Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a rally with supporters in Fresno, California. Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters FRESNO, Calif. — Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told California voters Friday that he can solve their water crisis, declaring that: “There is no drought.” Speaking at a rally in Fresno, Calif., Trump accused state officials of…
You might have heard that Americans overwhelmingly favor mandatory labeling for foods containing genetically modified ingredients. That’s true, according to a new study: 84 percent of respondents said they support the labels. Brandon McFadden and Jayson Lusk But a nearly identical percentage—80 percent—in the same survey said they’d also like to see labels on food…
The drugmaker Purdue Pharma launched OxyContin two decades ago with a bold marketing claim: One dose relieves pain for 12 hours, more than twice as long as generic medications. Patients would no longer have to wake up in the middle of the night to take their pills, Purdue told doctors. One OxyContin tablet in the…
Kolé Life Foods doesn’t really stand out at first glance. These days, lots of companies are trying to ride the wave of popular interest in neuro-everything, and Kolé, a Baltimore-based supplement manufacturer, is no exception. The company’s four “tonics” offer a variety of benefits, its website claims: one “is designed to support alertness, focus, healthy…
T hey swept in after dark on a cold winter’s night: some 30 armed wardens backed by state troopers and shadowed by two film crews from the television show “North Woods Law.” Riding in two dozen vehicles, lights flashing, they rushed up the only road into Allagash as a convoy, then began peeling off in…
Illustration by Tara Jacoby There are few things on this planet I hate more than bottled water. Just the crinkling sound of someone wrapping their mouth around one of those squeaky garbage accordions fills me with rage. I stopped drinking it a long time ago—and you should stop drinking it, too. In 2015, in the…
Marie Duplessis, French courtesan and Parisian celebrity, was a striking Victorian beauty. In her best-known portrait, by Édouard Viénot, her glossy black hair frames a beautiful, oval face with sparkling eyes and ivory skin. But Duplessis’ fame was short-lived. Like Violetta, the protagonist in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La Traviata whose tale Duplessis inspired, Duplessis was…
“We Will Literally Predict Their Life Outcomes” Scientist Vivienne Ming says she can foretell a child’s earning potential, happiness, even longevity. But not all her claims add up. Earlier this year, I met an entrepreneur who believed people could become better parents by texting with a software program she’d built. To me, a new mother,…
The United States has selected a national mammal—and, no, it’s not humans. The American bison (Bison bison bison) is now the official mammalian species of the land, putting it on the same symbolic pedestal as the bald eagle when it comes to national icons. The designation was signed into law by President Barack Obama May…
A leading scientist has declared homeopathy a “therapeutic dead-end” after a systematic review concluded the controversial treatment was no more effective than placebo drugs. Professor Paul Glasziou, a leading academic in evidence based medicine at Bond University, was the chair of a working party by the National Health and Medical Research Council which was tasked…