Promoted Stories

    Politics

    Demonstrators hold up a piñata of Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump during a protest outside Trump Tower on October 12, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois.  About 250 demonstrators marched through downtown before holding a rally calling for immigration reform and fair wages in front of Trump Tower. Trump has been an outspoken proponent of a plan to deport undocumented immigrants.

    Donald Trump Piñatas Are Yuge, Too

    Donald Trump Piñatas Are Yuge, Too

    Here’s one way to hit back at the hateful rhetoric from the likely GOP nominee. And you might even get candy.

    Here’s one way to hit back at the hateful rhetoric from the likely GOP nominee. And you might even get candy.

    Keep Reading
    U.S. President Barack Obama waves with Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during a Clinton campaign event in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., July 5, 2016.  REUTERS/Brian Snyder - TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY   - RTX2JUYE

    Obama Helps Hillary Get Off the Hook

    Obama Helps Hillary Get Off the Hook

    Thinking back over Barack Obama’s tenure as it winds down, trying to ponder his future legacy, I’ve returned in my mind many times to one impressive but always overlooked fact. In seven and a half years, there hasn’t been a single big scandal that...

    As a longtime Clinton watcher and (usually) defender, I hope to God she takes a key lesson away from Comey’s warning shot.

    Keep Reading
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gestures while testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Afghanistan on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 2, 2009.     REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES POLITICS) - RTXRDFW

    Did FBI Admit That Hillary Was Hacked?

    Did FBI Admit That Hillary Was Hacked?

    Ever since Hillary Clinton’s private email system was exposed, Republicans have accused her of jeopardizing U.S. national security by exposing classified information to Russian, Chinese, and other foreign hackers. In extraordinary public statement...

    Whatever secrets Hillary Clinton had on her email system, they’re now possibly in the hands of hackers, FBI director Jim Comey said in an extraordinary press conference.

    Keep Reading
    Demonstrators hold up a piñata of Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump during a protest outside Trump Tower on October 12, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois.  About 250 demonstrators marched through downtown before holding a rally calling for immigration reform and fair wages in front of Trump Tower. Trump has been an outspoken proponent of a plan to deport undocumented immigrants.

    Donald Trump Piñatas Are Yuge, Too

    Donald Trump Piñatas Are Yuge, Too

    Here’s one way to hit back at the hateful rhetoric from the likely GOP nominee. And you might even get candy.

    Here’s one way to hit back at the hateful rhetoric from the likely GOP nominee. And you might even get candy.

    Keep Reading
    FILE - In this May 19, 2016 file photo, FBI Director James Comey, calls on a reporter during a news conference in Chicago. The Orlando gunman professed allegiance during the attack to the leader of the Islamic State even as he called the Boston Marathon bombers, who had nothing to do with the extremist group, his “homeboys.” Before that, the FBI said, he claimed family connections to al-Qaida and boasted of ties to Hezbollah, organizations deeply at odds with the Islamic State. Comey says those statements add to the confusion about why Omar Mateen gunned down people inside a gay nightclub. But such conflicting, jumbled loyalties aren’t uncommon among terror suspects in the United States. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

    FBI Just Crushed Hillary’s Email Excuses

    FBI Just Crushed Hillary’s Email Excuses

    Over the course of about 14 minutes, FBI director James Comey verbally gutted Hillary Clinton’s favorite defenses of her private email server. It’s now clear that a host of arguments she’s made to defend herself are not based in fact.And though Co...

    Clinton has had several explanations as to why and how she used a private server, but James Comey seemed to refute them all today.

    Keep Reading
    Trump is making conservatives scared of vaccines. We have data to back it up.

    Trump’s Turning GOP Into Anti-Vaxxers

    Trump’s Turning GOP Into Anti-Vaxxers

    Republicans are more skeptical of vaccine science than we may have previously realized—and Donald Trump may bear some of the blame.A new study, conducted for The Daily Beast by a researcher at Washington State University, found a relationship betw...

    Study after study has shown no link between anti-vaxxers and party affiliation. Until now.

    Keep Reading

    Entertainment

    Trump Tweet ‘Racist as S**t’

    Trump Tweet ‘Racist as S**t’

    The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah may have dedicated the opening of his show to Hillary Clinton’s rough day on the campaign trail, but he saved his harshest critique for Donald Trump’s social media catastrophe from this past holiday weekend.Yes, the Re...

    On ‘The Daily Show’ Tuesday night, Trevor Noah broke down the blatant anti-Semitism of Donald Trump’s Star of David tweet.

    Keep Reading
    Why doesn't Sophia Burset get anything to do but be trans OINTB

    Realism vs. Exploitation in ‘OITNB’

    Realism vs. Exploitation in ‘OITNB’

    If you were to cut out every scene of Orange is the New Black that doesn’t contain Laverne Cox’s character Sophia Burset, you’d be left with a story about a transgender woman of color who is denied healthcare, separated from her family, beaten by ...

    The Netflix series has never given Sophia, its groundbreaking transgender character, much to do besides endure abuse. When will she get the same three-dimensional treatment as the re...

    Keep Reading
    Batman: The Animated Series (FOX) 1992-1995
Shown: Arleen Sorkin (as the voice of Dr. Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn), Mark Hamill (as the voice of Jack Napier/The Joker)

    Meet the Man Who Created Harley Quinn

    Meet the Man Who Created Harley Quinn

    No cartoon had ever quite done what Batman: The Animated Series did when it premiered in 1992. Over 85 episodes, it told dark, sometimes-ugly stories about conflicted heroes and complex villains. While aimed at children, it treated its audience li...

    The man behind ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ and Harley Quinn opens up about the night he was almost brutally beaten to death, and how it inspired his latest work.

    Keep Reading
    How 1991 Changed Music Forever

    How 1991 Changed Music Forever

    How 1991 Changed Music Forever

    Yes, 1991 was a helluva year in music. It doesn’t matter what strain of popular music you were into—whether you were bopping to the pop sounds of New Kids On the Block or Mariah Carey, nodding your head to DJ Quik or Nice & Smooth, clubbing wi...

    From the arrival of 2Pac to Kurt Cobain ascending to superstar status with ‘Nevermind,’ a look back at one of the most influential years in music ever.

    Keep Reading
    Why doesn't Sophia Burset get anything to do but be trans OINTB

    Realism vs. Exploitation in ‘OITNB’

    Realism vs. Exploitation in ‘OITNB’

    If you were to cut out every scene of Orange is the New Black that doesn’t contain Laverne Cox’s character Sophia Burset, you’d be left with a story about a transgender woman of color who is denied healthcare, separated from her family, beaten by ...

    The Netflix series has never given Sophia, its groundbreaking transgender character, much to do besides endure abuse. When will she get the same three-dimensional treatment as the re...

    Keep Reading
    Song of the Summer

    The Songs of the Summer Are Really Bad

    The Songs of the Summer Are Really Bad

    Are the Songs of the Summer really bad this year, or am I just old?Every summer there’s supposed to be that one song. The one the comes on the radio when you’re in the car and everyone from your brother in college to your mom knows the words and s...

    What’s this year’s Song of the Summer? Pandas, sunshine in pockets, and whatever the hell Ariana Grande is saying if you can understand her. We’re uninspired.

    Keep Reading

    13 Most Patriotic Movies Ever

    13 Most Patriotic Movies Ever

    Act of ValorThis year’s Act of Valor stands as only the most recent in a long tradition of proudly America-praising movies. The film, which tells the story of a kidnapped CIA operative and a terrorist plot against the U.S., is jam-packed with ever...

    This Fourth of July, kick back and watch clips of the most patriotic movies ever, from 1942’s ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ to Tom Cruise’s ‘Top Gun’ to the Will Smith blockbuster ‘Independe...

    Keep Reading
    Celebrity 4th of July

    A Bad Person’s Guide to 4th of July

    A Bad Person’s Guide to 4th of July

    It’s easy to be jaded about a holiday like the Fourth of July that celebrates liberty for all when the American Dream is still out of reach for so many. But you know who isn’t jaded? Celebrities. In yachts from sea to shining sea, these diehard pa...

    Whether it’s using your friends as pawns, turning patriotism into profit or simply being a hot mess, no one does July 4th like the most insufferable people on Earth: Celebrities.

    Keep Reading
    Song of the Summer

    The Songs of the Summer Are Really Bad

    The Songs of the Summer Are Really Bad

    Are the Songs of the Summer really bad this year, or am I just old?Every summer there’s supposed to be that one song. The one the comes on the radio when you’re in the car and everyone from your brother in college to your mom knows the words and s...

    What’s this year’s Song of the Summer? Pandas, sunshine in pockets, and whatever the hell Ariana Grande is saying if you can understand her. We’re uninspired.

    Keep Reading

    World News

    Kiarostami Obit

    The Man Who Put Iran’s Movies on the Map

    The Man Who Put Iran’s Movies on the Map

    By Roland Elliott Brown Abbas Kiarostami, Iran’s best-known filmmaker, died Monday, July 4. He was 76.In recent months, Kiarostami had undergone a series of surgeries for gastrointestinal cancer.Kiarostami was the winner of some of the top honors ...

    Keep Reading
    Europe’s Child Pickpockets Inc / HP Hed: Meet the Pickpocket Slaves of Europe

    Meet the Pickpocket Slaves of Europe

    Meet the Pickpocket Slaves of Europe

    AMSTERDAM — Hundreds of Eastern European children are living what the Dutch press calls a modern Oliver Twist story, some held against their will, others in thrall to their handlers as they are forced to beg and steal their way around Western Euro...

    The Netherlands has launched a major international investigation into the human trafficking behind Europe’s plague of child pickpockets.

    Keep Reading
    The Leaning Tower Of Ecuador

    Can a Whole Nation Have PTSD?

    Can a Whole Nation Have PTSD?

    GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador—The signs of stress are subtle at first. Life has resumed in the southern city of Guayaquil after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador’s Pacific coast in April and wreaked havoc in this small South American nation. ...

    A massive earthquake in April, plus more than 1,700 aftershocks, has rattled Ecuador’s psyche. Lessons for those who live on fault lines in the United States.

    Keep Reading
    The Long March 7 carrier rocket, one of China's latest generation of rockets, blasts off at 20:00 on June 25, 2016 in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China. China's new generation Long March-7 carrier rocket set fire at a new launch ground in Hainan Province. For about 603 seconds after the load combination with rocket successfully separated, entering perigee 200 km, apogee of 394 km elliptical orbit, which marked a complete success of the Long march 7 for its first time launch.

    What Did China Just Launch Into Space?

    What Did China Just Launch Into Space?

    China just boosted a high-tech, mysterious new satellite into orbit. It might be a weapon. It might not be a weapon. There’s no way to be certain, either way—and that’s a problem for all spacefaring countries.Especially the United States and China...

    The Chinese say the high-tech satellite will clean up space debris, but its extendable robotic arm has some wondering whether it has a more sinister purpose.

    Keep Reading
    Europe’s Child Pickpockets Inc / HP Hed: Meet the Pickpocket Slaves of Europe

    Meet the Pickpocket Slaves of Europe

    Meet the Pickpocket Slaves of Europe

    AMSTERDAM — Hundreds of Eastern European children are living what the Dutch press calls a modern Oliver Twist story, some held against their will, others in thrall to their handlers as they are forced to beg and steal their way around Western Euro...

    The Netherlands has launched a major international investigation into the human trafficking behind Europe’s plague of child pickpockets.

    Keep Reading
    A partially sunk boat is seen on the Tiber river in Rome, Italy, November 30, 2015.

    American Student Washes Up Dead in Rome

    American Student Washes Up Dead in Rome

    ROME — Beau Solomon, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Wisconsin in Madison came to Rome to fulfill a dream to study abroad. Instead he was found floating in Rome’s muddy Tiber River, likely killed a few hours after he arrived in the et...

    Just days after he was discovered to be missing, 19-year-old cancer survivor Beau Solomon turned up dead on Monday.

    Keep Reading
    Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), Nigel Farage speaks during a press conference near the Houses of Parliament in central London on June 24, 2016.
Britain has voted to leave the European Union by 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent, final results from all 382 of Britain's local counting centres showed on Friday. / AFP / GLYN KIRK        (Photo credit should read GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)

    Now Brexit’s Biggest Fan Quits

    Now Brexit’s Biggest Fan Quits

    Nigel Farage, the British politician without whom there would never have been a Brexit vote, dramatically quit on Monday morning as leader of the anti-E.U. UK Independence Party, aka UKIP.David Cameron made his ill-advised pledge to hold a referen...

    Britain's crazy political turmoil just carries on. Why is the leader of anti-EU party UKIP quitting just days after getting what he wants?

    Keep Reading
    Intv the chaplain at Dover where they bring the bodies, accepted the assignment thinking there would be no bodies brought back;

    The Man the Army Pays to Cry

    The Man the Army Pays to Cry

    DOVER, Delaware — The flag-draped transfer case carrying the remains back from Afghanistan was still inside the C-17 when friends and colleagues of the fallen gathered around Chaplain John C. Wheatley. It fell to the Army lieutenant colonel to exp...

    Chaplain John C. Wheatley has sat with hundreds of families over the years when their loved ones return home dead from conflict—and it brings him to tears every time.

    Keep Reading
    A partially sunk boat is seen on the Tiber river in Rome, Italy, November 30, 2015.

    American Student Washes Up Dead in Rome

    American Student Washes Up Dead in Rome

    ROME — Beau Solomon, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Wisconsin in Madison came to Rome to fulfill a dream to study abroad. Instead he was found floating in Rome’s muddy Tiber River, likely killed a few hours after he arrived in the et...

    Just days after he was discovered to be missing, 19-year-old cancer survivor Beau Solomon turned up dead on Monday.

    Keep Reading

    U.S. News

    U.S. President Barack Obama pauses while speaking about Brexit at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University in Palo Alto California June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque.        TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY      - RTX2I2JY

    This Trump Fan Turned 4th of July Racist

    This Trump Fan Turned 4th of July Racist

    Don Christy’s float at last year’s Independence Day Parade in the Indiana town of Sheridan featured him and a buddy in costumes.“Dress and a wig and lipstick and a sign saying, ‘Just Married,’” the 73-year-old Sheridan retiree told The Daily Beast...

    “Mr. Trump tells it like it is,” the Trump-backing float-maker told The Daily Beast.

    Keep Reading
    Student Drug Informant Found with a Bullet in His Head and Rocks in His Backpack

    Bullet in His Head—Rocks in His Backpack

    Bullet in His Head—Rocks in His Backpack

    On Andrew Sadek’s 20th birthday, North Dakota police made him an offer: moonlight as a confidential informant and avoid rotting in prison.It was November 2013, and Sadek had never been in trouble before. Months earlier, he’d sold a small amount of...

    When Andrew Sadek was caught selling $80 of pot, cops pressured him into being an informant and told him to go after ‘harder drugs.’ Then he turned up dead.

    Keep Reading
    ‘Is There Any Such Thing as an Evil Building?’ Why We Should Think Twice Before Razing Houses of Horror

    Respect, Don’t Just Raze, Evil Buildings

    Respect, Don’t Just Raze, Evil Buildings

    Last year, the home where Adam Lanza and his mother Nancy lived in Newtown, CT.—a pale yellow 3,000 square foot house on two grassy acres—crumpled under the claw of a backhoe. A survey had gone out to residents of Newtown asking what should be don...

    The effect of standing in a place where tragedy has occurred and viscerally registering its history cannot be matched with words or images.

    Keep Reading
    U.S. President Barack Obama pauses while speaking about Brexit at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University in Palo Alto California June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque.        TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY      - RTX2I2JY

    This Trump Fan Turned 4th of July Racist

    This Trump Fan Turned 4th of July Racist

    Don Christy’s float at last year’s Independence Day Parade in the Indiana town of Sheridan featured him and a buddy in costumes.“Dress and a wig and lipstick and a sign saying, ‘Just Married,’” the 73-year-old Sheridan retiree told The Daily Beast...

    “Mr. Trump tells it like it is,” the Trump-backing float-maker told The Daily Beast.

    Keep Reading
    Reflection from a new American-Muslim Citizen

    On Being the ‘Good Muslim’

    On Being the ‘Good Muslim’

    I am at dinner in a posh New York City home. As I study the elegant china, conversation turns to Syria. I express dismay at our nation’s inaction: first our refusal to contain the conflict, later our disengagement from the predictable calamity of ...

    At a New York dinner party, guests look the writer directly in the eyes—and the scales begin to fall from them.

    Keep Reading
    Accepting Jefferson good and bad (by novelist Stephen O'Connor, author of Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings

    It’s Jefferson’s Ideals That Matter

    It’s Jefferson’s Ideals That Matter

    Today we celebrate the ideals of a hypocrite. Thomas Jefferson has always been controversial. During his long political career he was criticized for what some held to be his unconstitutional use of executive power in engineering the Louisiana Purc...

    The author of the Declaration of Independence was a slave owner and an adulterer, but his shortcomings should not taint the ideals he set forth for the country.

    Keep Reading

    Tech + Health

    Virtual Reality Guru: Soon We'll Be Able To Relive Our Own Memories

    The Danger of Virtual Reality for Memory

    The Danger of Virtual Reality for Memory

    Virtual reality has been the talk of the entertainment industry for the last couple of years, as the TV, film, gaming, and social media worlds all look to immersive experiences as the next advancement in digital experiences.But while big budget pr...

    In the coming years, virtual reality will be about recording personal moments. But what’s to stop people from living fully inside those memories?

    Keep Reading
    birth control by drone delivery

    Fighting Abortion Laws—by Land and Sea

    Fighting Abortion Laws—by Land and Sea

    Police stood by as a small white drone touched down in Northern Ireland last Tuesday on the banks of the Clanrye River. Two women, awaiting its arrival, turned to face news cameras before consuming the drone’s controversial cargo: pills used to in...

    Once a renegade ship sailing international waters to provide abortions, Women on Waves is embracing drone technology to expand their service.

    Keep Reading
    abortion doctor with remains in trunk of his car arrested

    Doc ‘Stole Drugs’ for Illegal Abortions

    Doc ‘Stole Drugs’ for Illegal Abortions

    It was a car crash of all things that gave him away.In September 2015, Michigan abortion doctor Michael Arthur Roth asked the West Bloomfield police to retrieve some items from his car, which had been impounded after an accident. But when police l...

    A Michigan doctor found with human tissue in his car—and who allegedly stole fentanyl for illegal abortions—has been charged with a slew of crimes.

    Keep Reading
    FY5249 African woman's hand holding plenty of pills

    The Keurig of Vitamins Is Here

    The Keurig of Vitamins Is Here

    “Goodbye pills. Hello real vitamins.”That’s the tagline for Tespo, a new high-tech vitamin dispenser that turns powdered nutrients into clear “liquid vitamins”—all with the touch of a button.The $150 dispenser—available only online—aims to provide...

    Tespo says it will turn your vitamins into a daily drink—but the science behind liquid supplements remains murky.

    Keep Reading
    birth control by drone delivery

    Fighting Abortion Laws—by Land and Sea

    Fighting Abortion Laws—by Land and Sea

    Police stood by as a small white drone touched down in Northern Ireland last Tuesday on the banks of the Clanrye River. Two women, awaiting its arrival, turned to face news cameras before consuming the drone’s controversial cargo: pills used to in...

    Once a renegade ship sailing international waters to provide abortions, Women on Waves is embracing drone technology to expand their service.

    Keep Reading
    Men, Stop Excusing Online Rape Threats

    Men, Stop Excusing Online Rape Threats

    Men, Stop Excusing Online Rape Threats

    In Australia last year, a young woman named Olivia Meville faced an onslaught of Tinder shaming by strange men for simply posting a Drake lyric in her bio—“The type of girl that will suck you dry and then eat some lunch with you.”The first wave of...

    ‘I was drunk,’ ‘I was joking,’ ‘It’s free speech’: men are making awful excuses for why they harass women online.

    Keep Reading

    ‘Electrosex’ Is Our Freaky Future

    ‘Electrosex’ Is Our Freaky Future

    “When I first heard about applying electricity to your naked body during sex, my first thought was ‘oh my god why would you do that?! Zappy, ouchy, dangerous!” says Jess Wilde.“But now I have completely changed my mind: the idea of turning you and...

    Couples who use electricity between the sheets say it taps into the body’s nervous system.

    Keep Reading
    Mandatory Credit: Photo by Beretta/Sims/REX/Shutterstock (5733820h)
Charlie Sheen
'Lelo Hex' launch, London, UK - 16 Jun 2016

    Feminists Say No to Charlie Sheen Condom

    Feminists Say No to Charlie Sheen Condom

    Luxury sex-toy manufacturer LELO wanted to reinvent the condom. But by making Charlie Sheen their pitchman, they could end up tanking their own reputation instead.Once beloved by feminist sex workers, bloggers, and educators for its sleek vibrator...

    A Swedish sex toy company once beloved by feminists is trumpeting Charlie Sheen as its new condom spokesman—and pissing off customers who point to the actor’s history of abusing women.

    Keep Reading
    Men, Stop Excusing Online Rape Threats

    Men, Stop Excusing Online Rape Threats

    Men, Stop Excusing Online Rape Threats

    In Australia last year, a young woman named Olivia Meville faced an onslaught of Tinder shaming by strange men for simply posting a Drake lyric in her bio—“The type of girl that will suck you dry and then eat some lunch with you.”The first wave of...

    ‘I was drunk,’ ‘I was joking,’ ‘It’s free speech’: men are making awful excuses for why they harass women online.

    Keep Reading

    BeastStyle

    Dana Schwartz

    NY Observer Owner Trumped by Underling

    NY Observer Owner Trumped by Underling

    “To the best of my knowledge I’m still employed,” New York Observer entertainment writer Dana Schwartz told The Daily Beast on Tuesday evening.It was a few hours after she posted on the Observer’s web site an open letter to the weekly’s owner, rea...

    In an open letter in the New York Observer, writer Dana Schwartz scolded owner Jared Kushner for countenancing his father-in-law Donald Trump’s alleged anti-Semitism. Here she explai...

    Keep Reading
    Thomas; Robert Mapplethorpe, American, 1946 - 1989; New York, New York, United States, North America; negative 1987; print 1994; Gelatin silver print; Image: 48.8 x 48.8 cm (19 3/16 x 19 3/16 in.), Sheet: 60.4 x 50.5 cm (23 3/4 x 19 7/8 in.), Mount: 60.4 x 50.5 cm (23 3/4 x 19 7/8 in.), Framed: 74.9 x 72.4 cm (29 1/2 x 28 1/2 in.); 2011.7.31

    Robert Mapplethorpe’s Raw Gay Desire

    Robert Mapplethorpe’s Raw Gay Desire

    Of course, all the throbbing penises, phallic flowers, and hot bodies Robert Mapplethorpe fans could wish for are present at the two retrospectives of his work at Los Angeles’ Getty (to July 31) and LACMA (also to July 31) museums. Of the two, the...

    Two great exhibitions in Los Angeles reveal the lifetime’s work of photographer Mapplethorpe—with his confrontational treatment of sexuality and male body taking center-stage.

    Keep Reading
    Spring Place

    Inside DiCaprio’s Private Party Palace

    Inside DiCaprio’s Private Party Palace

    On a recent afternoon at Spring Place, the new members-only club in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood, the atmosphere was so hush-hush that even directions to the bathroom were whispered. In the reception area, one prospective member strained to he...

    The owners of Spring Place hope jet-setting creative professionals will seek it out to host meetings with clients—and cavort with other jet-setting creative professionals.

    Keep Reading
    Lost Masterpieces

    Gaudi’s Lost Manhattan Tower

    Gaudi’s Lost Manhattan Tower

    Barcelona would not be Barcelona without the work of two titans of the Modernista movement—Lluís Domènech i Montaner and the more famous Antoni Gaudí. From the Hospital Sant Pau to the Sagrada Familia, their colorful, nature-inspired, trippy works...

    The designer of such architectural masterpieces as Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí left behind designs for a monumental Manhattan hotel that was never built.


    Keep Reading
    Thomas; Robert Mapplethorpe, American, 1946 - 1989; New York, New York, United States, North America; negative 1987; print 1994; Gelatin silver print; Image: 48.8 x 48.8 cm (19 3/16 x 19 3/16 in.), Sheet: 60.4 x 50.5 cm (23 3/4 x 19 7/8 in.), Mount: 60.4 x 50.5 cm (23 3/4 x 19 7/8 in.), Framed: 74.9 x 72.4 cm (29 1/2 x 28 1/2 in.); 2011.7.31

    Robert Mapplethorpe’s Raw Gay Desire

    Robert Mapplethorpe’s Raw Gay Desire

    Of course, all the throbbing penises, phallic flowers, and hot bodies Robert Mapplethorpe fans could wish for are present at the two retrospectives of his work at Los Angeles’ Getty (to July 31) and LACMA (also to July 31) museums. Of the two, the...

    Two great exhibitions in Los Angeles reveal the lifetime’s work of photographer Mapplethorpe—with his confrontational treatment of sexuality and male body taking center-stage.

    Keep Reading
    Gay Talese Isn't Alone: Why Aren't More Books Factchecked?

    Why Aren't Books Factchecked?

    Why Aren't Books Factchecked?

    Every few years, book publishing is hit by a major scandal. Someone like Jonah Lehrer is caught making up quotes. There were supposedly major factual inaccuracies in the controversial Primates of Park Avenue, and passages in Ben Carson’s book were...

    Gay Talese is only the latest red-faced author to publish a book replete with errors—errors a routine fact-check would have caught. Why doesn’t book publishing do a better job?

    Keep Reading
    What's Eating You in National Parks

    What’s Eating You (in National Parks)?

    What’s Eating You (in National Parks)?

    “Phillip had been drinking, and later he repeatedly told people close to him that he’d taken LSD that night. Somewhere behind him was a grizzly, and Harry’s flashlight was lost. Phillip stumbled downhill through the forest and burst into the moonl...

    Grizzly attacks on humans in and around our national parks always make the news, but you’re more likely to be attacked by bison, or ticks. Here’s a guide for wary campers.

    Keep Reading
    Norman Maclean on Fishing, Fire, and How ‘A River Runs Through It’ Got Pub

    How Your Dad's Favorite Book Got Made

    How Your Dad's Favorite Book Got Made

    This year, Norman Maclean’s indelible story collection, A River Runs Through It celebrates its 40th anniversary. Published by the University of Chicago Press after being rejected by the publishing community as unsellable, it remains a masterwork o...

    The classic story collection ‘A River Runs Through It’ turns 40 this year, and shows no signs of age, as befits a book by a man who didn’t start writing fiction until he was 70.

    Keep Reading
    Gay Talese Isn't Alone: Why Aren't More Books Factchecked?

    Why Aren't Books Factchecked?

    Why Aren't Books Factchecked?

    Every few years, book publishing is hit by a major scandal. Someone like Jonah Lehrer is caught making up quotes. There were supposedly major factual inaccuracies in the controversial Primates of Park Avenue, and passages in Ben Carson’s book were...

    Gay Talese is only the latest red-faced author to publish a book replete with errors—errors a routine fact-check would have caught. Why doesn’t book publishing do a better job?

    Keep Reading

    Video

    A sign advertises land for sale along Route 66 in California's Mojave desert 14 July 2003. Route 66, 2,448 miles (3,939kms) of roadway connecting Chicago to Los Angeles, is now a historic road used by local traffic, road buffs and nostalgia-minded tourists. For midwestern farmers migrating to California to escape escaping the Dust Bowl in 1930's, the long stretch across the Mojave desert was considered one of the most grueling parts of the trip.  AFP PHOTO / Robyn BECK  (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

    You Can Buy a Ghost Town on Craigslist

    You Can Buy a Ghost Town on Craigslist

    Cabin Creek, Colorado, is for sale.The five-acre ghost town includes a gas station, a motel, a restaurant, an RV park, and zero people—all for the low, low price of $350,000, according to an ad posted on Craigslist.“Ghost Town for Sale!!” the ad c...

    The unpopulated town of Cabin Creek, Colorado, is available for $350,000.

    Keep Reading
    Screenshot of video tweeted by Dan Katz, aka @BarstoolBigCat, showing protesters storm the stage of Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest in Coney Island, 7/4/16.

    Protesters Attack Hot Dog Eating Contest

    Protesters Attack Hot Dog Eating Contest

    Animal rights protesters rushed the stage at the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest in Coney Island on Monday, spraying fake blood on the contestants and knocking over trays of hot dogs. Soon afterward NYPD officers grabbed and removed the pro...

    Chaos ensued as protesters rushed the stage at the Coney Island hot dog eating contest.

    Keep Reading
    Locals and tourists enjoy the beach in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, on January 12, 2010. The heat wave hitting the city caused temperatures to rise up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) resulting in a wind-chill factor of 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).   AFP PHOTO/Vanderlei Almeida (Photo credit should read VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images)

    Body Parts Wash Up on Rio’s Shore

    Body Parts Wash Up on Rio’s Shore

    A severed foot and other body parts were found on Copacabana beach Wednesday, adding one more problem to the long list plaguing Rio de Janeiro’s upcoming Summer Olympics.The mutilated remains were found just a few yards away from where Rio is plan...

    Human remains turned up at the venue for the Games’ volleyball matches.

    Keep Reading
    The US flag flies at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, January 20, 2009. Millions of people are expected to be in the US capital to witness the swearing of Barack Obama as 44th President of the United States.      AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)

    The 2 Trans Women Running for Congress

    The 2 Trans Women Running for Congress

    Among the many Democrats running for Congress this year, two are trans women. Both, oddly enough, are named Misty.On Tuesday, Misty Snow and Misty Plowright became the first openly trans candidates to win major party primaries for Congress, the Wa...

    Two trans women ran in two separate Democratic primaries for Congress. Both won.

    Keep Reading
    Screenshot of video tweeted by Dan Katz, aka @BarstoolBigCat, showing protesters storm the stage of Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest in Coney Island, 7/4/16.

    Protesters Attack Hot Dog Eating Contest

    Protesters Attack Hot Dog Eating Contest

    Animal rights protesters rushed the stage at the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest in Coney Island on Monday, spraying fake blood on the contestants and knocking over trays of hot dogs. Soon afterward NYPD officers grabbed and removed the pro...

    Chaos ensued as protesters rushed the stage at the Coney Island hot dog eating contest.

    Keep Reading
    A boy works on a turntable in the neighborhood of "Pinto Salinas" during a hip-hop performance in Caracas April 21, 2006. [In the sprawling, urban ghettos of Caracas, President Hugo Chavez's self-styled socialist revolution is getting a hip hop flavor. Tiuna El Fuerte, a collective named after an local indigenous hero, is bringing rap shows and street performances to impoverished neighborhoods as part of Chavez's oil-financed social reforms for the poor. Organizers say their cultural project mirrors Chavez's programs, which supporters say have given more participation to the poor majority long abandoned by previous governments.] - RTXOJ50

    DJ Caught Watching Soccer on Phone

    DJ Caught Watching Soccer on Phone

    DJ Sven Vath had a lot to keep track of this past weekend at a Netherlands music festival—including the soccer game on his phone. Pictures posted to Facebook by photographer Mr. After Party show the Awakenings festival from Vath's point of vi...

    Photos clearly show DJ Sven Vath’s phone streaming a UEFA game between his turntables.

    Keep Reading
    BEIJING, CHINA:  Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned physicist, delivers his lecture in Beijing, 18 August 2002.  Hawking is in China to attend the upcoming 2002 International Congress of Mathematicians that will be held in Beijing from August 20 to 28.              AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read AFP/Getty Images)

    Hawking: Stupidity’s Still Destroying Us

    Hawking: Stupidity’s Still Destroying Us

    Humanity is still destroying itself with its own greed and stupidity, Stephen Hawking told Larry King on Saturday.Reiterating the concerns he had expressed in 2010, the legendary scientist said on Larry King Now that human shortsightedness is stil...

    “We certainly have not become less greedy or less stupid,” Hawking told Larry King.

    Keep Reading
    (FILES) This file picture taken on October 8, 2007 in London shows a cannabis plant. Britain is to raise the legal classification of cannabis due to the growing prevalence of the potent skunk form of the drug, despite expert advice against doing so, the interior minister said Wednesday May 7, 2008. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told parliament she would press for cannabis to be re-classified in law as a Class B drug compared with its current, less serious Class C classification. AFP PHOTO/Leon Neal/FILES (Photo credit should read Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

    California Might Legalize Weed Soon

    California Might Legalize Weed Soon

    California's market for marijuana products could get a lot bigger this fall. Currently, more than 700,00 patients take part in the state's medical marijuana program. But, with the 2016 election looming, that could change.A measure to leg...

    On November 8, Californians will vote on whether to legalize recreational marijuana use.

    Keep Reading
    A boy works on a turntable in the neighborhood of "Pinto Salinas" during a hip-hop performance in Caracas April 21, 2006. [In the sprawling, urban ghettos of Caracas, President Hugo Chavez's self-styled socialist revolution is getting a hip hop flavor. Tiuna El Fuerte, a collective named after an local indigenous hero, is bringing rap shows and street performances to impoverished neighborhoods as part of Chavez's oil-financed social reforms for the poor. Organizers say their cultural project mirrors Chavez's programs, which supporters say have given more participation to the poor majority long abandoned by previous governments.] - RTXOJ50

    DJ Caught Watching Soccer on Phone

    DJ Caught Watching Soccer on Phone

    DJ Sven Vath had a lot to keep track of this past weekend at a Netherlands music festival—including the soccer game on his phone. Pictures posted to Facebook by photographer Mr. After Party show the Awakenings festival from Vath's point of vi...

    Photos clearly show DJ Sven Vath’s phone streaming a UEFA game between his turntables.

    Keep Reading