Magazine Monitor

Weekend Edition: The week's best reads

Magazine MonitorA collection of cultural artefacts

Leonardo DiCaprio holding Quaaludes in Wolf of Wall Street

A collection of some of the best features from the BBC News website this week, with an injection of your comments.

"Fascinating article," posted Hannah Bewley. Quaalude was first synthesised in 1951 in India. Except it wasn't Quaalude, it was methaqualone. Just like items such as Kleenex, Velcro or Jacuzzi, Quaalude is a brand name, one that came to refer to the drug in general. Nicknamed "wallbangers" for reasons The Wolf of Wall Street fans will be only too aware of, they are back in the headlines after Bill Cosby admitted getting them to give to women he wanted to have sex with. This is the strange tale of the prescription drug that was misused and then disappeared.

The rise and fall of Quaaludes

Ketamine connection

"Extraordinary story," tweeted Ben Goldacre. From a Chinese village to a city in the UK - this is the story of how a lethal drug is made and sold around the world. In the latest of our immersive long-form stories told using pictures, video and text, we look at how a tranquilliser used on horses, ketamine, is getting a new life in night clubs. Recreational users say it lifts them out of their bodies - but it also chews away at their internal organs, causing permanent damage.

The Ketamine Connection

Missing Joyce

"So touching," posted Gracias Onuh. When Malaysian flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, the BBC's Natalia Antelava was soon reporting from the scene. Standing amid the debris, she was handed one of the victims' documents by a local man. Although she passed the papers on, the name of the passenger stayed with her - Joyce. Natalia's decision to find the woman's relatives led her to the Dutch town of Breda, where Joyce's sister is still waiting for answers about the crash, and for the return of one important personal effect.

A tale of two sisters and flight MH17

Weird gusts

"A really interesting read," tweeted Carl Brown. It's not just Chicago. Many of the world's biggest cities have been getting distinctly windier thanks to the growth in skyscraper-building. The air hitting them at high altitude has nowhere else to go, so it blasts the streets below, annoying pedestrians. Sometimes the consequences of these "downdraughts" can be deadly.

The problem with the skyscraper wind effect

Marching to oblivion

"I would be interested to see this idea revived," tweeted Tamaranth. At the height of their popularity in 1918, 363 national kitchens were doing business across the country. However, their popularity during World War One would not last. Within six months of Armistice Day, 120 of the kitchens had closed. "The national kitchens were a great example of government supporting and building upon good work going on at the grassroots," says Bryce Evans, a senior lecturer at Liverpool Hope University.

The time when the government tried to feed everybody