Longform

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One Company Drives Risky World of Competitive Cheer

New York Times looks at how Jeff Webb's Varsity Spirit dominates the lucrative industry

(Newser) - Cheerleading may elicit images of pompoms and ponytails, but the athleticism required to pull off stunts performed in competition these days requires more than glittery pep. As it turns out, cheering has resulted in more catastrophic injuries than any sport played by female high school and college athletes combined, writes...

These 'Mushroom Heads' Signify a Big Shift in Football
These 'Mushroom Heads'
Signify a Big NFL Shift
longform
Oct 27, 2024 9:00 AM CDT

These 'Mushroom Heads' Signify a Big NFL Shift

Wired looks at how protective Guardian Caps are gaining a foothold in the league

(Newser) - They look a little goofy. "Condom caps, mushroom heads—we've heard them all," says Erin Hanson, co-founder of the company that makes protective football helmets called Guardian Caps. "We just laugh, because we agree." As Wired explains, more important than how they look is how...

Under Her Rule, Hundreds Were Taken to a Dark Secret Prison

With Sheikh Hasina no longer in Bangladesh, prisoners' stories are emerging

(Newser) - Sheikh Hasina led an authoritarian regime in Bangladesh for 15 years before fleeing the country in August . As she left, Mir Ahmad Quasem Arman came back to life. The New York Times reports he was one of three prisoners who had long been held at a secret underground prison called...

It's a Massive Tax Payment, and a Massive Mystery to Boot

Tim Fernholz attempts to find out who died and left the US a record estate sum

(Newser) - Last year, a researcher poring over Treasury Department stats did a double-take on one particular sum: A $7 billion estate and gift tax payment. Which apparently means, as Tim Fernholz reports at Sherwood , that somebody very, very rich died and left the government the huge payment. It's unusual in...

There's a Disturbing Trend in Political Donations
There's a Disturbing Trend
in Political Donations
longform
Oct 26, 2024 10:00 AM CDT

There's a Disturbing Trend in Political Donations

Both parties are benefiting from strategies that exploit seniors with dementia, reports CNN

(Newser) - A CNN investigation has uncovered a troubling trend in political fundraising, one in which elderly Americans—particularly those with dementia—are unwittingly becoming major donors to campaigns. Both parties have benefited from the practice, which often begins with a small online donation to a candidate. But once the hooks are...

'Kinder, Nicer' OnlyFans Upends Ordinary Lives
'Kinder, Nicer' OnlyFans
Upends Ordinary Lives
longform
Oct 21, 2024 1:30 PM CDT

'Kinder, Nicer' OnlyFans Upends Ordinary Lives

A Reuters investigation digs into the 'collateral damage' of porn addiction and more

(Newser) - A series of Reuters investigations has been digging into the darker side of OnlyFans, and the latest focuses on what the outlet calls the "collateral damage" of the porn-centric site that has exploded in popularity. In one example, a husband became addicted to the site and secretly spent $135,...

Husband Recounts the Weeks Before Wife Killed Their Kids

The New Yorker talked to Patrick Clancy

(Newser) - Patrick Clancy's loss is widely known. Article after article has been written about what happened on January 24, 2023, the day his wife, Lindsay, sent him out to grab takeout and medicine and strangled their three young children in their home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, while he was gone. Lindsay...

Her Hunch 20 Years Ago Made Her a Billionaire
Her Hunch
20 Years Ago
Made Her
a Billionaire
longform
Oct 20, 2024 9:30 AM CDT

Her Hunch 20 Years Ago Made Her a Billionaire

Guardian profiles Bet365 founder Denise Coates, who knew gambling's future was online

(Newser) - Britain's richest woman didn't start out that way. As the Guardian reports, 57-year-old Denise Coates grew up as the daughter of a "moderately successful" businessman, and part of his business included brick-and-mortar betting parlors. In the early 2000s, Coates bet big that the future of gambling lay...

After He Died at 25, His Parents Took Comfort in His Secret Life

They didn't realize Mats Steen had a whole community of friends in World of Warcraft

(Newser) - When Mats Steen died at age 25, his parents were devastated—not only by the loss of their son at such a young age, but by what they saw as his lonely, isolated life. Steen had been diagnosed as a toddler with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic muscle wasting disorder...

Behind Boar's Head Brand: a Remarkable Family Feud

The Brunckhorsts and the Bischoffs don't get along, and it's playing out in court

(Newser) - The Boar's Head brand of deli meat has been in the news lately because of a listeria outbreak that has killed 10 people across the US and sickened dozens more. But the controversy also has called attention to an epic family feud within the billon-dollar meat empire that stretches...

He's Sitting on a Domain Worth Millions, but Not for Profit

The Hustle digs into the curious history of milk.com

(Newser) - Writer Alex Mayyasi stumbled upon an internet anomaly when he randomly typed milk.com into his browser. He expected to see a big dairy lobby or the URL parked for sale given its value as a short, single-word domain, but he instead found a relic from the internet's early...

Rikers Women Recall Officer 'Champagne' With Horror

Two dozen lawsuits allege he raped and abused them for years, reports Gothamist

(Newser) - A Gothamist investigation has turned up disturbing allegations against one prison guard in particular at Rikers Island who is accused in two dozen lawsuits of raping and sexually abusing female inmates over a span of decades. The inmates knew by him the nickname of "Champagne," but he has...

What Happened to the Minivan?
What Happened to the Minivan?
longform
Oct 13, 2024 8:29 AM CDT

What Happened to the Minivan?

Ian Bogost traces how it got 'replaced' by the SUV

(Newser) - Once upon a time, the minivan was a new and exciting "savior." Then it became ubiquitous, though never particularly cool. And then it became ... obsolete? In a piece at the Atlantic , Ian Bogost traces the history of what he calls "the perfect vehicle," and argues that...

In Galveston, the Sea Keeps Coming. So Do the Condos
Island City
of Galveston
Faces Big
Questions
longform
Oct 13, 2024 6:00 AM CDT

Island City of Galveston Faces Big Questions

Washington Post explores the Texas city's existential fight with the ocean

(Newser) - Given its location on a Gulf Coast barrier island, Galveston, Texas, is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and the rising intensity of storms. But as the Washington Post reports in an in-depth look at the city's existential fight with nature, that isn't keeping new arrivals away. Consider...

The State Said Miller's Death Was Humane. I Watched It

Lauren Gill describes jerking, shaking during Alabama execution

(Newser) - The state of Alabama executed Alan Miller using nitrogen gas on Sept. 26. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement afterward that the execution "progressed as planned," with Miller making "slight movements associated with the dying process. ... the State proved once again that nitrogen hypoxia...

'History's Hardest Puzzle' Continues to Elude
'History's Hardest Puzzle'
Continues to Elude
longform
Oct 12, 2024 8:00 AM CDT

'History's Hardest Puzzle' Continues to Elude

Atlantic looks at the latest efforts to decode the inscrutable Voynich manuscript

(Newser) - What has roughly 38,000 words over 234 pages and yet is not just unreadable but indecipherable? The ancient Voynich manuscript , of course, which just might be "history's hardest puzzle," writes Ariel Sabar in the Atlantic . Cryptographers, mathematicians, and linguists have been trying to decode the 15th-century...

Bot Army That Changed Online Poker Now Hopes to Save It
Bots Threaten the Future
of Online Poker
longform
Oct 6, 2024 9:32 AM CDT

Bots Threaten the Future of Online Poker

They're driving out ordinary players tired of losing money, reports Bloomberg

(Newser) - Casual poker players who go online these days have likely played against a bot, even if unknowingly. And if so, they've likely lost their money to said bot. The problem, writes Kit Chellel at Bloomberg , is that these "hobbyists" are getting tired of losing money and are abandoning...

Hackers Use Website Bug to Unlock and Start Kias

Wired reports how security researchers were easily able to gain a degree of control over them

(Newser) - Kia owners, prepare to feel creeped out by how easy it was for security researchers to hack your cars. Owners of other vehicles, don't smirk too much because it's a safe bet these types of vulnerabilities are widespread—and perhaps growing more so as buyers demand that their...

AI Helps Make Fast Fashion Giant Shein a Top Polluter
AI Is Juicing Fast
Fashion's Biggest Polluter
longform
Sep 29, 2024 11:30 AM CDT

AI Is Juicing Fast Fashion's Biggest Polluter

Shein nearly doubled its carbon emissions in 2023

(Newser) - Fast fashion and artificial intelligence have bad environmental rap sheets on their own, so what happens when you combine the two? Grist reports that the top dog in fast fashion , Shein, has established goals to reduce carbon emissions, but the company's use of AI to optimize their model may...

Ranchers Fake a Drought, End Up Behind Bars
Ranchers Fake a Drought,
End Up Behind Bars
longform
Sep 29, 2024 9:30 AM CDT

Ranchers Fake a Drought, End Up Behind Bars

Colorado Sun untangles the unusual story of fraud

(Newser) - The numbers seemed fishy. Weather experts in Colorado and Kansas couldn't figure out why rain gauges in far-flung locations kept reporting almost no precipitation even on stormy days throughout 2016 and 2017. But as the Colorado Sun reports, the reason soon became clear enough. Two local farmers orchestrated a...

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