Longform

Read recent longform news stories on Newser.com

Stories 661 - 680 | << Prev   Next >>

He's a 'Strange, Strange Boy' Who Became Wildly Influential

Max Chafkin excerpts his new book on the PayPal, Palantir founder Peter Thiel

(Newser) - Peter Thiel was "a strange, strange boy," Max Chafkin quotes a former classmate as saying. After reading the piece Chafkin adapted from his new biography of the PayPal and Palantir founder for New York Magazine , some stronger adjectives and descriptions might come to mind. The excerpt zeroes in...

The Murdaugh Family's Road Has Been Bumpy for Years

The 'WSJ' dives into the unraveling of the South Carolina family

(Newser) - Alex Murdaugh's fall from grace has been well-documented, and the Wall Street Journal adds to that pile. A lengthy piece by Valerie Bauerlein delves into the "unraveling of the Murdaugh dynasty," as the headline reads, and while some of the article trods familiar ground, it provides a...

Inside the Unraveling of Couchsurfing.com
Inside the Unraveling
of Couchsurfing.com
longform
Sep 19, 2021 5:40 PM CDT

Inside the Unraveling of Couchsurfing.com

It all started with a trip to Iceland

(Newser) - The bloom is off the rose for Couchsurfing.com, and has been for some time. What Andrew Fedorov, writing for Input , calls a "once-utopian accommodations site" has been walloped by a series of issues in recent years: the 2011 decision to ditch the non-profit dream and accept millions in...

Meet the Man Who Has Found Dictators' Secret Fortunes

Jules Kroll, 80, has had a legendary career

(Newser) - Jules Kroll is arguably the world's most famous private eye, and he was seeking a redemption piece, writes Simon Shuster for Time . The 80-year-old New Yorker was looking to give an interview, and Shuster obliged. It came after some years of press that wasn't so flattering, among it...

After Their Son Disappeared, the Online Posse Pounced

'Wired' looks at the case of 3-year-old Dylan Ehler of Nova Scotia, who remains missing

(Newser) - In April of last year, 3-year-old Dylan Ehler vanished from his small town of Truro in Nova Scotia. His grandmother says she and Dylan were playing in her yard, she turned her back to leash their dog, and Dylan was gone when she turned back around. As Katherine Laidlaw writes...

'Mother God' Is Dead. Here's What Came Before That

'Marie Claire' delves into Amy Carlson Stroud, the late leader of Love Has Won

(Newser) - The story made headlines in May : Police were told that the mummified remains of the female leader of Love Has Won (LHW) were in a Moffat, Colorado, home. In July, those remains—with missing eyes, glittery makeup, and a body wrapped in a sleeping bag and Christmas lights—were positively...

Report: Facebook Is Aware of How Instagram Hurts Teens
WSJ Is Out With
a Damning Story
About Instagram
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sep 18, 2021 1:20 PM CDT

WSJ Is Out With a Damning Story About Instagram

'Wall Street Journal' obtains internal documents showing harmful effects on some teen users

(Newser) - The Wall Street Journal is out with a damning story about Instagram, pointing to research that it causes real harm to some teenage girls. The kicker: The research obtained by the newspaper comes from the company itself, and executives of parent company Facebook have known about it for a few...

NYC Delivery Workers Are Sick and Tired of Being Robbed

More than half have had their expensive e-bikes stolen, often violently

(Newser) - When electric bikes first surfaced in the late 2000s in New York City, they were mostly ridden by aging Chinese immigrants trying to keep their jobs delivering food, writes Josh Dzieza at the Verge . However, once restaurants and delivery apps realized the time they could save, the bikes morphed into...

They Bought a Cruise Ship and Planned a Utopia. It Didn't Work

Inside the short life of the cruise ship Satoshi

(Newser) - To understand why three men bought themselves a cruise ship last fall, you need to know a little bit about "seasteading." It's the idea of moving to the sea, where, unbound by the land and the governments and regulations tied to it, people could experiment with new...

&#39;Roe&#39; Baby Reveals Her Identity
The Child of 'Jane Roe'
Has Come Forward
in case you missed it
Sep 12, 2021 12:50 PM CDT

The Child of 'Jane Roe' Has Come Forward

Her name is Shelley Lynn Thornton

(Newser) - "Jane Roe," whose real name was Norma McCorvey , was at the heart of the case that secured a woman's right to an abortion—but the pregnancy that she was suing to abort came to term before the Supreme Court's decision on the case, and the baby...

For Some Women, the Taliban&#39;s Rural Deal Was OK
For Some Women, the
Taliban's Rural Deal Was OK
longform
Sep 12, 2021 7:45 AM CDT

For Some Women, the Taliban's Rural Deal Was OK

'New Yorker' takes an in-depth look at the split between urban and rural Afghan views

(Newser) - The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan has raised concerns that gains made for women's rights will be erased. But an in-depth piece by Anand Gopal in the New Yorker illustrates just how complicated the picture can be. It's headlined "The Other Afghan Women," meaning those who...

They Were on a Plane That Diverted on 9/11. Love Followed

CNN tells the story of Nick Marson and Diane Kirschke's unlikely meeting

(Newser) - Nick Marson and Diane Kirschke have known each other for 20 years—pretty much to the day. The two were on a Continental flight from London to Houston on 9/11 and ended up diverting to the tiny town of Gander in Newfoundland, Canada. After 24 hours stuck on their plane...

He Spent Weeks on the Pile After 9/11. What Did It Do to His Brain?

The 'Washington Post' looks at cognitive decline among first responders

(Newser) - In 2015, at age 52, Ron Kirchner was diagnosed with dementia. His wife was told an MRI scan of Kirchner's brain could be mistaken for that of an 85-year-old. What makes that reality all the more tragic is this: Kirchner was a firefighter who spent almost 600 hours—the...

Inside the Popularity of the Myers-Briggs Personality Test

It has taken the world by storm, but some have raised concerns

(Newser) - Chances are good that you know your Myers-Briggs personality type—but is that a good thing or a bad thing? In a piece at the Guardian , Elle Hunt takes a long look at the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and how it "took over the world." Hunt, who for...

Bannon Has a Plan, and His Followers Are Acting On It

Far-right supporters signing up in droves to become local election precinct officers

(Newser) - Far-right followers of Steve Bannon are heeding his unusual battle cry—to start working in their local election precincts. And as an investigative piece by ProPublica explains, this seemingly innocuous suggestion has the potential to affect election results around the country. To be clear, Bannon is not urging his followers...

He Has Eaten 3 Last Meals, Is Fighting to Avoid No. 4

'Rolling Stone' looks at the case of Richard Glossip in Oklahoma

(Newser) - How close has Richard Glossip come to execution? He has eaten the same "last meal" three different times, writes Brenna Ehrlich at Rolling Stone . For the record: fish and chips, a Baconator sandwich from Wendy's, pizza, and a strawberry shake. Each time, Glossip has won a late stay...

Behind an Iconic Weight-Loss Camp, a Major Family Feud

Bloomberg dives into personalities behind Camp Shane

(Newser) - As far as weight-loss camp for kids go, Camp Shane was a legend. Tucked in New York's Catskill Mountains, it began welcoming children in 1968 and operated in that original location until 2019, making it the longest-running camp of its kind in the US. As David Gauvey Herbert writes...

The Ballet Company Failed. The Marriage Imploded

'Vanity Fair' digs in to the tale of Doug and Ashley Benefield

(Newser) - Alice Robb thought she was digging into the story of a ballet company that debuted in 2017 and rapidly crashed and burned. "I had no idea that I would be spending the next three years piecing it together, or that it was a story only in the earliest stage...

Things Are So Bad CVS Bought Its Own Surveillance Van

Retail theft has reached a whole other level

(Newser) - A 17-person crime team equipped with a surveillance van outfitted with 360-degree cameras and a high-tech telescope—not exactly what you might expect from CVS. But as Rebecca Ballhaus and Shalini Ramachandran write for the Wall Street Journal , that's exactly what the retailer has in place to try to...

A Presumed Murder in Tiny Town Still Perplexes Cops

Writer Mitch Moxley explores the question: What in the world happened to Paddy Moriarty?

(Newser) - It has the ring of an Agatha Christie tale—a man goes missing and is presumed murdered in a remote town with only a dozen or so residents, most of whom are in their 70s. But as Mitch Moxley writes for Truly*Adventurous , the case of Paddy Moriarty is indeed real....

Stories 661 - 680 | << Prev   Next >>