Longform

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Stories 41 - 60 | << Prev   Next >>

Inside the Kennedy Scramble to Manage the RFK Jr. Crisis

As a rogue Kennedy threatens the family legacy, Vanity Fair questions how far their loyalty will go

(Newser) - With roots in elected office dating back to the 1800s, the Kennedys have long been called American royalty. Despite scandal and tragedy following the family over generations—so much so, a supposed family curse shrouds their mystique—the powerful reputation that comes with the name has remained. Writing at Vanity ...

We Still Haven&#39;t Solved the Space Poop Problem
We Still Haven't Solved
the Space Poop Problem
longform
Jul 7, 2024 2:25 PM CDT

We Still Haven't Solved the Space Poop Problem

Wired digs into the surprisingly challenging issue as moon expeditions intensify

(Newser) - Neil Armstrong left more than his footprints on the moon. As Becky Ferreira writes in Wired , he and his fellow Apollo astronauts also left nearly 100 bags of poop up there over various missions, where they remain to this day. For one thing, this raises the prospect of humans contaminating...

The Search for Cult 'Witches' Who Disappeared in 1998

Alta's Geoffrey Gray goes on the hunt for the followers of Carlos Casteneda

(Newser) - The story starts off in a typical fashion: a cult leader gains notoriety and wealth, purchases a compound, and fills it with disciples, primarily young women, who serve as his sexual subordinates. But in reporter Geoffrey Gray's twisty examination in Alta of Carlos Castaneda and his sect of devoted...

Among the Biggest Celebrities, This Doctor Is a Celebrity

New Yorker profiles renowned orthopedic surgeon Neal ElAttrache

(Newser) - The biggest names in sports and the biggest names in Hollywood appear to have anointed one orthopedic surgeon the biggest name in medicine. As an entertaining profile in the New Yorker explains, that would be Dr. Neal ElAttrache of the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles. "Most surgeons are...

Finding on SEAL Suicides Didn't Make It to Navy Chiefs: Report

Brain damage from blasts, often from firing their own weapons, was found in dead servicemen

(Newser) - At least a dozen Navy SEALs took their own lives over the past decade, while still on active duty or soon after leaving the military. The brains of eight of those troops were analyzed in a lab, and every one fit the same mold: They were all found to have...

Car Dealer's Sordid Case a 'Gruesome Show of Machismo'

Texas Monthly digs into a murder-for-hire case involving once-prominent Austin businessman Erik Maund

(Newser) - It could have gone so many different ways, write Katy Vine and Ana Worrel for Texas Monthly . Instead, two people are dead and four others have been convicted in their murders, including a prominent car dealer in Austin . The story the journalists unwind is one that devolves into a "...

For Debut Authors, Busting Out Is Harder Than Ever

Esquire's Kate Dwyer looks at media's changing landscape for authors

(Newser) - Kate Dwyer at Esquire argues that today's media landscape has made captivating an audience near impossible for debut authors. And given the importance of a first book to landing subsequent deals, this can leave many talented writers' careers dead in the water. "Getting the review on the cover...

It Takes Three Dogs to Make a Clone
It Takes
Three Dogs
to Make
a Clone
longform
Jun 30, 2024 10:40 AM CDT

It Takes Three Dogs to Make a Clone

New Yorker explores the ethical questions involved with cloning a beloved pet

(Newser) - The question posed in the headline is straightforward enough: "Would you clone your dog?" Arriving at an answer, however, is far less straightforward. In the New Yorker , scientist Alexandra Horowitz explores not just the logistics of the cloning process but the bigger-picture questions involved. In the US, ViaGen is...

&#39;Unfailingly Polite&#39; Dad of 16 Tried to Hire a Hit Man
Evangelical Father of 16
Busted in Hit Man Hire
longform
Jun 30, 2024 9:03 AM CDT

Evangelical Father of 16 Busted in Hit Man Hire

New York magazine digs into the unexpected charges against Christopher Pence of Utah

(Newser) - Earlier this year, federal authorities announced that a 43-year-old Utah man had been sentenced to seven years in prison for attempting to hire a hit man online. What makes the case especially unusual are the particulars about Christopher Pence and his motives, as laid out in detail in New York ...

What Happens When a Spouse Undergoes a Gender Transition

The AP looks at marriages that have survived such a change

(Newser) - Marissa Lasoff-Santos and the person she would marry quickly fell head over heels in love. Lasoff-Santos was a gay woman. Her girlfriend was a bisexual woman—or so they thought. Now her partner has become her husband, and they both identify as queer. And things are better than ever. "...

After Fleeing FLDS, Running Became Her Saving Grace

Paige Kaptuch of Runner's World looks at how a running club has helped a community heal

(Newser) - When Darlene Barlow Stubbs was growing up in Short Creek, Arizona, she wasn't allowed to have toys, a bike, or even books. Under the new leadership of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prophet Warren Jeffs, a sect of the Mormon church, strict changes in what was...

Refrigeration Changed Food in Unexpected Ways
Refrigeration
Changed Food
in Unexpected
Ways
longform
Jun 23, 2024 2:00 PM CDT

Refrigeration Changed Food in Unexpected Ways

In the New Yorker , Nicola Twilley looks at how it changed the very flavor

(Newser) - The cheeseburger emerged a century ago, not too long after the dawn of refrigeration, and it's no mere coincidence, writes Nicola Twilley in the New Yorker . If you tried to make one from scratch—harvest grain for the buns, slaughter a cow for the meat, grow some lettuce and...

Newfangled Form of Plastic Recycling Called a 'Delusion'

A ProPublica investigation calls process of pyrolysis an industry-hyped bust

(Newser) - If the plastics industry is to be believed, a new type of chemical recycling called pyrolysis is poised to solve many of the well-documented —and alarming —problems with plastic. The only hitch? Pyrolysis is a "delusion," declares a ProPublica investigation. As journalist Lisa Song explains, pyrolysis...

Amateur Sleuth Uncovers a Wild Stolen Bike Network

Pricey two-wheelers taken in Northwest have been showing up in Mexico

(Newser) - A customized bicycle these days can run $10,000, which goes a long way toward explaining why bike theft has evolved from the "quaint" days of yesteryear into a criminal enterprise, writes Christopher Solomon at Wired . (Think neighborhood-roaming trucks equipped with ladders.) Solomon's story provides an astonishing...

Overlooked Problem: Cops Who Sexually Abuse Kids
Cops Sexually Abuse Kids,
Dodge Prison: Report
longform
Jun 16, 2024 4:25 PM CDT

Cops Sexually Abuse Kids, Dodge Prison: Report

Washington Post investigation finds that it happens more often than you might think

(Newser) - In Nevada, Missouri, a 16-year-old girl interested in becoming a cop started going on ride-alongs with officer Brian Hansen. He would eventually plead guilty to statutory sodomy after state investigators accused him of sexually abusing the teen in his patrol car and at a firing range. Hansen received probation, not...

In St. Louis, a Long Stretch of Unsolved Murders
In St. Louis, a Long Stretch
of Unsolved Murders
longform
Jun 16, 2024 1:15 PM CDT

In St. Louis, a Long Stretch of Unsolved Murders

Marshall Project examines the problem

(Newser) - St. Louis has long been known for having one of the highest murder rates in the nation. An investigation by the Marshall Project reveals a troubling tangent to that: A surprising number of the city's killings over the last decade remain unsolved. The city had approximately 1,900 homicides...

You Probably Know Someone on Steroids
Steroids
Have Become
the New Normal
longform
Jun 16, 2024 9:30 AM CDT

Steroids Have Become the New Normal

Performance-enhancing drugs are everywhere, writes Rosecrans Baldwin in GQ

(Newser) - GQ writer Rosecrans Baldwin is pretty sure you know somebody who is taking performance-enhancing drugs. This is based on his discovery that so many people in his own circle—average folks, not gym rats—are taking something of that nature. It might be human growth hormone, or testosterone, or...

Investigation: US Military Ran Major Anti-Vax Campaign

Reuters reports the Pentagon orchestrated one in the Philippines during COVID to discredit China

(Newser) - At one point during the COVID pandemic, then-Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte was so exasperated about how few citizens were getting vaccinations that he made an unusual threat. "You choose, vaccine or I will have you jailed," he told the nation in a televised address in June 2021. What...

There&#39;s a Big Downside to Demonizing Opioids
We May Have Gone Too Far
in Demonizing Opioids
longform
Jun 9, 2024 3:20 PM CDT

We May Have Gone Too Far in Demonizing Opioids

Too many people are dying painful deaths, writes Ann Neumann in the Baffler

(Newser) - The stigma in America against opioid use is an understandable one, writes Ann Neumann in the Baffler . After all, the devastating toll of addiction over the last two decades by drugs such as OxyContin has been well chronicled. Neumann covers that familiar territory in her piece, but in the context...

Disney&#39;s China Experiment Hasn&#39;t Gone as Expected
Disney's China Experiment
Hasn't Gone as Expected
longform
Jun 9, 2024 12:25 PM CDT

Disney's China Experiment Hasn't Gone as Expected

For one thing, the little-known LinaBell is the most popular character, as the Dial explains

(Newser) - When Disney opened Shangahi Disneyland in 2016, it had visions of becoming a cultural juggernaut in China on par with its success in the US. Things haven't gone exactly as planned. "Disneyland is popular in China, but not in the way that Disney intended," writes Lavender Au...

Stories 41 - 60 | << Prev   Next >>