Seven Compelling Weekend Reads

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Welcome back to The Daily’s Sunday culture edition. For your weekend reading list, our editors compiled seven compelling stories about a treacherous journey for migrants, why adults dream about school, a 500-year-old mystery, and more.

The Reading List

Seventy Miles in Hell

The Darién Gap was once considered impassable. Now hundreds of thousands of migrants are risking treacherous terrain, violence, hunger, and disease to travel through the jungle to the United States.

By Caitlin Dickerson

An Intoxicating 500-Year-Old Mystery

The Voynich Manuscript has long baffled scholars—and attracted cranks and conspiracy theorists. Now a prominent medievalist is taking a new approach to unlocking its secrets.

By Ariel Sabar

Why Your Vet Bill Is So High

Corporations and private-equity funds have been rolling up smaller chains and previously independent practices.

By Helaine Ole

Expiration Dates Are Meaningless

Do I dare to eat an old peach yogurt? Yes, yes I do.

By Yasmin Tayag

Why Adults Still Dream About School

Long after graduation, anxiety in waking life often drags dreamers back into the classroom.

By Kelly Conaboy

The Problem With “In Demand” Jobs

Federal workforce-training programs prepare people for dead-end jobs that no one wants.

By Kevin Carey

Alexa, Should We Trust You?

The voice revolution has only just begun. Today, Alexa is a humble servant. Very soon, she could be much more—a teacher, a therapist, a confidant, an informant.

By Judith Shulevitz

The Week Ahead

1. Alien: Romulus , a sci-fi film about a group of space colonizers who encounter a terrifying alien species on an abandoned space station (in theaters Friday)
2. Season 4 of Emily in Paris , a series about an American marketing executive who moves to Paris for a dream opportunity (part one premieres Thursday on Netflix)
3. Peggy , a novel about the life of the art collector Peggy Guggenheim, written by the late writer Rebecca Godfrey and completed by Leslie Jamison (out Tuesday)

Essay

When Maui Burned

By Carrie Ching

To some people, the story began in a dusty field, gone wild with invasive grass. It was a story about high winds and sparks turning to flames. It was a story about harrowing escapes and people fleeing in terror, the lucky ones rushing into the ocean as the deadly wildfire devoured an entire town. Those were the stories most people heard. Those were the stories most people told. But those of us who know this place and know its history know there is so much more.

Read the full article.

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• This is not your typical campus novel.

Catch Up on The Atlantic

• Having a chance has changed the Democrats.
• The law as Justice Gorsuch sees it
• Israel’s disaster foretold

Photo Album

Take a look at these photos from Lahaina, a historic community in Maui that was devastated by wildfires one year ago.

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