Weekly Filet #244: The complete history of Berlin's despairport. And more.
1. Wie Deutschland am Bau eines Flughafens scheiterte (Der Spiegel)
You've all heard jokes about the BER airport that they just can't finish. How is that even possible? This seven-month investigation offers an impressively detailed reconstruction of where it all went wrong. A tale of megalomania and dilettantism, which will have you shake your head in disbelief almost non-stop. (The article is only available in German, for now, I hope)
2. Icarus (Netflix)
A great documentary that was never meant to be that way. A filmmaker and hobby athlete decides to test on himself how doping works. All of a sudden he's in the middle of one of the biggest doping scandals in history. And the Russian mastermind behind it implores him for help.
3. A Conversation With a Former White Nationalist (The Daily)
Another standout episode from The New York Times' news podcast «The Daily».
4. Inside Waymo's Secret World for Training Self-Driving Cars (The Atlantic)
At any time, there are 25000 self-driving cars making their way through Austin, Mountain View, and Phoenix. Except not in the real world, but in a simulation, designed to test fully autonomous cars in thousands of scenarios. Fascinating insights into the race to make human drivers absolete.
5. What’s It Like to See a Democracy Destroyed? (Politico)
If you're guessing from the title – no, not that one. This story is about Venezuela. A sobering interview with a foreign correspondent who spent years covering the implosion of the country.