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Stories 501 - 520 | << Prev   Next >>

The LA Shootout Was Like Something Straight Out of Heat

Mel Magazine goes inside an infamous 1997 bank robbery

(Newser) - When it comes to Los Angeles bank robbers, Larry Phillips and Emil Matasareanu were like no others. In a lengthy piece for Mel Magazine , Zaron Burnett III takes a look into the havoc wrought by the two weightlifters, friends who teamed up to start robbing banks in the mid-'90s....

Crime Labs Often Reach Dubious Conclusions
Forensic Scientists Often
Produce Dubious Results
LONGFORM
May 28, 2022 4:00 PM CDT

Forensic Scientists Often Produce Dubious Results

For decades, flawed and fabricated evidence has been used to convict innocent people

(Newser) - G. Michele Yezzo worked for 32 years as a forensic scientist in Ohio. She resigned in 2009, after being reprimanded by her supervisor for "interpretational and observational errors" that "could lead to a substantial miscarriage of justice." By then, Yezzo had amassed a 449-page personnel file loaded...

The Clues Were Ingenious, but Staging the Hunt Would Kill Him

Inside the treasure hunt that would claim Hunter Lewis' life

(Newser) - A California college student who created an adventurous treasure hunt for family and friends as a Christmas gift is presumed to have died while hiding the treasure: Hunter Lewis, 21, was last seen on Dec. 30 paddling a canoe into the Pacific; the waters were frigid, he was clad in...

She Was the City&#39;s Only Doctor. Russians Put a Bag Over Her Head
She Was the
City's Only Doctor.
Russians Put a Bag
Over Her Head
in case you missed it
May 28, 2022 7:00 AM CDT

She Was the City's Only Doctor. Russians Put a Bag Over Her Head

Inside the horrors that befell Olena and her family in Hostomel

(Newser) - You likely know Ukraine's Bucha and Irpin and the horrors that have taken place there. Add Hostomel to that list. The small city north of Kyiv completes the "trio of satellites" that Danny Gold writes for Vanity Fair will "go down in history with the likes of...

His Startup Is About to Go Public. He's Also a Killer

Inside the story of Harel Hershtik

(Newser) - When he was 20 years old, Harel Hershtik planned and executed a murder, shooting his victim in the head and burying the body in a crime that a quarter of a century later is still widely remembered for its grisly details. Today, he is the brains behind an Israeli health-tech...

Friends Say He Was Exhausted, the Band Says Otherwise

Taylor Hawkins' death is still unexplained, but there may have been warning signs beforehand

(Newser) - Update: Following the publication of a Rolling Stone longform on the death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron is walking back his quotes from that article. "When I agreed to take part in the Rolling Stone article about Taylor, I assumed it would be...

Ex-TikTok Workers: 85 Hours of Meetings Is the Norm

To say it sounds like employees work a lot is an understatement

(Newser) - "Relentless productivity and secrecy" seem like two things that might be common to plenty of tech companies. But in the telling of a number of TikTok employees, who came to the social media behemoth from elsewhere in tech, the degree to which those are demanded at TikTok is "...

He Wanted Male Genitals. Getting Them Would Take Years

A look into phalloplasty, a procedure that more trans men are opting for

(Newser) - As Benjamin Simpson describes it, the realization came like a thunderclap. "[Expletive]! I’m trans! I gotta go!" It's what he shouted to the friends he was having drinks with in Manhattan in 2015, an understanding that came after years of probing "why something in his...

Another Silicon Valley Whiz Kid Accused of Exaggerating Everything

'New York Times' out with critical story about Ryan Breslow of Bolt

(Newser) - Ryan Breslow dropped out of Stanford in 2014 to start Bolt Financial, which “promised to shake up the boring but important business of online payments,” according to the New York Times, which interviewed dozens of former and current employees, clients, and investors about the company’s current state....

He Wooed Women in NYC. Many Say It Cost Them
Women Fell Hard for Him.
Many Say It Cost Them
longform
May 15, 2022 6:30 AM CDT

Women Fell Hard for Him. Many Say It Cost Them

The 'New Yorker' digs into an alleged serial con man

(Newser) - Lauren Markham has known her friend Julia for more than two decades, giving her a front-row seat to the dealings of a suave New Yorker with a great head of hair who wooed women—Julia's mother among them—and then allegedly slowly sapped money from them. In a lengthy...

Artists Being Paid Huge Sums to Perform for Almost No One

Inside the world of the uber-private concert

(Newser) - You've likely heard of big-time artists getting hired to perform at corporate events or huge private parties. As David Browne writes in a lengthy piece for Rolling Stone , that's been happening for more than two decades. But Browne shines a light on the "far more shadowy parallel...

The Break-In, Kidnapping Was So Bizarre No One Believed Them

Katia Savchuk pens an incredible piece for 'Atavist Magazine'

(Newser) - Katia Savchuk's incredible piece for the Atavist Magazine is called "A Crime Beyond Belief," and that pretty much nails it. In nearly 20,000 words, she peels back the onion on a March 2015 home invasion and kidnapping in Vallejo, Calif., that was so bizarre police and...

In Romance Scams, a New Technique Emerges
In Romance Scams,
a New Technique Emerges
longform
May 14, 2022 7:45 AM CDT

In Romance Scams, a New Technique Emerges

With 'pig butchering,' bank accounts of victims are fattened before being emptied

(Newser) - You know from the get-go you're in for an interesting read: "It's a tale as old as Tinder: Girl meets Boy. Boy convinces Girl to hand over a large chunk of cash. Boy ghosts Girl." That's how David Voreacos and Francesco Maglione begin their tale...

Politico Paints Troubling Portrait of Madison Cawthorn

GOP congressman derides 'hit piece' depicting him as 'very unwell'

(Newser) - Earlier this week, GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina told his Twitter followers that Politico was preparing a "hit piece" on him and derided author Michael Kruse as biased. Well, that lengthy profile is now out, and it does indeed paint a devastating portrait of the 26-year-old, whose...

A Plant Is Turning Afghanistan Into a Meth Producer

'Washington Post' says the country is experiencing a meth boom

(Newser) - Afghanistan's poppy fields have helped make it a leader when it comes to opium production. Now another plant is transforming the country into a leading meth producer, report Susannah George and Joby Warrick for the Washington Post . The native plant is locally known as oman, but it's also...

Her Postpartum Depression Ended Up Claiming 2 Lives

CNN shares the story of Pranaiya Oulapathorn

(Newser) - The first few months of Pranaiya Oulapathorn's life as a new mom went pretty well, aside from a few not-uncommon hiccups. As Ivana Kottasová reports for CNN , Oulapathorn struggled with breastfeeding—supply and clogged ducts were recurring issues. The 37-year-old's British husband, Hamish Magoffin, says they finally decided...

2 Girls Vanished. The Media Told Us About One of Them

Elizabeth Smart's disappearance got tons of press. Alexis Patterson's didn't

(Newser) - You almost certainly know the name Elizabeth Smart. You almost just as certainly don't know the name Alexis Patterson. The Milwaukee 7-year-old vanished on her walk to school roughly one month before Smart was taken from her Utah bedroom in 2002. In a lengthy piece for USA Today , Gina...

Elective Limb-Lengthening Is Getting More Common
Some Men Are Opting
to Get Taller—Surgically
longform
May 7, 2022 8:30 AM CDT

Some Men Are Opting to Get Taller—Surgically

It's not cheap or easy, but some see it as a life-altering opportunity

(Newser) - It’s not a stretch to say short guys have it tough sometimes. Think Napoleon: sure, he conquered Europe, but he also got a complex named after him because—evidently—being short made him fighting mad. In a recent BuzzFeed article, reporter Elamin Abdelmahmoud lays out research that shows modern-day...

Kim Cattrall's SATC Career Started, Ended With Word 'No'

She turned down the role of Samantha Jones three times

(Newser) - Kim Cattrall's absence from the Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That... had fans pining for Samantha Jones and spurred plenty of gossip and speculation about her relationships with her former co-stars. In her first interview since the premiere of the new show, Cattrall opens up to...

He Left SpaceX, Raised $50M for His Diabetes Start-Up

Levels pairs a continuous glucose monitor with an app

(Newser) - That diabetes is a big problem for America comes as no surprise. As Ruth Reader writes in a lengthy piece for Fast Company , one out of every four dollars we spend on health care is spent treating patients with it—which makes effectively preventing it something of a medical white...

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