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Great articles, every Saturday.

Publications

Wired

Tech

They Hacked McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines—and Started a Cold War

Secret codes. Legal threats. Betrayal. How one couple built a device to fix McDonald’s notoriously broken soft-serve machines—and how the fast-food giant froze them out.

Andy Greenberg Wired Apr 2021 30min Permalink

Tech

I Called Off My Wedding. The Internet Will Never Forget

In 2019, I made a painful decision. But to the algorithms that drive Facebook, Pinterest, and a million other apps, I’m forever getting married.

Lauren Goode Wired Apr 2021 25min Permalink

Science Health

How to Remember a Disaster Without Being Shattered by It

A plane crash survivor and trauma researcher turns her attention to the memories we’re making now.

Erika Hayasaki Wired Feb 2021 Permalink

Health

Premature Babies and the Lonely Terror of a Pandemic NICU

Baby Olivia weighed 1 pound, 10 ounces. Her doctors faced a stressful paradox: giving her the healing power of a parent’s touch, while keeping the virus out.

Read more

Eva Holland is a Longform contributing editor.

Eva Holland Wired Feb 2021 15min Permalink

Crime Religion

The Lion, the Polygamist, and the Biofuel Scam

How a member of a breakaway Mormon sect teamed up with a Lambo-driving, hard-partying tycoon to bilk the government for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Vince Beiser Wired Feb 2021 Permalink

Crime Health

Your Body, Your Self, Your Surgeon, His Instagram

An internet-famous plastic surgeon faces hard questions, and a lawsuit, after building his brand on his patients’ bodies.

Katherine Laidlaw Wired Jan 2021 Permalink

Crime Politics

I Am Not a Soldier, but I Have Been Trained to Kill

Inside America’s fast-growing civilian tactical training industry.

Rachel Monroe Wired Jan 2021 30min Permalink

Politics Tech World

The Scammer Who Wanted to Save His Country

Last year, a hacker gave Glenn Greenwald a trove of damning messages between Brazil’s leaders. Some suspected the Russians. The truth was far less boring.

Darren Loucaides Wired Nov 2020 40min Permalink

Sports Tech

A Nameless Hiker and the Case the Internet Can’t Crack

The man on the trail went by “Mostly Harmless.” He was friendly and said he worked in tech. After he died in his tent, no one could figure out who he was.

Nicholas Thompson Wired Nov 2020 15min Permalink

Best Article Crime

The Incredible Story of the Collar Bomb Heist

In 2003, a man robbed a bank with a bomb around his neck. It exploded shortly thereafter, taking his life and leaving authorities to try to figure out who had put it there.

Rich Schapiro Wired Dec 2010 20min Permalink

The Cheating Scandal That Ripped the Poker World Apart

Mike Postle was on an epic winning streak at a California casino. Veronica Brill thought he had to be playing dirty. Let the chips fall where they may.

Brendan I. Koerner Wired Sep 2020 25min Permalink

Tech

TikTok and the Evolution of Digital Blackface

On the app, users drape themselves in the trappings of Black culture—and steal the viral spotlight. It’s exploitation at its most refined and disturbing.

Jason Parham Wired Aug 2020 30min Permalink

Science Health

My Friend Was Struck by ALS. To Fight Back, He Built a Movement

At 37, Brian Wallach was diagnosed with the fatal disease. So he tapped a lifetime of connections to give help and hope to fellow sufferers—while grappling with his own mortality.

Brian Barrett Wired Jun 2020 30min Permalink

Health

We Can Protect the Economy From Pandemics

Why didn’t we?

Evan Ratliff Wired Jun 2020 30min Permalink

Tech

#Riot

On the intersection of technology and revolt.

Bill Wasik Wired Jan 2012 30min Permalink

Tech

The Hacker Who Saved the Internet

At 22, he single-handedly put a stop to the worst cyberattack the world had ever seen. Then he was arrested by the FBI.

Andy Greenberg Wired May 2020 55min Permalink

Sports

To Run My Best Marathon at Age 44, I Had to Outrun My Past

After 20 years of long-distance competition, I ran my fastest. All it took was tech, training, and a new understanding of my life.

Nicholas Thompson Wired Apr 2020 30min Permalink

Tech Health

The Devastating Decline of a Brilliant Young Coder

Lee Holloway programmed internet security firm Cloudflare into being. But then he became apathetic, distant, and unpredictable—for a long time, no one could make sense of it.

Sandra Upson Wired Apr 2020 35min Permalink

Science

Why Old-Growth Trees Are Crucial to Fighting Climate Change

Nature is already socking away a lot of carbon for us. It could soak up a lot more—if we help.

Brooke Jarvis Wired Apr 2020 25min Permalink

History Politics Tech

The Secret History of a Cold War Mastermind

Gus Weiss, a shrewd intelligence insider, pulled off an audacious tech hack against the Soviets in the last century. Or did he?

Alex French Wired Mar 2020 40min Permalink

Tech

Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet

People used to think the crowdsourced encyclopedia represented all that was wrong with the web. Now it’s a beacon of so much that’s right.

Richard Cooke Wired Feb 2020 20min Permalink

Sports

Going the Distance (and Beyond) to Catch Marathon Cheaters

An amateur sleuth tracks runners who cheat. But how far should he go?

Gordy Megroz Wired Feb 2020 15min Permalink

Movies & TV

Behind the Scenes at Rotten Tomatoes

What happens when humans, not algorithms, are in charge.

Simon van Zuylen-Wood Wired Jan 2020 Permalink

History Tech

The Secret History of Facial Recognition

Sixty years ago, a sharecropper’s son invented a technology to identify faces. Then the record of his role all but vanished. Who was Woody Bledsoe, and who was he working for?

Shaun Raviv Wired Jan 2020 25min Permalink

Crime

The War Vet, the Dating Site, and the Phone Call From Hell

Jared Johns found out too late that swapping messages with the pretty girl from a dating site would mean serious trouble. If only he had known who she really was.

Vince Beiser Wired Dec 2019 25min Permalink

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