The author of a popular thriller is a Harvard-trained brain doctor
The bestselling author known to the world as Freida McFadden has revealed her true identity. McFadden, whose prolific output includes "The Housemaid" and other domestic thrillers, uses a pseudonym, wig and glasses to maintain her privacy in public. When she first began publishing, she lived a Hannah Montana-worthy double life as a doctor but kept the two personas separate. It may seem like a mystery ripped from one of her books, but McFadden never intended it to be. But as her popularity grew, so did the secret. On the heels of the first "Housemaid" movie (starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried) and a second one on the way, not to mention a slew of new bestsellers, McFadden says "it's time" to reveal her identity. Outside of the book world, McFadden is Sara Cohen, a doctor who treats brain disorders. (via USA Today)
The daughter of Hollywood acting icon Shirley Temple became a bass player for punk bands
Lori Black (born April 9, 1954), also known as Lorax, is an American musician born in Santa Monica, California. She played bass for Clown Alley and for the sludge metal band Melvins. Her father was the businessman Charles Alden Black and her mother was Shirley Temple, the popular 1930s child actress who became a diplomat in adulthood. With grunge pioneers Melvins on hiatus since late 1987, bassist Matt Lukin left the band to form Mudhoney. The Melvins replaced him with Lori Black. At the time, Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne was dating Black, and the idea developed to have her play bass for the band. The first recording to feature Black's work was 1989's Ozma. Black is also credited with playing on the band's major label debut Houdini in 1993, though Osborne has said Black did not play on it. (via Wikipedia)
Her friend stole her husband and bragged to her millions of followers so she sued
At first glance, the TikTok looks like a million others. It’s New Year’s Day 2024, and two married couples are making dinner. “We about to cook, y’all,” says Brenay Kennard, a 27-year-old influencer. “Tell us what we’re about to cook?” Tim Montague leans toward the camera in a muscle shirt and playfully whispers: “Hibachi.” Brenay smiles and gives a big thumbs-up, showing off her tongue piercing. She teases him for pouring too much rice in the pot, and he makes fun of her for forgetting the word “sauté.” They seem like a young couple in love. There’s just one problem: They are married to other people. As Brenay continued to film her budding relationship with Tim for her nearly 3 million followers, the internet knew Akira’s marriage was over before she did. By the time Akira filed suit against Brenay, using her TikToks as evidence to claim she stole her husband and seeking millions in damages, there was no going back. (via The Cut)
Hi everyone! Mathew Ingram here. I am able to continue writing this newsletter in part because of your financial help and support, which you can do either through my Patreon or by upgrading your subscription to a monthly contribution. I enjoy gathering all of these links and sharing them with you, but it does take time, and your support makes it possible for me to do that. I also write a weekly newsletter of technology analysis called The Torment Nexus.
A letter from a teacher in India to Albert Einstein changed the field of physics forever
On a summer day in 1924, a young Indian physicist named Satyendra Nath Bose sent a paper and a letter to Albert Einstein. It would shape the nascent field of quantum mechanics and secure Bose a place in the annals of scientific history. At the time, Bose was teaching in colonial India, thousands of miles from the centres of European science. In his letter, the 30-year-old Bose explained that he had found a more elegant way to derive one of the pivotal laws of physics (Planck’s law of radiation) and asked for Einstein’s help in publishing. To his surprise, Einstein replied enthusiastically. He translated Bose’s manuscript into German and arranged for it to be published in Zeitschrift für Physik, a leading journal. Thus was born Bose-Einstein statistics, a cornerstone of quantum physics. Einstein was so impressed with the idea he applied it to atoms, predicting a strange new state of matter – what we call a Bose-Einstein condensate. (via Aeon)
A Scottish island was uninhabitable for 50 years because scientists tested anthrax there
In 1942, during World War II, a biological warfare test was carried out on Gruinard Island. The test was conducted as part of Operation Vegetarian, an ultimately unused plan which called for the dispersal of linseed cakes spiked with anthrax across the German countryside. It was recognised that tests would cause long-lasting contamination of the immediate area by anthrax spores, so Gruinard was surveyed, deemed suitable, and requisitioned from its owners by the British government. In 1946, the government agreed to acquire the island and to take responsibility for it. The owner or their heirs would be able to repurchase the island for £500 when it was declared "fit for habitation by man and beast". For many years, it was judged too hazardous and expensive to decontaminate the island sufficiently to allow public access, and Gruinard Island was quarantined until it was ruled decontaminated in 1990. (via Wikipedia)
She spun so quickly on figure skates she developed a brain injury
Acknowledgements: I find a lot of these links myself, but I also get some from other places that I rely on as "serendipity engines," such as The Morning News from Rosecrans Baldwin and Andrew Womack, Jodi Ettenberg's Curious About Everything, Dan Lewis's Now I Know, Robert Cottrell and Caroline Crampton's The Browser, Clive Thompson's Linkfest and Why Is This Interesting by Noah Brier and Colin Nagy. If you come across something you think should be included here, feel free to email me at mathew @ mathewingram dot com
