Author Archives
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Stop Expecting Facebook and Google to Curb Misinformation — It’s Great for Business
We’ve arrived at the sad, dumb point in history at which the only thing less surprising than acts of mass violence are the ways in which our planet’s mega information distributors muck everything up with ensuing frauds, hoaxes, and confusion…. Read More ›
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We Can Finally Identify One Of The Largest Holders Of Puerto Rican Debt
For years, the identity of the owner of one of the largest holdings of Puerto Rican debts has been a mystery. That mystery has finally been solved, with the help of the The Baupost Group, who unmasked themselves to The… Read More ›
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‘Monopoly Man’ Shows Up At Wells Fargo Hearing As Senate Pushes To Legalize Ripoff Clause
Members of the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday interrogated Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan about his response to a fraudulent account scandal that engulfed the bank last year. Unconvinced that the bank has cleaned up its act in the last… Read More ›
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The U.S. Election System Remains Deeply Vulnerable, But States Would Rather Celebrate Fake Success
When the Department of Homeland Security notified 21 states that Russian actors had targeted their elections systems in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election, the impacted states rolled out a series of defiant statements. “Oregon’s security measures… Read More ›
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Anti-Monopoly Candidates Are Testing a New Politics in the Midterms
Austin Frerick couldn’t believe the numbers. Last year, while working as an economist at the Office of Tax Analysis in the Obama Treasury Department, Frerick co-wrote a paper on “excess returns,” which he describes as “a fancy way of saying… Read More ›
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They Helped Prosecutors After Escaping Death in a Smuggler’s Truck. Now They’re Being Deported.
It was a typical Saturday night at the Border Patrol checkpoint outside Laredo, Texas: cars and commercial trucks lined up and waiting to pass the last line of agents and cameras on the northbound highway. Every day there are thousands of… Read More ›
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How Arnold Mesches Turned His FBI Surveillance Files Into Eerily Prescient Works of Art
On August 6, 1956, Arnold Mesches had over 200 paintings stolen. When he returned to his Los Angeles art studio that day, the building’s glass front door was shattered. Someone had broken in. The paintings were gone, including a 30-painting… Read More ›
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How a Dubious CIA Document Is Fueling Tensions in Catalonia
Tensions are running high in Barcelona. Last month saw a terrorist attack on one of the city’s main thoroughfares, Las Ramblas, which killed a dozen people and injured more than 100. Now, Barcelona and the greater region of Catalonia are a… Read More ›
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How Exxon Mobil May Soon Have Greater Sway Over Science Used in EPA Policies
Exxon Mobil may soon have a greater hand in shaping the science used to develop major environmental regulations. The published list of potential names for the Science Advisory Board and the EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee includes many industry representatives… Read More ›
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Chelsea Manning: Harvard Told Me “Sean Spicer Has Something to Contribute to American Policy”
Shortly after Harvard publicly rescinded whistleblower Chelsea Manning’s visiting fellowship, the dean of her would-be school called her personally to break the news. According to Manning, Douglas Elmendorf, the dean of the Harvard Kennedy School, began by reading what she… Read More ›