Longform: A Roundup of the Best Long Reads on the Web - Page 2

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

longform

Oct 12, 2024 3:00 PM CDT

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

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

longform

Oct 6, 2024 8:02 AM CDT

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

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...

The Dark Nazi Ties of
Germany's Biggest Fortune

longform

Sep 29, 2024 8:30 AM CDT

The Dark Nazi Ties of Germany's Biggest Fortune

Vanity Fair looks into the family history of Klaus-Michael Kuehne

(Newser) - The richest man in Germany is 87-year-old Klaus-Michael Kuehne, who heads the global transportation empire Kuehne + Nagel and has a fortune pegged at $44 billion by Bloomberg Billionaires Index . Kuehne's grandfather founded the company back in 1890, and a Vanity Fair story explains that the company is the...

Meet the 'Tech Bros' Sending
Sulfur Dioxide Into the Sky

longform

Sep 29, 2024 6:00 AM CDT

Meet the 'Tech Bros' Sending Sulfur Dioxide Into the Sky

A look at a start-up that's gone all in on stratospheric solar geoengineering

(Newser) - Scientists at Harvard, Cornell, and beyond have been investigating the possibility of stratospheric solar geoengineering—that is, combating global warming by releasing aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect the sun's heat. But as David Gelles writes for the New York Times , "All geoengineering is not created equal ... [others]...

Netflix's 9-Hour Prince Doc
May Never Be Released

LONGFORM

Sep 28, 2024 4:15 PM CDT

Netflix's 9-Hour Prince Doc May Never Be Released

For NYT Magazine , Sasha Weiss looks at what's inside the film we'll probably never see

(Newser) - After his sudden death at 54 in 2016, Prince's musical legacy was never a question. But as details emerged about the fentanyl overdose that killed him, stories about his staunchly protected private life began to paint a more complicated picture. Over a 9-hour documentary, director Ezra Edelman seeks to...

In the Mad World of Extreme
Sports, Wetsuiting Stands Alone

longform

Sep 28, 2024 5:30 AM CDT

In the Mad World of Extreme Sports, Wetsuiting Stands Alone

It's fishing, in the dark, on a rock, with the possibility of sharks

(Newser) - To understand just how extreme the extreme sport of "wetsuiting" can be, consider the advice Tyler Austin Harper was given by a fellow fisherman about taking up the sport: "Don't." As Harper explains in a lengthy piece for the Atlantic , wetsuiting is a type of saltwater...

Billionaires Are Still Hiring
Butlers. This Is What It's Like

LONGFORM

Sep 22, 2024 9:30 AM CDT

Billionaires Are Still Hiring Butlers. This Is What It's Like

The Economist's Will Coldwell peeks inside the world of modern butlers

(Newser) - During a 10-week curriculum, students at one particular school in the Netherlands undergo training for a unique set of skills. In one lesson, they balance books atop their heads while holding a tray of wine glasses—trying to remain steady while being pelted with grapefruit-sized balls. The career they're...

They Found 'Grounds
for Mercy' for Nikolas Cruz

longform

Sep 21, 2024 3:15 PM CDT

They Found 'Grounds for Mercy' for Nikolas Cruz

Joe Sexton delves into the defense team's effort to spare the Parkland shooter the death penalty

(Newser) - In a piece aptly titled "The Hardest Case for Mercy" for the Marshall Project , Joe Sexton delves deep into the defense effort to spare Nikolas Cruz's life. It's not an easy read: The families of the 17 people he shot dead and the 17 others he wounded...

4 Decades Later, Famed NFL
Team Copes With Brain Issues

longform

Sep 21, 2024 2:15 PM CDT

4 Decades Later, Famed NFL Team Copes With Brain Issues

Philadelphia Inquirer finds a high incidence of cognitive issues among 1980 Eagles players

(Newser) - An investigative piece by David Gambacorta in the Philadelphia Inquirer offers a unique—and engrossing—angle on the issue of brain injuries among football players. Gambacorta looks specifically at the city's famed 1980 Super Bowl team to get a sense of how those celebrated Eagles players are faring four...

At 15, He Became an
Infamous Online Predator

LONGFORM

Sep 15, 2024 8:30 AM CDT

At 15, He Became an Infamous Online Predator

The Washington Post unravels how a bullied teen became Discord's most alarming groomer

(Newser) - The group known as 764 is infamous for some of the most depraved online harassment targeting children. On apps such as Discord, where moderation is easily skirted, predators groom minors until they obtain collateral, like nude photos, from them. They then threaten to distribute this collateral unless the children livestream...

She Lost Custody of Her Baby
Over a Costco Salad

longform

Sep 15, 2024 7:00 AM CDT

She Lost Custody of Her Baby Over a Costco Salad

The Marshall Project reports on the issue of hospital drug tests resulting in false positives

(Newser) - Before she went to the hospital in Santa Rosa, California, to deliver her fifth child, Susan Horton ate a Costco salad with poppy seeds. You can probably see where this is going: The hospital drug test turned up a false positive for opiates, and social services placed her baby in...

The Last Remaining Shakers
Are Ages 67 and 86

longform

Sep 15, 2024 5:30 AM CDT

The Last Remaining Shakers Are Ages 67 and 86

New York Times Magazine writer visits their community in Maine

(Newser) - "The youngest Shaker in the world is 67 years old, and his name is Arnold," writes Jordan Kisner in the New York Times Magazine . That would be Brother Arnold Hadd, to be precise, who joined the Shaker community at their Sabbathday Lake village in Maine at the age...

He Flew to
Asia for a Job.
The Offer
Was a Ruse

longform

Sep 14, 2024 3:25 PM CDT

He Flew to Asia for a Job. The Offer Was a Ruse

New York Times shares the story of a Ugandan man who was forced to be a scammer

(Newser) - Jalil Muyeke was the victim of Internet scammers. But as Tara Siegel Bernard writes for the New York Times , "the masterminds behind these schemes didn't drain his bank account. ... They stole seven months of his life." The 32-year-old from Uganda is one of thousands of such victims:...

The Ozempic Capital of
America Is in Kentucky

longform

Sep 14, 2024 8:00 AM CDT

The Ozempic Capital of America Is in Kentucky

1 out of 25 people in Bowling Green had a prescription for a weight loss drug

(Newser) - It might be natural to assume the Ozempic center of America is a wealthy, image-conscious place like Hollywood. But as Madison Muller, Devin Leonard, and Tanaz Meghjani write for Bloomberg Businessweek , that assumption is off by about 2,000 miles. It turns out Bowling Green, Kentucky, boasts the highest percentage...

Yes, Your
Toilet Paper
Rolls Are
Smaller

longform

Sep 8, 2024 5:00 PM CDT

Yes, Your Toilet Paper Rolls Are Smaller

The Hustle's Mark Dent says TP is the 'absolute worst' with shrinkflation

(Newser) - "Toilet paper is shrinkflation at its absolute worst," laments writer Mark Dent over at the Hustle . His deep dive into the ever-dwindling size of the rolls confirms what many have suspected for some time. Yes, your toilet paper is probably running out more quickly, and Dent has brought...

Longform

Read recent longform news stories on Newser.com

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

Lauren Gill describes jerking, shaking during Alabama execution

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

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

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

Shein nearly doubled its carbon emissions in 2023

Colorado Sun untangles the unusual story of fraud

Vanity Fair looks into the family history of Klaus-Michael Kuehne

A look at a start-up that's gone all in on stratospheric solar geoengineering

For NYT Magazine , Sasha Weiss looks at what's inside the film we'll probably never see

It's fishing, in the dark, on a rock, with the possibility of sharks

The Economist's Will Coldwell peeks inside the world of modern butlers

Joe Sexton delves into the defense team's effort to spare the Parkland shooter the death penalty

Philadelphia Inquirer finds a high incidence of cognitive issues among 1980 Eagles players

The Washington Post unravels how a bullied teen became Discord's most alarming groomer

The Marshall Project reports on the issue of hospital drug tests resulting in false positives

New York Times Magazine writer visits their community in Maine

New York Times shares the story of a Ugandan man who was forced to be a scammer

1 out of 25 people in Bowling Green had a prescription for a weight loss drug

The Hustle's Mark Dent says TP is the 'absolute worst' with shrinkflation