The Rise And Fall Of Pan Am
Pan Am was once the largest international airline in the US. In 1970 alone, it carried 11 million passengers to 86 countries worldwide. But after 60 years of flight, decades of financial turbulence, and a devastating terrorist attack above the skies of Lockerbie, Scotland, Pan Am went bust.
How One Company You’ve Never Heard Of Swallowed Tens Of Thousands Of Text Messages — Then Spit Them Back Out
People woke up to strange text messages from friends and loved ones. The messages had actually been sent months earlier, on Valentine’s Day, but had been frozen in place by a glitched server and were only shot out when the system was finally fixed nine months later.
The Rise And Fall Of Sega
With an aggressive marketing campaign and a new star in Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega solidified itself as a top contender in the industry and a force to be reckoned with. However, its reign at the top was short-lived, as it eventually caused its own downfall with a series of tragic mistakes.
Buried In Sand For A Millennium: Africa’s Roman Ghost City
Timgad is a lost Roman city on the edge of the Sahara desert in Algeria that remained hidden beneath the sand for nearly a thousand years. Positively obscure compared to the international notoriety of Pompeii, this ancient city is nonetheless one of the best surviving examples of Roman town planning anywhere in the historical Empire.
‘We’re The Only Plane In The Sky’
Nearly every American above a certain age remembers precisely where they were on September 11, 2001. But for a tiny handful of people, those memories touch American presidential history. Where was the president in the eight hours after the Sept. 11 attacks? The strange, harrowing journey of Air Force One, as told by the people who were on board.
“Balloonfest”, The Spectacle That Became A Tragedy
In September 1986, the city of Cleveland attempted to set a special record: the simultaneous launch of 1.5 million balloons. But fate intervened, and the result was both crazier and more tragic than anyone could have imagined.
America’s ‘War’ Against Switzerland
The not very widely known aerial fighting and bombing that occurred between the United States and Switzerland during World War II.
1980s Teenagers And Their Bedroom Walls
Desire, adoration, safety, identity and escape are all there on the teenager’s bedroom walls. In the 1980s, these teenagers were photographed in their bedrooms – the place where they go to dream.
“This Land Is Your Land”, The Story Behind America’s Best-Known Protest Song
On its most basic level, “This Land Is Your Land” is a song about inclusion and equality—the American ideal broken down into simple, eloquent language and set to a melody you memorize on first listen. But there’s more to “This Land Is Your Land” than many people realize.
The Lawyer Whose Clients Didn’t Exist
A well-known attorney helped land a $2 billion settlement for Gulf Coast seafood-industry workers after a BP oil rig 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana, had exploded. But who was he really representing?
The Dictatorship Of Data
Big data is poised to transform society. Yet big data also exacerbates a very old problem: relying on the numbers when they are far more fallible than we think. Nothing underscores the consequences of data analysis gone awry more than the story of Robert McNamara.
“Full Moon”, Night Skiing Without Artificial Light
Night skiing without artificial light: Closing lift stations and the setting sun mark the end of the action for most skiers. Not for Max Kroneck and Jochen Mesle. While ski towns fall asleep they head into the mountains and see them awaking in a new light. The snow starts glistening again.
Can We Terraform The Sahara To Stop Climate Change?
We are going to examine the feasibility and effect of afforestation in the two largest subtropical deserts in the world, the Sahara and the Australian outback. These are the perfect candidates for afforestation, neither have large competing human populations, agricultural activity, or large natural animal and plant populations.
“AlphaGo”, Artificial Intelligence Taking On The Chinese Game Go
With more board configurations than there are atoms in the universe, the ancient Chinese game of Go has long been considered a grand challenge for artificial intelligence. On March 9, 2016, the worlds of Go and artificial intelligence collided in South Korea for an extraordinary best-of-five-game competition, coined The DeepMind Challenge Match.
Up Close And Personal With Norway’s Modernist Architecture
‘Bauta’ takes a lingering glance at Norway’s government and administrative buildings—as well as public spaces—both inside and outside of the country; celebrating the poetics of everyday architectures, and the beauty to be found in buildings made by and for the people.
I Fled Yugoslavia In 1941. Then I Returned to Join the Resistance.
After the Germans consolidated in northwestern Yugoslavia, I left New York for London, crushed by the news of what was going on. I told my parents I was returning to Yugoslavia to become a freedom fighter.
Is The Cruise Industry Finally Out Of Its Depth?
The question is whether the coronavirus will dent, deflect or alter what has been a phenomenon of our times, the many-times multiplication of ship sizes, of passenger numbers and of profits, generated by an industry that manufactures its own version of reality, then shapes the places that its ships visit in the image of that reality.
Did The Advent Of The First Desktop Computer Lead To Murder?
In the summer of 1965, the Olivetti P101 made it to the New York World’s Fair but only just. It was hidden away in a small room behind the main stand. If anyone found it, it was supposed to be an accident. But a few people did. Soon more and more began to squeeze their way in.
Inside The Most Watched YouTube Channel In The World
India’s T-Series built an online empire from Bollywood. Now it has to survive Netflix. Bhushan Kumar argues that T-Series has no reason to fear this invasion, and not just because it sits behind a moat filled with more than 200 million YouTube subscribers.
Portrait Of A Place: Atlantic City
Unmasking the declining seaside resort through a portrait of its inhabitants. With a no-holds-barred approach, directors Ben Carey and Billy Linker deliver a full-frontal profile of the once-booming resort town on New Jersey’s Atlantic coast—often sidelined as the “poor man’s Las Vegas.”
“In The Absence”, Award-Winning Film About The Sinking Of A South Korean Ferry
When the passenger ferry MV Sewol sank off the coast of South Korea in 2014, over three hundred people lost their lives, most of them schoolchildren. Years later, the victims’ families and survivors are still demanding justice from national authorities.