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Writers

Brendan I. Koerner

Crime Science Health

Blood, Lies, and a Drug Trials Lab Gone Bad

The system for testing pharmaceuticals in the US relies on contractors adhering to strict guidelines. But one of them chose profits over protocols.

Brendan I. Koerner Wired Oct 2021 35min Permalink

Science Sports

One Man’s Amazing Journey to the Center of the Bowling Ball

Mo Pinel spent a career reshaping the ball’s inner core to harness the power of physics. He revolutionized the sport—and spared no critics along the way.

Brendan I. Koerner Wired May 2021 25min Permalink

Crime World

The Forgotten Story of a Diplomat Who Disappeared

In 1974, John Patterson was abducted by the People’s Liberation Army of Mexico—a group no one had heard of before. The kidnappers wanted $500,000, and insisted that Patterson’s wife deliver the ransom.

Brendan I. Koerner The Atlantic Apr 2021 25min 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

Best Article Crime Tech

The Strange Life and Mysterious Death of a Virtuoso Coder

Jerold Haas was on the brink of blockchain riches. Then his body was found in the woods of southern Ohio.

Brendan I. Koerner Wired Nov 2019 35min Permalink

Science

How Cities Reshape the Evolutionary Path of Urban Wildlife

If researchers can figure out how pigeons and rats evolve to thrive in hostile city habitats, it could help other beasts—including us—adapt to climate change.

Brendan I. Koerner Wired Sep 2019 25min Permalink

The Young and the Reckless

A gang of teen hackers snatched the keys to Microsoft’s videogame empire. Then they went too far.

Brendan I. Koerner Wired Apr 2018 35min Permalink

Can You Turn a Terrorist Back into a Citizen?

Abdullahi Yusuf was 18 and ready to dedicate his life to ISIS when federal agents pulled him aside in the Minneapolis airport. He will never see the inside of a jail cell.

Brendan I. Koerner Wired Jan 2017 20min Permalink

Crime Tech Media

#jihad

Why ISIS is winning the social media war.

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Brendan Koerner on the Longform Podcast

Brendan I. Koerner Wired Mar 2016 Permalink

Crime

Online Dating Made This Woman a Pawn in a Global Crime Plot

Audrey Elrod thought she had found the man of her dreams. Today she is in a West Virginia prison. She’s broke. And the court has ordered her to pay more than $400,000 to victims of the same man who conned her.

Brendan I. Koerner Wired Oct 2015 25min Permalink

Science

A Doctor’s Quest to Save People by Injecting Them With Scorpion Venom

The story of Jim Olson and his Tumor Paint dream.

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Previously: Brendan I. Koerner on the Longform Podcast.

Brendan I. Koerner Wired Jun 2014 15min Permalink

Crime

See No Evil: The Case of Alfred Anaya

Alfred Anaya was a genius at installing secret compartments in cars. If they were used to smuggle drugs without his knowledge, he figured, that wasn’t his problem. He was wrong.

Brendan I. Koerner Wired Mar 2013 25min Permalink

Secret of AA

A psychological, historical and neurological look at Alcoholics Anonymous.

Brendan I. Koerner Wired Jun 2010 20min Permalink

Tech

How One Man Hacked His Way Into the Slot-Machine Industry

The story of a small Latvian counterfeiting business that got far too big for its own good.

Brendan I. Koerner Wired Aug 2011 15min Permalink

Crime Tech World

From Russia With LØpht

How a legally dubious FBI sting lured a pair of Russian hackers stateside.

Brendan I. Koerner Legal Affairs May 2002 15min Permalink