I'm the chief digital writer for the Columbia Journalism Review
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is one of the most important spiritual sites for Christians, so it may come as some surprise that the keys to the church are entrusted to the care of two Muslim families. This tradition dates back several centuries and was reportedly instituted
For nearly a quarter-century he railed against slavery in one Quaker meeting after another in and around Philadelphia, confronting slave owners and slave traders. He insisted on the utter depravity and sinfulness of “Man-stealers,” who were, in his view, the literal spawn of Satan. He considered it his Godly duty
In 2013, Samantha Futerman was a 25-year-old actress in LA, with a YouTube channel, and a major release on her IMDb bio. On February 21, she made her way to a friend’s apartment to have her nails done for the premiere of her new film. As her friend painted
Polar bears on an island off Russia's eastern coast have taken over an abandoned research station and made themselves at home. Drone footage captured by photographer Vadim Makhorov shows the large bears getting comfortable in the remains of a Soviet-era weather station on Kolyuchin Island. The tiny island
Nola and Helan are two of the hundreds of sleeping children who have appeared sporadically in Sweden over a span of 20 years. The first official medical reports of the epidemic appeared in the early 2000s. Typically, the sleeping sickness had an insidious onset. Children initially became anxious and depressed.
It's 1902, in what was known as the “Paris of the Caribbean,” Saint-Pierre, Martinique. And on May 7th, Ludger Sylbaris gets arrested. He works by the docks and he’s a guy that likes to enjoy a drink or two. We don’t know what it is that
In January of 2016, Avner Harari strolled out of a Tel Aviv prison for the umpteenth time and announced he was finally going straight. The convicted assassin had spent 40 of his 61 years behind bars and had cultivated a reputation as the Israeli mafia’s “Terminator”. Now, Harari hoped
Why do astronauts leave things behind on the Moon? There are many reasons. Often, it is to make room for Moon rocks to be taken back to Earth. As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin began their return journey to Earth, they disposed of anything they didn’t need. This included
In 1934, Leon Dionne called a local newspaper in Ontario, Canada and asked how much it would cost to print a birth announcement for his brother’s five daughters, all born to the same mother in one delivery earlier that day. At the time, the world had rarely witnessed the
A Polish adventure skier has made history by becoming the first person to climb up and ski down Mount Everest without the use of additional oxygen. The ascent was Andrzej Bargiel’s third attempt at climbing Everest – the tallest mountain on earth at 29,032ft high – after dangerous conditions forced
From Vanity Fair: "I first heard of Hit Man in May 1999, when I was a young journalist in Philadelphia. Paladin Press’s insurance company had just settled with the victims’ families for undisclosed millions, a decision that made international headlines. The case was unprecedented; never before had a
From Scientific American: "Frances Glessner Lee discovered her true calling later in life. An heiress without formal schooling, she was in her 50s when she transformed her fascination with true crime and medicine into the foundation of a new field: forensic science. In the late 1920s she drew inspiration