Longform

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Stories 321 - 340 | << Prev   Next >>

Killer Confesses to Old Murder. Another Remains Jailed for It

Leo Schofield, up for parole next month, was convicted of killing his wife, insists he's innocent

(Newser) - Next month, a parole board in Florida will decide whether 57-year-old Leo Schofield should be released from prison after more than three decades. Schofield was convicted of the 1987 murder of his 18-year-old wife, Michelle Saum Schofield, and as Richard Bockman writes in the Tampa Bay Times , he would surely...

Restored Ancient Cup Is Amazing, but a Little Fishy

Investigators seized it from the Met, are skeptical about its miraculous trail of shards

(Newser) - In one sense, the story told about an ancient Greek drinking cup known as a kylix in the New York Times is one of an amazing feat of historical puzzle-solving. In 1978, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City bought shards of pottery from a Swiss dealer, a...

TV Writer's 1990s Gaffe Is Legend. He Doesn't Mind

'Vulture' digs into the 1990s tale of a 'Roseanne' writer who didn't know who Jackie was

(Newser) - Listen carefully, and you might hear the phrase "Who Jackie?" crop up in a sitcom every now and then. That's because the line has become an inside joke, one at the heart of what Joe Berkowitz at Vulture calls "the greatest writers' room story ever." As...

Deputy Drove Away With a Man Who Then Disappeared. Twice

CNN explores the still-unsolved cases out of rural Florida

(Newser) - On October 14, 2003, Felipe Santos got into the back seat of a patrol car driven by Collier County deputy Steven Calkins in rural Florida and was never seen again. Calkins told investigators he encountered the 23-year-old Santos at a traffic accident and later dropped him off at a Circle...

Piecing Together the Story of One African &#39;Ghost Boat&#39;
This Is the Story of
One African 'Ghost Boat'
longform

This Is the Story of One African 'Ghost Boat'

43 migrants set off with hope, but they became casualties of a dangerous new route

(Newser) - Around 6:30am on May 28, 2021, a couple of miles from Belle Garden Beach on the Caribbean island of Tobago, a narrow white-and-blue boat drifted onto the horizon. From a distance, it seemed no one was aboard. But as fishermen approached, they smelled death. Inside were the decomposing bodies...

Alcohol&#39;s &#39;Health Halo&#39; Is Finally Fading


Alcohol's
'Health Halo'
Is Losing
Its Luster
longform

Alcohol's 'Health Halo' Is Losing Its Luster

Slate digs into the shifting sentiment, offers context for those who imbibe

(Newser) - Those who drink alcohol might well be "feeling a fair bit of whiplash" these days, writes Tim Requarth at Slate . Starting in the 1990s, the consensus of health studies suggested that moderate drinking—a glass of red wine at dinner, say—was good for you. But now the consensus...

Roulette Is Impossible to Beat. Or Is It?
Roulette Is Impossible
to Beat. Or Is It?
longform

Roulette Is Impossible to Beat. Or Is It?

One man says he trained his brain to do it

(Newser) - The conventional wisdom had long been that roulette is an impossible game to beat. Thanks to the green 0 pocket (American wheels also have 00), all red and black bets have just under a 50% chance of success. "Everyone loses eventually," writes Kit Chellel for Bloomberg . "Except...

One Nation Still Spying on Civilians With Potent Tool

Israeli military spies on civilians with Pegasus despite promises to stop, reports 'New York Times'

(Newser) - It is, write Natalie Kitroeff and Ronen Bergman in the New York Times , the "world's most infamous spyware." The pair do a deep dive into Pegasus , a surveillance tool that can compromise every piece of data on a target's phone—even encrypted phones—including the camera....

Health Studies on Ice Cream Are &#39;Pretty Bonkers&#39;
Health Studies on Ice Cream
Are 'Pretty Bonkers'
longform

Health Studies on Ice Cream Are 'Pretty Bonkers'

'Atlantic' explores how researchers keep finding health benefits but don't believe it

(Newser) - The headline of David Merritt Johns' story in the Atlantic refers to it as "nutrition science's most preposterous result." And in the story itself, Merritt Johns calls it "pretty bonkers." It seems that nutritional studies over the years keep suggesting an unexpected result: Eating ice...

Believers in 1930s Tale Hunt for a River of Gold
Old Map, 1930s Tale Spurs
Modern Hunt for Gold
longform

Old Map, 1930s Tale Spurs Modern Hunt for Gold

'Los Angeles Times' digs into the fabled treasure of Mount Kokoweef in the Mojave Desert

(Newser) - It's a great American yarn. Whether there's any actual gold at the heart of it is a whole other matter. Writing for the Los Angeles Times , Daniel Miller digs into the legend of a veritable river of gold said to exist somewhere in the caverns beneath Mount Kokoweef...

At Sandy Hook, They Saw the Horrors We Can't Possibly Imagine

The 'New York Times Magazine' speaks to the crime-scene investigators

(Newser) - The horrifying scenes of school shootings are impossible to picture for all but a few people: those tasked with meticulously documenting the scene. In a lengthy piece for the New York Times Magazine , Jay Kirk recounts what Detectives Art Walkley and Karoline Keith and Sgt. Jeff Covello took on when...

Linda Evangelista Not the Only One 'Disfigured' by Cosmetic Procedure

'New York Times' does a deep dive into CoolSculpting

(Newser) - Linda Evangelista went public in 2021 with her story of being "brutally disfigured" by a cosmetic procedure known as CoolSculpting. Now, the New York Times is out with an exposé on the procedure that alleges the serious side effect suffered by the supermodel appears to be more common than...

Jerry Hall Spoon-Fed Murdoch for Months, Got Dumped by Email
Jerry Hall Spoon-Fed
Murdoch for Months,
Got Dumped by Email
in case you missed it

Jerry Hall Spoon-Fed Murdoch for Months, Got Dumped by Email

Gabriel Sherman ends up 'struck by how sad all the Murdochs seem'

(Newser) - The last year has been a bumpy one for Rupert Murdoch, what with the $1.6 billion Dominion lawsuit against Fox News, the divorce from supermodel Jerry Hall , and the failed two-week engagement to Ann Lesley Smith. Things could keep spiraling, Gabriel Sherman writes in a Vanity Fair cover story....

Rare Flower Unique to Kentucky Faces a Mighty Foe
Rare Flower Unique to
Kentucky Faces a Mighty Foe
longform

Rare Flower Unique to Kentucky Faces a Mighty Foe

'Courier Journal' explores the plight of Kentucky glade cress amid encroaching development

(Newser) - If you want to see a specimen of the plant known as Kentucky glade cress, you'll have to travel to southern Jefferson County or northern Bullitt County in that state. Otherwise you're out of luck because, as environmental reporter Connor Griffin explains in the Louisville Courier Journal , the...

Critics See Dangerous &#39;Design Flaw&#39; in a Top-Selling Handgun
Critics See Dangerous 'Design
Flaw' in a Top-Selling Handgun
in case you missed it

Critics See Dangerous 'Design Flaw' in a Top-Selling Handgun

SIG Sauer P320 can fire on its own, reports the 'Washington Post' and the Trace

(Newser) - It's an investigation into gun safety, but not of the usual variety. This one looks into one of the most popular handguns in existence—the SIG Sauer P320—and allegations that its design results in too many accidental discharges. The eight-month investigation by the Washington Post and the Trace...

For Kenya's Elite Female Runners, a Brutal Price to Pay

'New Yorker' explores the gender-based violence they face at home

(Newser) - Agnes Tirop was found murdered in October 2021. Six months later, Damaris Mutua was strangled to death. Both women were in their 20s and killed in the same town of Iten, Kenya. But they had something more telling in common: Both were elite runners on the world stage. At the...

New Thomas Report Focuses on His Mother&#39;s Home
New Thomas
Report Focuses
on His Mother's
Home
longform

New Thomas Report Focuses on His Mother's Home

ProPublica reveals he failed to disclose real estate deal with billionaire Harlan Crow

(Newser) - A new ProPublica report about Clarence Thomas' financial relationship with real estate magnate Harlan Crow may be more troublesome for the justice than the first one . The new one reveals that Thomas failed to disclose a 2014 real estate deal in which Crow bought the home of Thomas' elderly mother...

He Spent His Life Chasing a Music Legend
He Spent His Life
Chasing a Music Legend
longform

He Spent His Life Chasing a Music Legend

'Texas Monthly' looks at the troubled life of folklorist 'Mack' McCormick

(Newser) - Two decades ago, Michael Hall wrote a flattering profile of music folklorist Robert "Mack" McCormick for Texas Monthly. Hall's new profile in Texas Monthly of McCormick, who died in 2015, is less flattering and far more complicated. The focus is on McCormick's decades-long quest to write the...

Dogs Running on Beaches: a Bigger Issue Than You Think

A piece in 'Hakai Magazine' lays out the problem, which lies with humans, not canines

(Newser) - When it comes to pets-as-predators, cats are usually cast as the villains. After all, as Ben Goldfarb writes for Hakai Magazine , they kill an estimated 4 billion birds in the US each year. But Goldfarb's piece focuses not on felines but canines, and specifically how dogs—unleashed ones—wreak...

Clarence Thomas Has a Luxury Benefactor
Clarence Thomas
Has a Luxury
Benefactor
longform

Clarence Thomas Has a Luxury Benefactor

ProPublica suggests justice should be reporting exotic trips paid for by billionaire friend Harlan Crow

(Newser) - Clarence Thomas has a very, very rich friend. This friend, billionaire real estate magnate Harlan Crow, has for two decades let the Supreme Court justice and his wife travel around the world to exotic locales at his expense, reports ProPublica . The story by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski...

Stories 321 - 340 | << Prev   Next >>