Jason Fagone, a contributing editor at Wired and a writer-at-large for Philadelphia, is the author of Ingenious.

"It seemed like all the big guys in American society had let us down, all the elites. And here was a contest that was explicitly looking to the little guy and saying, 'We don't care what you've done before or how much money you have in your pocket. If you solve this problem, you win the money.' There was something so optimistic and hopeful and cool about that to me."

Thanks to TinyLetter and Squarespace for sponsoring this week's episode.

Show notes:

@jfagone

jasonfagone.com

Fagone on Longform

[2:15] "The Dirtiest Player" (GQ • Feb 2010)

[11:45] Ingenious: A True Story of Invention, Automotive Daring, and the Race to Revive America (2013)

[24:00] "High Times May Be the Most Influential Publication of Our Era" (The New Republic • Nov 2013)

[24:45] "The Willy Wonka of Pot" (Grantland • Nov 2013)

[25:30] Cultivating Exceptional Cannabis: An Expert Breeder Shares His Secrets (DJ Short • 2004)

[48:30] "The Death (and Life) of the Philadelphia Weekly and Philadelphia City Paper" (Philadelphia • May 2012)

[49:00] Breaking The News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy (James Fallows • 1996)

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