accepting cash in exchange for product mentions in articles is one of the more important ones.
The Great 78 project is preserving our sonic past
This special edition of our World Dispatch podcast is about using the technology of the future to preserve the culture of the past. Is it a Future story or a Culture story? Listen and decide.
Long live the group chat
There are some things that can only be said in the absolute privacy and comfort of a constant and rapidly unfolding group text conversation.
Mic’s drop
At a time when the social justice movement is more important and popular than ever, Mic.com was exploiting it for clicks, and then abandoned the staff that actually cared.
To be a teen on a tiny island
These teens are growing up on a gorgeous 1.6 mile Italian island, but as one said, “no matter how beautiful it is, it cannot give you a future if you want a successful career.” Kids these days.
Inside Apple’s global war on leakers
In June, a recording obtained by The Outline shed light on just how far Apple would go to protect secrets around new products and prevent leaks from the inside.
Nardwuar knows you
Preparing to interview a celebrity is stressful! But it’s nothing compared to interviewing the king of interview-preparedness. Nardwuar is famous for knowing an insane amount about the people he talks to, and when we went to interview him, he was no different.
The insidious rise of microcelebrity
Oh, the social media star. What will become of those on a quest for internet fame, through memes and likes and favorites? No one knows yet, maybe we’ll find out in 2018.
The most hated poet in Portland
One tweet turned the internet against Andrew Yost, but the story of how it affected him and the others involved can teach us all a bit about how much impact what we say online can have.
Real American terrorists
Islamberg, New York is home to a small community of Muslims in the rural Catskills. All was well, until a group of far-right protesters became convinced that the town was harboring terrorists and began planning attacks and wreaking havoc.
