ICYMI: China’s toxic harvest, Dove’s new ad and 5 other stories you shouldn’t miss

Every Monday, one Marketplace staff member offers their favorite stories from the past week. Here’s some of the journalism that caught my attention this past week.

• This piece by Sabri Ben-Achour on supercomputers was just plain cool — well-written and full of fresh information.

• Rob Schmitz gave us a complete web package on the toxic harvests in China — check out all the pictures and video he captured on the field.

• This interview with a parking lawyer in New York City really brought to life this story on the parking culture in the city. A great idea from our senior editor Betsy Streisand.

• Peter O’Dowd went above and beyond on this web exclusive. He got the guy who bought a pair of Google Glasses — and the story of what happened next.

• We got an interview with a bakery owner in San Francisco who accepts bitcoins as payment — oh so very San Francisco, and a lovely listen!

• Krissy Clark got an early in with the guys whose job it was to sift through video evidence — and updated her online piece as the Boston story developed.

• And this web-only piece on Dove’s new controversial and viral ad got a lot of talk here and on the Internet. A great story written quickly and smartly by Nancy Marshall Genzer.