Cheerleading & Fruit Detective

Featured Articles

How Cheerleading Became So Acrobatic, Dangerous and Popular

New York Times • 22 Oct 2024 • ~9400 words • Archive Link

David Gauvey Herbert traces the evolution of cheerleading as a sport, highlighting both its soaring popularity and the alarming risks faced by participants. The piece explores how a single company, Varsity Spirit, came to dominate the sport through aggressive business tactics and questionable governance practices. It also examines the sport's troubling issues with safety, abuse, and the rising costs that have made it inaccessible for many families.

Varsity had been hit with a raft of antitrust and personal-injury lawsuits, which provided an unprecedented glimpse into Varsity’s operations: Thousands of pages of documents and emails showed how Webb, a former cheerleader himself, built a company so powerful that its market position has not been meaningfully challenged by the many lawsuits and controversies. In July, KKR, one of the largest private-equity firms in the world, bought Varsity and its affiliate companies from Bain Capital for a reported $4.75 billion, a clear bet that Varsity’s control of cheerleading will survive the current scrutiny. Since the KKR sale, a sense of foreboding hangs over the world of cheer: Is there any scandal big enough to shake Varsity’s grip on American cheerleading?

Meet the Italian ‘Fruit Detective’ Who Investigates Centuries-Old Paintings for Clues About Produce That Has Disappeared From the Kitchen Table

Smithsonian Magazine • 21 Oct 2024 • ~4300 words

Isabella Dalla Ragione is not your typical art historian; she’s a “fruit detective” on a mission to uncover Italy's lost agricultural treasures hidden in Renaissance paintings. She investigates centuries-old paintings to uncover clues about the diverse array of fruits that were once cultivated in Italy but have since disappeared. This piece explores how Dalla Ragione's work aims to rediscover and preserve these forgotten fruit varieties, which could also help Italy's agriculture adapt to the challenges of climate change.

Dalla Ragione has spent more than a decade scouring the masterpieces of 15th- and 16th-century art for answers to one of the great questions of Italian agriculture: Whatever happened to the boisterous selection of fruits that, for centuries, were a celebrated part of Italian cuisine and culture? Slowly and indefatigably, she has been rediscovering those fruits, first in archives and paintings and then, incredibly, in small forgotten plots across Italy.

Recommended Articles

The Curious Case of Platform 14 at Paddington

London Reconnections • 23 Oct 2024 • ~4650 words

This piece explores the peculiar existence of a rarely used platform, Platform 14, at Paddington station. It delves into the history, layout, and current usage of this redundant platform, and questions its purpose and potential future uses. In doing that it provides insights into the challenges and constraints that have shaped the evolution of Paddington Station over time.

There is not much point in going to platform 14 because, as far as we can tell, no passenger train in service is ever scheduled to arrive or depart from this platform on a regular basis. Yet the rails aren’t rusty, the platform is maintained, it is signalled and it appears in the Timetable Planning Rules for ‘Wales and Western’ – and an entry in Timetable Planning Rules is usually the definitive test to see if a platform is still in use. So, why does it exist and why is it not apparently used?

The Painting Spent Years Lying Under a Bed. Then We Learned Who Painted It.

Texas Monthly • 22 Oct 2024 • ~2800 words • Archive Link

This piece tells the story of a family heirloom painting that turns out to be a valuable masterwork by the Filipino artist Fernando Amorsolo. It explores the painting's history, the family's connection to it, and the decision of what to do with a valuable artwork that holds deep personal significance.

When the burden of its financial and emotional worth began to outweigh the satisfaction of having it near at hand, I took it down from the wall and placed it in temporary custody elsewhere, where I wouldn’t have to worry about it so much, where I could see it every now and then but not every day. It was a mild painting but a potent one; sometimes—I began to think—it was too stark a reminder of all the people I had known and loved who had once paused before it and had now passed on.

Horatio Nelson: The Darling Hero of England

Common Reader • 22 Oct 2024 • ~6300 words

Horatio Nelson is often celebrated as England's greatest naval hero, yet his legacy is fading in contemporary consciousness. This piece explores Nelson's strategic brilliance, leadership, and the lasting impact of his victories while also questioning why his fame is waning in modern times. It also raises questions about the "Great Man" theory of history.

We can accept the great importance that Nelson played without believing that history is only made by Great Men. The claim is that people of high accomplishment lead, model, pattern, and create the history of high accomplishment. Some people make far more difference than others.

What Drugmakers Did Not Tell Volunteers in Alzheimer’s Trials

New York Times • 23 Oct 2024 • ~4750 words • Archive Link

This investigation uncovers troubling practices in Alzheimer’s drug trials, specifically the case of BAN2401. Despite genetic testing identifying volunteers at heightened risk for serious brain injuries, the drug maker chose not to disclose this critical information to at-risk volunteers. The piece explores the ethical implications of such decisions, as well as the tragic outcomes for participants like Genevieve Lane.

To assess the drug’s effectiveness and safety, Eisai sought to include people whose genetic profiles made them especially prone to develop Alzheimer’s. But these same people were also more vulnerable to brain bleeding or swelling if they received the drug. To identify these high-risk volunteers, Eisai told everyone that they would be given a genetic test. But the results, the company added, would remain secret. In all, 274 volunteers joined the trial without Eisai telling them they were at an especially high risk for brain injuries, documents obtained by The New York Times show. One of them was Genevieve Lane, a 79-year-old resident of the Villages in Florida who died in September 2022 after three doses of the drug, her brain riddled with 51 microhemorrhages. An autopsy determined that the drug’s side effects had contributed to her death. Her final hours were spent thrashing so violently that nurses had to tie her down

Inside the Bungled Bird Flu Response, Where Profits Collide With Public Health

Vanity Fair • 19 Oct 2024 • ~4831 words • Archive Link

The article provides an in-depth look at the U.S. government's response to the avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak in dairy cows, which can potentially mutate into a dangerous pandemic threat. It examines the tensions between the USDA's dual mandate to protect public health and support the agricultural industry and the challenges in coordinating a cohesive federal response across multiple agencies.

This should be a story of heroism, cooperation, and an all-hands effort to defeat a wily virus that many scientists warn could mutate into a pandemic threat. Instead, it is a story of intimidation and obfuscation. The vets who sounded the alarm have been silenced, some even fired, and won’t discuss their experiences on the record for fear of reprisals. And the federal agency that was supposed to help thwart the virus instead has allowed for an unspoken “don’t test, don’t tell” policy among dairy farmers.

The New Artificial Intelligentsia

Los Angeles Review of Books • 18 Oct 2024 • ~6400 words

The article examines the rise of the "artificial intelligentsia" - a group of technologists, entrepreneurs, and futurists who are shaping the development and deployment of AI and other emerging technologies. It explores how this group's utopian visions and faith in technological progress often overlook the social inequities and risks created by hastily integrating new technologies into society. The article questions whether this artificial intelligentsia, with its narrow demographic representation, should be entrusted as the guardians of humanity's future.”

But what explains the affinity between tech elites and eugenics? For starters, the artificial intelligentsia’s intense focus on optimization and enhancement spills over from engineering digital tools to the engineering of life itself. If, historically, eugenics sought to “improve” the human population through reproductive control, those with limitless resources today are desperate to cheat death by investing in technologies that help them “evolve” past this mortal frame.

Do You Remember School?

The New Yorker • 19 Oct 2024 • ~2550 words • Archive Link

In this reflective piece the author explores memories of her time at the Brearley School, discussing the inconsistencies of collective memory within a group of classmates. It examines how certain vivid memories from childhood school days remain, while others fade, and ponders the reasons behind the persistence of some recollections over others.

Are my classmates and I the same people we were then? I think we are, in our most essential aspects. We have been inflected by the course of our lives, but only a few of us, possibly, radically changed. My report cards used to comment that I had the potential to be a leader in the class. This surprised me. I was never a leader—I would not have dreamed of it. Nowadays, though I am still sometimes shy, I am also sometimes a leader. Have we all gained confidence, either socially or in what we believe we can do? Maybe. Or maybe we just don’t care anymore what people think—that also comes with age.

On Being Butthurt

The Elif Life • 21 Oct 2024 • ~4350 words

This piece explores the concept of "butthurt" - the annoyance, resentment, and distress that arises from a sense of unearned privilege or disadvantage compared to others. It examines how this tendency can manifest in the writing world and broader society, and questions whether even activities like keeping a notebook can be viewed through the lens of butthurt.

It’s weird—or rather, not weird at all—how often some form of the butthurt / privilege conversation comes up in the writing world. Obviously, it’s a huge privilege to have the time and money to write anything at all. The majority of writers I know come (like me) from middle- or upper-middle-class backgrounds. Yet it’s not rare to overhear, or get involved in, contests where different writers are comparing their disadvantages, and the butthurt gets triggered.

In a Propaganda Move, Russia Targeted and Deported Disabled Children From Ukraine

New Lines Magazine • 22 Oct 2024 • ~5950 words

This article discusses how Russia targeted and deported disabled children from Ukraine as part of a propaganda campaign during the 2022 Russian invasion. It details the forced relocation of children from a specialized boarding school in Oleshky, Ukraine to facilities in Russian-occupied Crimea and Russia, and the ongoing efforts to return these children to their families and homes.

According to data from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, in October 2022, Russia forcibly removed more than 2,000 children from the Kherson region to the occupied territories of the East, Crimea and the Russian Federation. On the left bank of the region, where Oleshky sits, the focus of what Russia called “evacuations” was on social institutions: geriatric and rehabilitation centers and orphanages.

We’re in the Golden Age of Garbage Clothing

The Walrus • 23 Oct 2024 • ~3750 words • Archive Link

This piece discusses the declining quality and durability of clothing, from fast fashion to luxury brands, and the environmental and labor issues associated with the overproduction of cheap, low-quality garments. It explores how consumer behavior and expectations, as well as lack of industry regulation, have contributed to this "golden age of garbage clothing" and questions what can be done to address these problems.

It’s difficult to consume less when items fall apart so quickly. According to the World Economic Forum, the production of clothing has about doubled since 2000, but the average garment is worn just seven to ten times. A 2021 report says Canadians are dumping 500,000 tonnes of clothes each year. Even when we donate to charities for reuse, a lot of it ends up getting exported and becoming other countries’ problems. A mountain of cast-offs in the desert of Chile is literally visible from space. A clothing landfill in Ghana exploded, burning for days.

To Buy a Mountain Range

Intelligencer • 23 Oct 2024 • ~4550 words • Archive Link

This article delves into the growing trend of privatizing public lands, particularly the iconic Crazy Mountains in Montana. It explores the implications of this land grab, revealing how the lines between private ownership and public access are blurring in the state. It raises concerns about the growing trend of wealthy individuals and groups acquiring control over public lands and natural resources and the implications this has for the general public's ability to enjoy these spaces.

The United States is privatizing its natural wonders from Southern California beaches to Rocky Mountain streams. Investors buy up a valley or mountain, fence it off, shoo away the public, and charge rates only the wealthy can afford. Nowhere is this more in evidence than Montana, where former livestock ranches across the state have been converted into fishing and hunting clubs.