Slate Articles

How Do You Fake Your Own Death?

Brian Palmer — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:06:02 GMT

Bronx-born rapper Tim Dog has been accused of faking his own death in February. A Mississippi prosecutor alleges that Dog, born Timothy Blair, is trying to escape paying court-ordered debts of $19,000, and he won’t accept that the rapper is dead until he sees a death certificate. What’s the best way to fake your own death?

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Thu, 23 May 2013 17:06:02 GMT

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The Gin and Tonic

Troy Patterson — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:51:19 GMT

The restaurant’s main dining room was, like my lunch partner’s expense account, majestically commodious, and the light softly filling its temperate air seemed as buttery as the kitchen’s Dover sole. Earlier this month in midtown Manhattan, my film agent and I conducted a most productive business lunch at Oceana, where the severely assuaging atmosphere enhanced a discussion of the second draft of my first screenplay, a feature-film tribute to the gin and tonic. We glowed with the knowledge that we were full of fortune. And liquor.

Keep the Candelabra Flame Burning

Simon Doonan — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:37:04 GMT

Liberace once took a poop in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., in full view of staff and guests. Quelle horreur! Naturally I made frantic excuses for him. After all, he was middle-aged at the time and starting to get a little confused. It was, nonetheless, an acutely embarrassing episode and not one that I would ever care to repeat.

Are Apostrophes Necessary?

Matthew J.X. Malady — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:07:12 GMT

One hundred and eighteen miles north of London, in the town of Boston, England, there lives a retired newspaperman named John Richards who is experiencing an unusually rotten spring. Richards is the founder and chairman of something called the Apostrophe Protection Society. His world, at least as related to the tiny mark that denotes possessives and the omission of letters from certain words, appears to be crashing down around him.

From Africa to the Board Room

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:46:16 GMT

When economist Dambisa Moyo writes about the challenges facing African nations, she draws in part on her own roots and the great distance she has traveled since growing up in Zambia in the 1970s. She left her native country midway through college and went on to pursue graduate degrees at Harvard and Oxford. She later worked at the World Bank and Goldman Sachs before joining the boards of Barclay’s Bank and the Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold company.

Dating Superman

Seth Stevenson — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:54:34 GMT

When you're single and going on lots of dates, you start to wish you had some sort of dating superpower. Perhaps a Spidey sense to help you differentiate Ms. Right from Ms. Wrong. Or a charm spell to win over that dreamy person who's out of your league. Or—for efficiency's sake—the capacity to be on three dates at the same time.

The Last of the World War I Vets Speak

Richard Rubin — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:04:00 GMT

This is an excerpt from Richard Rubin’s The Last of the Doughboys: The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten World War, the story of a decade-long odyssey to recover the stories of the forgotten world war. Rubin interviewed dozens of American World War I veterans for the book, including William J. Lake, a private in the U.S. Army’s 91^st (“Wild West”) Division who was drafted in 1917 and served with a machine gun crew in France. At the time of the interview, in October 2003, Lake was 107; he died in June 2004. The Last of the Doughboys is being published this week by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Does My Toddler Have Autism?

Melinda Wenner Moyer — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:39:00 GMT

A few columns ago, while attempting to explain why toddlers do crazy things, I mentioned that my 21-month-old son likes to line up his toy cars over and over and over again. A reader highlighted this habit in the comments section and asked whether I’d had my son screened for autism. Her implication, I think, was that I should be concerned—repetitive behaviors can be early signs of the developmental disorder, and autism symptoms usually appear before kids turn 2.

For the Private and Confidential Use of the Recipient

Emily Yoffe — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:15:00 GMT

Get Dear Prudence delivered to your inbox each week; click here to sign up. Please send your questions for publication to prudence@slate.com. (Questions may be edited.)

The Highly Effective Idiot

Philip Preville — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:50:15 GMT

It’s been a full five days since the world learned of a video allegedly showing Toronto’s mayor, Rob Ford, smoking crack cocaine, and Ford has yet to answer a single question about the allegation. On Wednesday, Ford’s older brother, Toronto councilor Doug Ford, told the media that he believes what his brother tells him, which is that the accusations are ridiculous. “I don’t know how much more he can say,” he added.

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Wed, 22 May 2013 22:50:15 GMT

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