NirvanaAdam Johnson, EsquireWe don’t really recommend fiction but a new story from one of my favorite writers, Adam Johnson, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Orphan Master’s Son, is not to be missed.

Did Goldman Sachs Overstep in Criminally Charging Its Ex-Programmer?Michael Lewis, Vanity FairEverything Michael Lewis writes is worth reading, and this careful, fascinating look into how Goldman went after one of its top computer programmers is no exception.

George Saunders’s Advice to Graduates George Saunders, New York TimesThe one graduation speech actually worth reading this year. Its message: be kind.

In the Violent Favelas of BrazilSuketu Mehta, New York Review of BooksA timely piece on the transformation of Brazil’s infamous favelas from the ever brilliant Suketu Mehta.

The Best Little Checkpoint in TexasAl Reinert, Texas MonthlyBe careful where you carry marijuana across the border.

When Liberian Child Soldiers Grow UpClaire MacDougall, NewsweekWhat happens to child soldiers after the fighting stops?

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