# cache

url: http://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml
title: BBC World News
created_at: 2024-03-19 00:09:31
entries:
{"entries": [{"title": "'Only God can change this place': Haitians see no end to spiralling violence", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "'Only God can change this place': Haitians see no end to spiralling violence"}, "summary": "Bodies pile up even in the \"safest\" areas of Port-au-Prince, a capital city reeling from gang warfare.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Bodies pile up even in the \"safest\" areas of Port-au-Prince, a capital city reeling from gang warfare."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68602114"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68602114", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68602114#0", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 22:38:51 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 22, 38, 51, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/DCFF/production/_132957565_port-au-prince.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Trump unable to get $464m bond in New York fraud case", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Trump unable to get $464m bond in New York fraud case"}, "summary": "The former president must either pay the full amount in cash or secure a bond to continue his appeal.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The former president must either pay the full amount in cash or secure a bond to continue his appeal."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68600093"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68600093", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68600093#0", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 23:52:40 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 23, 52, 40, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/11D5/production/_132956540_gettyimages-2062201762.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Putin hails Crimea annexation after claiming election win", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Putin hails Crimea annexation after claiming election win"}, "summary": "The president addresses thousands in Moscow after official figures suggest he won 87% of the vote.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The president addresses thousands in Moscow after official figures suggest he won 87% of the vote."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68601131"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68601131", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68601131#0", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 22:17:21 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 22, 17, 21, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/0F91/production/_132958930_0dd56f060a6606aa85dc81db97b11742f08d67cb.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "US reports death of senior Hamas military leader", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "US reports death of senior Hamas military leader"}, "summary": "Details are also released of President Biden's high-stakes call to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Details are also released of President Biden's high-stakes call to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68578735"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68578735", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68578735#0", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 23:39:19 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 23, 39, 19, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/645C/production/_132929652_qassamafp.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Gaza faces famine during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Gaza faces famine during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting"}, "summary": "More than a million people in Gaza are already starving, says the global body responsible for declaring famine.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "More than a million people in Gaza are already starving, says the global body responsible for declaring famine."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68577026"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68577026", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68577026#0", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:13:50 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 17, 13, 50, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/13727/production/_132955697_d25a2269.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "The US Navy's relentless battle against Houthi attacks", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The US Navy's relentless battle against Houthi attacks"}, "summary": "The BBC gets rare access to a US aircraft carrier trying to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The BBC gets rare access to a US aircraft carrier trying to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68595451"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68595451", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68595451#0", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:11:38 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 17, 11, 38, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/17601/production/_132954759_7b01b0ce-27a0-49f3-83c0-204b3fbf739e.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Customers withdraw millions after cash machine glitch", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Customers withdraw millions after cash machine glitch"}, "summary": "Clients at Ethiopia's biggest commercial bank are being urged to return any money that isn't theirs.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Clients at Ethiopia's biggest commercial bank are being urged to return any money that isn't theirs."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-68599027"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-68599027", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-68599027#0", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:29:40 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 17, 29, 40, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/1239F/production/_132955647_gettyimages-1205379635.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "More couples are saying 'I do' in China", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "More couples are saying 'I do' in China"}, "summary": "The number of newlyweds rises for the first time in nine years as authorities try to reverse record-low birth rates.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The number of newlyweds rises for the first time in nine years as authorities try to reverse record-low birth rates."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68552103"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68552103", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68552103#1", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:41:36 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 17, 41, 36, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/CC97/production/_132957325_92b131bd9ae27ca1a61b88d85f6804fa75aacd37.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Foreign students attacked in India over Ramadan prayers", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Foreign students attacked in India over Ramadan prayers"}, "summary": "Five men have been arrested in Gujarat after the students were assaulted while offering prayers.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Five men have been arrested in Gujarat after the students were assaulted while offering prayers."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-68573279"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-68573279", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-68573279#1", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 08:11:34 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 8, 11, 34, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/5D6B/production/_132951932_gujunivpolicephoto.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Heatwave shuts schools and cuts power in South Sudan", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Heatwave shuts schools and cuts power in South Sudan"}, "summary": "Authorities say the extreme heat could last for two weeks and bring temperatures of up to 45C (113F).", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Authorities say the extreme heat could last for two weeks and bring temperatures of up to 45C (113F)."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68596499"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68596499", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68596499#1", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:44:29 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 17, 44, 29, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/604F/production/_132955642_gettyimages-148966739.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Passenger left 'holding on for dear life' after mid-flight door blowout", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Passenger left 'holding on for dear life' after mid-flight door blowout"}, "summary": "Cuong Tran says the seatbelt saved his life as a gaping hole suddenly appeared after take-off.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Cuong Tran says the seatbelt saved his life as a gaping hole suddenly appeared after take-off."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68583149"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68583149", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68583149#1", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 09:30:37 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 9, 30, 37, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/15FE3/production/_132938009_2-myseat.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Pakistan accused of killings in Afghan air strikes", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Pakistan accused of killings in Afghan air strikes"}, "summary": "The Taliban accuses Pakistan of killing eight women and children after an attack killed Pakistani troops.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The Taliban accuses Pakistan of killing eight women and children after an attack killed Pakistani troops."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68595112"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68595112", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68595112#1", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 13:39:39 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 13, 39, 39, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/14C35/production/_132954058_pakistan_airstrike_in_afghanistan_map_english_2640_v2-2x-nc-nc.png"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Teens detained in China over classmate's death", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Teens detained in China over classmate's death"}, "summary": "The case in Handan city has sparked anger and furious debate on juvenile crime.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The case in Handan city has sparked anger and furious debate on juvenile crime."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-68594364"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-68594364", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-68594364#1", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 08:07:58 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 8, 7, 58, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/16071/production/_132952209_gettyimages-1422516934.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Cubans stage rare protest over power blackouts", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Cubans stage rare protest over power blackouts"}, "summary": "Hundreds of people take to the streets in Santiago after being left in the dark for 14 hours.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Hundreds of people take to the streets in Santiago after being left in the dark for 14 hours."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68595885"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68595885", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68595885#1", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 11:02:07 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 11, 2, 7, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/157ED/production/_132954088_mediaitem132954086.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Uber agrees $178m payout to Australia taxi drivers", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Uber agrees $178m payout to Australia taxi drivers"}, "summary": "The class action was brought on behalf of more than 8,000 taxi and hire car owners and drivers.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The class action was brought on behalf of more than 8,000 taxi and hire car owners and drivers."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68594134"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68594134", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68594134#1", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 03:50:05 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 3, 50, 5, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/1819B/production/_132951789_gettyimages-1419492553.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Running the gauntlet to flee Haiti gang territory", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Running the gauntlet to flee Haiti gang territory"}, "summary": "The BBC speaks to Haitians who braved a treacherous journey out of Port-au-Prince as hunger worsens.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The BBC speaks to Haitians who braved a treacherous journey out of Port-au-Prince as hunger worsens."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68591539"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68591539", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68591539#1", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sun, 17 Mar 2024 20:11:56 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 20, 11, 56, 6, 77, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/136EA/production/_132949597_67bf4fcbe1e53f9bb3da5f3ddb11e8edfd8492540_286_5500_30941000x563.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Lost and stolen watches triple, database shows", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Lost and stolen watches triple, database shows"}, "summary": "The world's largest watch database says there are more than 100,000 watches lost or stolen worldwide.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The world's largest watch database says there are more than 100,000 watches lost or stolen worldwide."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-68596235"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-68596235", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-68596235#1", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 12:22:27 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 12, 22, 27, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/135E7/production/_132953397_mediaitem132953396.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Bear bounds past cars in latest Slovakia attack", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Bear bounds past cars in latest Slovakia attack"}, "summary": "A 49-year-old woman and 72-year-old man are hospitalised during the attack in Liptovsk\u00fd Mikul\u00e1\u0161.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "A 49-year-old woman and 72-year-old man are hospitalised during the attack in Liptovsk\u00fd Mikul\u00e1\u0161."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68591540"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68591540", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68591540#1", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sun, 17 Mar 2024 18:00:45 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 18, 0, 45, 6, 77, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/89E9/production/_132950353_bear22.png"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "How much trouble is Boeing in?", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "How much trouble is Boeing in?"}, "summary": "The US plane giant is under pressure from regulators and airlines, and its reputation is badly damaged.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The US plane giant is under pressure from regulators and airlines, and its reputation is badly damaged."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68573686"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68573686", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68573686#1", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sun, 17 Mar 2024 02:11:20 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 2, 11, 20, 6, 77, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/1FFF/production/_132219180_alaska2.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Predicting Putin's landslide was easy, but what comes next?", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Predicting Putin's landslide was easy, but what comes next?"}, "summary": "The Russian president will get a confidence boost from the tightly controlled election, says Steve Rosenberg.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The Russian president will get a confidence boost from the tightly controlled election, says Steve Rosenberg."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68596231"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68596231", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68596231#2", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 10:02:51 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 10, 2, 51, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/18411/production/_132954399_putin-index3-epa.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "No choice for Ukrainians: More Putin means more war", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "No choice for Ukrainians: More Putin means more war"}, "summary": "Russia's leader is \"sick with power\", says Ukraine's president, whose country faces continued war.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Russia's leader is \"sick with power\", says Ukraine's president, whose country faces continued war."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68595335"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68595335", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68595335#2", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 13:42:46 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 13, 42, 46, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/9AE7/production/_132955693_sumy.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Putin claims landslide and scorns US democracy", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Putin claims landslide and scorns US democracy"}, "summary": "Officials give Vladimir Putin 87% of the vote, in an election where no credible opponent could stand.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Officials give Vladimir Putin 87% of the vote, in an election where no credible opponent could stand."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68592781"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68592781", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68592781#2", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 13:40:46 GMT", 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"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68595334"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68595334", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68595334#2", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 19:19:10 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 19, 19, 10, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/F659/production/_132956036_gettyimages-2084789860.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Watch: Displaced Gazans describe al-Shifa raid", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Watch: Displaced Gazans describe al-Shifa raid"}, "summary": "The Israeli military says it has taken control of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City in what it called an operation to \"thwart terrorist activity\".", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The Israeli military says it has taken control of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City in what it called an operation to \"thwart terrorist activity\"."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68602337"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68602337", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68602337#3", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 19:02:44 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 19, 2, 44, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/100EF/production/_132957756_p0hkfw75.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Climbers rescued from icy Italian mountain", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Climbers rescued from icy Italian mountain"}, "summary": "The climbers got stuck 2,300m (7,500ft) up Monte Mondol\u00e8 on Saturday.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The climbers got stuck 2,300m (7,500ft) up Monte Mondol\u00e8 on Saturday."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68596923"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68596923", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68596923#3", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 12:27:34 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 12, 27, 34, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/17BD3/production/_132953279_p0hkcm3h.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Putin thanks Russia after predictable win", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Putin thanks Russia after predictable win"}, "summary": "President Vladimir Putin thanks Russians for putting their trust in him as he celebrates his election win.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "President Vladimir Putin thanks Russians for putting their trust in him as he celebrates his election win."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68593039"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68593039", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68593039#3", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sun, 17 Mar 2024 21:12:45 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 21, 12, 45, 6, 77, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/9F01/production/_132950704_p0hk8fkd.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Iceland volcano spews lava in eruption", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Iceland volcano spews lava in eruption"}, "summary": "Footage from the Reykjanes Peninsula shows bright orange lava erupting into the air.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Footage from the Reykjanes Peninsula shows bright orange lava erupting into the air."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68587994"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68587994", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68587994#3", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sat, 16 Mar 2024 22:25:47 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 16, 22, 25, 47, 5, 76, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/A73E/production/_132941824_p0hk4nvs.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Major fire destroys prestigious Egypt film set", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Major fire destroys prestigious Egypt film set"}, "summary": "Flames spread throughout the Al-Ahram Studio in Giza with three surrounding buildings evacuated.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Flames spread throughout the Al-Ahram Studio in Giza with three surrounding buildings evacuated."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68587992"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68587992", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68587992#3", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sat, 16 Mar 2024 16:51:16 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 16, 16, 51, 16, 5, 76, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/13F96/production/_132941818_p0hk3dqw.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Tornadoes and funnel clouds hit US states", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Tornadoes and funnel clouds hit US states"}, "summary": "A storm system struck Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, where multiple warnings were issued.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "A storm system struck Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, where multiple warnings were issued."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68577700"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68577700", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68577700#3", "guidislink": false, "published": "Fri, 15 Mar 2024 13:43:31 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 15, 13, 43, 31, 4, 75, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/6524/production/_132929852_p0hjwms3.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Watch: Polling booth set alight on Russia voting day", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Watch: Polling booth set alight on Russia voting day"}, "summary": "Russian officials say several people have been arrested for vandalism on the first day of voting in the presidential election.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Russian officials say several people have been arrested for vandalism on the first day of voting in the presidential election."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68581214"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68581214", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68581214#3", "guidislink": false, "published": "Fri, 15 Mar 2024 16:58:51 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 15, 16, 58, 51, 4, 75, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/6B3D/production/_132935472_p0hjy5vc.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Iconic Concorde jet taken across Hudson River to museum", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Iconic Concorde jet taken across Hudson River to museum"}, "summary": "The retired aircraft, known for flying across the Atlantic Ocean in less than three hours, underwent a restoration.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The retired aircraft, known for flying across the Atlantic Ocean in less than three hours, underwent a restoration."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68570988"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68570988", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68570988#3", "guidislink": false, "published": "Thu, 14 Mar 2024 21:04:06 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 14, 21, 4, 6, 3, 74, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/147AA/production/_132928838_p0hjrrrd.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Cara Delevingne's LA mansion gutted by fire", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Cara Delevingne's LA mansion gutted by fire"}, "summary": "The model and actress was not at home at the time, but two other people were injured.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The model and actress was not at home at the time, but two other people were injured."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68584921"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68584921", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68584921#3", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sat, 16 Mar 2024 10:45:15 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 16, 10, 45, 15, 5, 76, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/114E3/production/_132938807_p0hk27pb.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "What next as chaos and violence engulf Haiti?", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "What next as chaos and violence engulf Haiti?"}, "summary": "As turmoil grips the Caribbean nation, how countries from the US to Kenya react will be critical.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "As turmoil grips the Caribbean nation, how countries from the US to Kenya react will be critical."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68568800"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68568800", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68568800#3", "guidislink": false, "published": "Thu, 14 Mar 2024 20:16:10 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 14, 20, 16, 10, 3, 74, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/14F84/production/_132929858_2412ffcbae72063b95db76a339bc72615479120a.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "In pictures: Iceland volcano spews lava and cuts off road", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "In pictures: Iceland volcano spews lava and cuts off road"}, "summary": "Photographer Jakob Vegerfors captures Saturday's eruption and the steady progress of the lava flow.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Photographer Jakob Vegerfors captures Saturday's eruption and the steady progress of the lava flow."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68598245"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68598245", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68598245#4", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 16:07:12 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 16, 7, 12, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/134CF/production/_132955097_jakobvegerfors2.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Why Putin's fifth term as Russian leader was never in doubt", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Why Putin's fifth term as Russian leader was never in doubt"}, "summary": "Despite the guaranteed result, the Kremlin has been keen to make the election appear legitimate.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Despite the guaranteed result, the Kremlin has been keen to make the election appear legitimate."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68505228"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68505228", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68505228#4", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sun, 17 Mar 2024 18:47:07 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 18, 47, 7, 6, 77, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/10F1D/production/_132950496_zhoga.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "High-seas drama over an ocean treasure trove", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "High-seas drama over an ocean treasure trove"}, "summary": "Greenpeace could be thrown out of the UN body overseeing deep-sea mining for obstructing a research expedition.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Greenpeace could be thrown out of the UN body overseeing deep-sea mining for obstructing a research expedition."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68576735"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68576735", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68576735#4", "guidislink": false, "published": "Mon, 18 Mar 2024 11:17:05 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 11, 17, 5, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": 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2024 00:20:10 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 0, 20, 10, 0, 78, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/39FA/production/_132924841_georgina-976.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Idris Elba 'dreams big' with West African eco-city plan", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Idris Elba 'dreams big' with West African eco-city plan"}, "summary": "The actor aims to regenerate an island off Sierra Leone and start the country\u2019s first wind farm.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The actor aims to regenerate an island off Sierra Leone and start the country\u2019s first wind farm."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68573737"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68573737", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68573737#4", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sun, 17 Mar 2024 01:23:34 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 1, 23, 34, 6, 77, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/3609/production/_132933831_gettyimages-2021046351_976.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "As notorious death row closes, inmates fear what awaits in new prisons", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "As notorious death row closes, inmates fear what awaits in new prisons"}, "summary": "The prison is being remade into a rehabilitation centre that will not include people sentenced to death.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The prison is being remade into a rehabilitation centre that will not include people sentenced to death."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68558967"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68558967", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68558967#4", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sun, 17 Mar 2024 03:02:46 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 3, 2, 46, 6, 77, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/B60C/production/_132940664_gettyimages-1130296485.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Patrick - the saint who 'liked a drink'", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Patrick - the saint who 'liked a drink'"}, "summary": ".", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47543161"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47543161", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47543161#4", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sat, 16 Mar 2019 21:44:10 GMT", "published_parsed": [2019, 3, 16, 21, 44, 10, 5, 75, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/1654D/production/_105996419_pacemaker_st_patrick_s_day_parade_in_belfast_36-1.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Will Donald Trump stand trial before the election?", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Will Donald Trump stand trial before the election?"}, "summary": "The New York trial has been delayed by a month. Here's a summary of where all four trials stand.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "The New York trial has been delayed by a month. Here's a summary of where all four trials stand."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68577638"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68577638", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68577638#4", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sat, 16 Mar 2024 01:00:48 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 16, 1, 0, 48, 5, 76, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/32A3/production/_132936921_c93e016949f0a9e07a76660ca55dcb8f42abf453.jpg"}], "href": ""}, {"title": "Secret classes to counter Russian brainwashing in occupied Ukraine", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Secret classes to counter Russian brainwashing in occupied Ukraine"}, "summary": "Forced to move from Melitopol, \u201cNataliia\u201d now risks teaching hundreds of former students online.", "summary_detail": {"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml", "value": "Forced to move from Melitopol, \u201cNataliia\u201d now risks teaching hundreds of former students online."}, "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-68578822"}], "link": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-68578822", "id": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-68578822#4", "guidislink": false, "published": "Sat, 16 Mar 2024 00:10:24 GMT", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 16, 0, 10, 24, 5, 76, 0], "media_thumbnail": [{"width": "240", "height": "135", "url": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/C957/production/_132934515_ukraineeducation1a.jpg"}], "href": ""}]}


url: https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss
title: Reddit World News
created_at: 2024-03-19 00:09:31
entries:
{"entries": [{"authors": [{"name": "/u/ExactlySorta", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/ExactlySorta"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/ExactlySorta", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/ExactlySorta"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/ExactlySorta", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhq6zu/in_a_global_first_gambia_could_reverse_its_ban_on/\"> <img alt=\"In a global first, Gambia could reverse its ban on female genital cutting\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/SdXxkiKJKZBtKvA16hteDk8Pz-awyWMlyThskWgsy-s.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=42718d84ddaee36df0ec34182429e2b62e31855b\" title=\"In a global first, Gambia could reverse its ban on female genital cutting\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/ExactlySorta\"> /u/ExactlySorta </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gambia-female-genital-cutting-7ab84af16d6b986025dd344d615bfe19\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhq6zu/in_a_global_first_gambia_could_reverse_its_ban_on/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhq6zu/in_a_global_first_gambia_could_reverse_its_ban_on/\"> <img alt=\"In a global first, Gambia could reverse its ban on female genital cutting\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/SdXxkiKJKZBtKvA16hteDk8Pz-awyWMlyThskWgsy-s.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=42718d84ddaee36df0ec34182429e2b62e31855b\" title=\"In a global first, Gambia could reverse its ban on female genital cutting\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/ExactlySorta\"> /u/ExactlySorta </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gambia-female-genital-cutting-7ab84af16d6b986025dd344d615bfe19\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhq6zu/in_a_global_first_gambia_could_reverse_its_ban_on/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhq6zu", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhq6zu/in_a_global_first_gambia_could_reverse_its_ban_on/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/SdXxkiKJKZBtKvA16hteDk8Pz-awyWMlyThskWgsy-s.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=42718d84ddaee36df0ec34182429e2b62e31855b"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhq6zu/in_a_global_first_gambia_could_reverse_its_ban_on/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T13:02:41+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 13, 2, 41, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T13:02:41+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 13, 2, 41, 0, 78, 0], "title": "In a global first, Gambia could reverse its ban on female genital cutting", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "In a global first, Gambia could reverse its ban on female genital cutting"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/Itllbuffrightout1", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Itllbuffrightout1"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/Itllbuffrightout1", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Itllbuffrightout1"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/Itllbuffrightout1", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhxf6m/senior_hamas_commander_killed_in_al_shifa_raid/\"> <img alt=\"Senior Hamas commander killed in Al Shifa raid \" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/mGlXKc5SoGAoXNiFRPif_DWnpUqt8z1ksWGYCsIrLYs.jpg?width=320&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=cfe483718640bb33990461065dac3410a124eff6\" title=\"Senior Hamas commander killed in Al Shifa raid \" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Itllbuffrightout1\"> /u/Itllbuffrightout1 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hyt6rtr0p\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhxf6m/senior_hamas_commander_killed_in_al_shifa_raid/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhxf6m/senior_hamas_commander_killed_in_al_shifa_raid/\"> <img alt=\"Senior Hamas commander killed in Al Shifa raid \" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/mGlXKc5SoGAoXNiFRPif_DWnpUqt8z1ksWGYCsIrLYs.jpg?width=320&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=cfe483718640bb33990461065dac3410a124eff6\" title=\"Senior Hamas commander killed in Al Shifa raid \" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Itllbuffrightout1\"> /u/Itllbuffrightout1 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hyt6rtr0p\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhxf6m/senior_hamas_commander_killed_in_al_shifa_raid/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhxf6m", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhxf6m/senior_hamas_commander_killed_in_al_shifa_raid/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/mGlXKc5SoGAoXNiFRPif_DWnpUqt8z1ksWGYCsIrLYs.jpg?width=320&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=cfe483718640bb33990461065dac3410a124eff6"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhxf6m/senior_hamas_commander_killed_in_al_shifa_raid/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T18:07:27+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 18, 7, 27, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T18:07:27+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 18, 7, 27, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Senior Hamas commander killed in Al Shifa raid", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Senior Hamas commander killed in Al Shifa raid"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/TokyoOldMan", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/TokyoOldMan"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/TokyoOldMan", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/TokyoOldMan"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/TokyoOldMan", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bheyi9/russian_election_putin_claims_landslide_and/\"> <img alt=\"Russian election: Putin claims landslide and scorns US democracy\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/Crb9t-xtP01_R3coqKhbq_ANPzWBRJMWoXc0QS9daVE.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=4482348ffc7c6129d5f8f8f83c348977b63bf9a9\" title=\"Russian election: Putin claims landslide and scorns US democracy\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/TokyoOldMan\"> /u/TokyoOldMan </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68592781\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bheyi9/russian_election_putin_claims_landslide_and/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bheyi9/russian_election_putin_claims_landslide_and/\"> <img alt=\"Russian election: Putin claims landslide and scorns US democracy\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/Crb9t-xtP01_R3coqKhbq_ANPzWBRJMWoXc0QS9daVE.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=4482348ffc7c6129d5f8f8f83c348977b63bf9a9\" title=\"Russian election: Putin claims landslide and scorns US democracy\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/TokyoOldMan\"> /u/TokyoOldMan </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68592781\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bheyi9/russian_election_putin_claims_landslide_and/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bheyi9", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bheyi9/russian_election_putin_claims_landslide_and/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/Crb9t-xtP01_R3coqKhbq_ANPzWBRJMWoXc0QS9daVE.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=4482348ffc7c6129d5f8f8f83c348977b63bf9a9"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bheyi9/russian_election_putin_claims_landslide_and/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T01:37:37+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 1, 37, 37, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T01:37:37+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 1, 37, 37, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Russian election: Putin claims landslide and scorns US democracy", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Russian election: Putin claims landslide and scorns US democracy"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/BastianMobile", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/BastianMobile"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/BastianMobile", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/BastianMobile"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/BastianMobile", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhsgxp/ukraine_says_putins_buffer_zone_comment_is_clear/\"> <img alt=\"Ukraine says Putin's buffer zone comment is clear sign of looming escalation\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/8f6NuKMq2FY-jpHbUVnnqJsK__foioKjWCxxl992J6A.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=21d09c3d0858bd3e06d3c5f3216dbab040b4fbf6\" title=\"Ukraine says Putin's buffer zone comment is clear sign of looming escalation\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/BastianMobile\"> /u/BastianMobile </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-says-putins-buffer-zone-comment-is-clear-sign-looming-escalation-2024-03-18/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhsgxp/ukraine_says_putins_buffer_zone_comment_is_clear/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhsgxp/ukraine_says_putins_buffer_zone_comment_is_clear/\"> <img alt=\"Ukraine says Putin's buffer zone comment is clear sign of looming escalation\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/8f6NuKMq2FY-jpHbUVnnqJsK__foioKjWCxxl992J6A.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=21d09c3d0858bd3e06d3c5f3216dbab040b4fbf6\" title=\"Ukraine says Putin's buffer zone comment is clear sign of looming escalation\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/BastianMobile\"> /u/BastianMobile </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-says-putins-buffer-zone-comment-is-clear-sign-looming-escalation-2024-03-18/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhsgxp/ukraine_says_putins_buffer_zone_comment_is_clear/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhsgxp", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhsgxp/ukraine_says_putins_buffer_zone_comment_is_clear/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/8f6NuKMq2FY-jpHbUVnnqJsK__foioKjWCxxl992J6A.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=21d09c3d0858bd3e06d3c5f3216dbab040b4fbf6"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhsgxp/ukraine_says_putins_buffer_zone_comment_is_clear/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T14:45:49+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 14, 45, 49, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T14:45:49+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 14, 45, 49, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Ukraine says Putin's buffer zone comment is clear sign of looming escalation", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Ukraine says Putin's buffer zone comment is clear sign of looming escalation"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/Pravda_UA", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Pravda_UA"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/Pravda_UA", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Pravda_UA"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/Pravda_UA", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhywzq/not_a_single_ukrainian_soldier_saw_red_cross/\"> <img alt=\"Not a single Ukrainian soldier saw Red Cross representatives while in Russian captivity\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/ManoJC3gCR22l96CIGO7Y1aecSQGujSXs7urQ7zoPzg.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=e2cf0d286b71646bcc131b9c8e0d7bc8367ffc4e\" title=\"Not a single Ukrainian soldier saw Red Cross representatives while in Russian captivity\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Pravda_UA\"> /u/Pravda_UA </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/03/18/7447024/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhywzq/not_a_single_ukrainian_soldier_saw_red_cross/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhywzq/not_a_single_ukrainian_soldier_saw_red_cross/\"> <img alt=\"Not a single Ukrainian soldier saw Red Cross representatives while in Russian captivity\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/ManoJC3gCR22l96CIGO7Y1aecSQGujSXs7urQ7zoPzg.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=e2cf0d286b71646bcc131b9c8e0d7bc8367ffc4e\" title=\"Not a single Ukrainian soldier saw Red Cross representatives while in Russian captivity\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Pravda_UA\"> /u/Pravda_UA </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/03/18/7447024/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhywzq/not_a_single_ukrainian_soldier_saw_red_cross/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhywzq", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhywzq/not_a_single_ukrainian_soldier_saw_red_cross/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/ManoJC3gCR22l96CIGO7Y1aecSQGujSXs7urQ7zoPzg.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=e2cf0d286b71646bcc131b9c8e0d7bc8367ffc4e"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhywzq/not_a_single_ukrainian_soldier_saw_red_cross/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T19:06:52+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 19, 6, 52, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T19:06:52+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 19, 6, 52, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Not a single Ukrainian soldier saw Red Cross representatives while in Russian captivity", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Not a single Ukrainian soldier saw Red Cross representatives while in Russian captivity"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/doodly-123", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/doodly-123"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/doodly-123", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/doodly-123"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/doodly-123", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhsc5e/putin_afraid_of_war_with_nato_estonian_pm_says/\"> <img alt=\"Putin \u201cafraid\u201d of war with NATO, Estonian PM says\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/iHtlKJPBfNYz8lnMLj0l0J30VUQpIpKcg2naX1Z4uqw.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=e753bc85363235950ce94409f73a8e5dcd7a9f3e\" title=\"Putin \u201cafraid\u201d of war with NATO, Estonian PM says\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/doodly-123\"> /u/doodly-123 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/03/17/putin-afraid-of-war-with-nato-estonian-pm-says/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhsc5e/putin_afraid_of_war_with_nato_estonian_pm_says/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhsc5e/putin_afraid_of_war_with_nato_estonian_pm_says/\"> <img alt=\"Putin \u201cafraid\u201d of war with NATO, Estonian PM says\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/iHtlKJPBfNYz8lnMLj0l0J30VUQpIpKcg2naX1Z4uqw.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=e753bc85363235950ce94409f73a8e5dcd7a9f3e\" title=\"Putin \u201cafraid\u201d of war with NATO, Estonian PM says\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/doodly-123\"> /u/doodly-123 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/03/17/putin-afraid-of-war-with-nato-estonian-pm-says/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhsc5e/putin_afraid_of_war_with_nato_estonian_pm_says/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhsc5e", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhsc5e/putin_afraid_of_war_with_nato_estonian_pm_says/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/iHtlKJPBfNYz8lnMLj0l0J30VUQpIpKcg2naX1Z4uqw.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=e753bc85363235950ce94409f73a8e5dcd7a9f3e"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhsc5e/putin_afraid_of_war_with_nato_estonian_pm_says/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T14:40:07+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 14, 40, 7, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T14:40:07+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 14, 40, 7, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Putin \u201cafraid\u201d of war with NATO, Estonian PM says", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Putin \u201cafraid\u201d of war with NATO, Estonian PM says"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/Carla_DFW", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Carla_DFW"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/Carla_DFW", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Carla_DFW"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/Carla_DFW", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhtvsy/russian_president_vladimir_putin_on_monday/\"> <img alt=\"Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday claimed that Taiwan is part of China\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/KsUyKYr-4NZarsEpMu84kK20JDqelB1qpz4hRpUOQVk.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=2a06e472c7825762da5ebe349347010de3ececc9\" title=\"Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday claimed that Taiwan is part of China\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Carla_DFW\"> /u/Carla_DFW </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/5117179\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhtvsy/russian_president_vladimir_putin_on_monday/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhtvsy/russian_president_vladimir_putin_on_monday/\"> <img alt=\"Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday claimed that Taiwan is part of China\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/KsUyKYr-4NZarsEpMu84kK20JDqelB1qpz4hRpUOQVk.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=2a06e472c7825762da5ebe349347010de3ececc9\" title=\"Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday claimed that Taiwan is part of China\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Carla_DFW\"> /u/Carla_DFW </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/5117179\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhtvsy/russian_president_vladimir_putin_on_monday/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhtvsy", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhtvsy/russian_president_vladimir_putin_on_monday/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/KsUyKYr-4NZarsEpMu84kK20JDqelB1qpz4hRpUOQVk.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=2a06e472c7825762da5ebe349347010de3ececc9"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhtvsy/russian_president_vladimir_putin_on_monday/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T15:45:13+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 15, 45, 13, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T15:45:13+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 15, 45, 13, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday claimed that Taiwan is part of China", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday claimed that Taiwan is part of China"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/giuliomagnifico", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/giuliomagnifico"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/giuliomagnifico", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/giuliomagnifico"}, "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/giuliomagnifico", "author": "/u/giuliomagnifico", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "&#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/giuliomagnifico\"> /u/giuliomagnifico </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.newsweek.com/russia-putin-2024-election-results-votes-siberia-1880193\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhvpnb/russian_district_scrambles_to_correct_putins/\">[comments]</a></span>"}], "summary": "&#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/giuliomagnifico\"> /u/giuliomagnifico </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.newsweek.com/russia-putin-2024-election-results-votes-siberia-1880193\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhvpnb/russian_district_scrambles_to_correct_putins/\">[comments]</a></span>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhvpnb", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhvpnb/russian_district_scrambles_to_correct_putins/", "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhvpnb/russian_district_scrambles_to_correct_putins/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T16:59:22+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 16, 59, 22, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T16:59:22+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 16, 59, 22, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Russian District Scrambles to Correct Putin's Surprise Election Defeat", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Russian District Scrambles to Correct Putin's Surprise Election Defeat"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/Skippernutts", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Skippernutts"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/Skippernutts", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Skippernutts"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/Skippernutts", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhl5uj/young_samsung_workers_flock_to_labor_union_in/\"> <img alt=\"Young Samsung workers flock to labor union in protest of 'disappointing' salary\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/KcQC_JTd1c1NZ50-12cNvg5-d472MTu9MP0xHz_9tkQ.jpg?width=320&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=378d53f1d41d63d5ae1300c89f9408cbb934fc08\" title=\"Young Samsung workers flock to labor union in protest of 'disappointing' salary\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Skippernutts\"> /u/Skippernutts </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-03-14/business/industry/Young-Samsung-workers-flock-to-labor-union-in-protest-of-disappointing-salary/2001570\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhl5uj/young_samsung_workers_flock_to_labor_union_in/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhl5uj/young_samsung_workers_flock_to_labor_union_in/\"> <img alt=\"Young Samsung workers flock to labor union in protest of 'disappointing' salary\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/KcQC_JTd1c1NZ50-12cNvg5-d472MTu9MP0xHz_9tkQ.jpg?width=320&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=378d53f1d41d63d5ae1300c89f9408cbb934fc08\" title=\"Young Samsung workers flock to labor union in protest of 'disappointing' salary\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Skippernutts\"> /u/Skippernutts </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-03-14/business/industry/Young-Samsung-workers-flock-to-labor-union-in-protest-of-disappointing-salary/2001570\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhl5uj/young_samsung_workers_flock_to_labor_union_in/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhl5uj", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhl5uj/young_samsung_workers_flock_to_labor_union_in/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/KcQC_JTd1c1NZ50-12cNvg5-d472MTu9MP0xHz_9tkQ.jpg?width=320&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=378d53f1d41d63d5ae1300c89f9408cbb934fc08"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhl5uj/young_samsung_workers_flock_to_labor_union_in/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T07:41:25+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 7, 41, 25, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T07:41:25+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 7, 41, 25, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Young Samsung workers flock to labor union in protest of 'disappointing' salary", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Young Samsung workers flock to labor union in protest of 'disappointing' salary"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/Geschichtsklitterung", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Geschichtsklitterung"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/Geschichtsklitterung", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Geschichtsklitterung"}, "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Geschichtsklitterung", "author": "/u/Geschichtsklitterung", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "&#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Geschichtsklitterung\"> /u/Geschichtsklitterung </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://ukranews.com/en/news/992325-russian-volunteers-announce-capture-of-gorkovsky-administration-in-belgorod-oblast\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfdc3/russian_volunteers_announce_capture_of_gorkovsky/\">[comments]</a></span>"}], "summary": "&#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Geschichtsklitterung\"> /u/Geschichtsklitterung </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://ukranews.com/en/news/992325-russian-volunteers-announce-capture-of-gorkovsky-administration-in-belgorod-oblast\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfdc3/russian_volunteers_announce_capture_of_gorkovsky/\">[comments]</a></span>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhfdc3", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfdc3/russian_volunteers_announce_capture_of_gorkovsky/", "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfdc3/russian_volunteers_announce_capture_of_gorkovsky/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T01:57:31+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 1, 57, 31, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T01:57:31+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 1, 57, 31, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Russian volunteers announce capture of Gorkovsky administration in Belgorod Oblast", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Russian volunteers announce capture of Gorkovsky administration in Belgorod Oblast"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/Correct-Sound-7295", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Correct-Sound-7295"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/Correct-Sound-7295", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Correct-Sound-7295"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/Correct-Sound-7295", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhnrlm/taliban_fighters_attack_pakistani_army_in_several/\"> <img alt=\"Taliban fighters attack Pakistani army in several points after Pakistani air strike inside Afghanistan\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/H5Fa3lkVJY4ejCI7630XrGyBZkGLu_pJi8JCQIVlFsA.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=9e6804f3d16f08d6012d98f540137f43ea37dcfd\" title=\"Taliban fighters attack Pakistani army in several points after Pakistani air strike inside Afghanistan\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Correct-Sound-7295\"> /u/Correct-Sound-7295 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-187881\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhnrlm/taliban_fighters_attack_pakistani_army_in_several/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhnrlm/taliban_fighters_attack_pakistani_army_in_several/\"> <img alt=\"Taliban fighters attack Pakistani army in several points after Pakistani air strike inside Afghanistan\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/H5Fa3lkVJY4ejCI7630XrGyBZkGLu_pJi8JCQIVlFsA.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=9e6804f3d16f08d6012d98f540137f43ea37dcfd\" title=\"Taliban fighters attack Pakistani army in several points after Pakistani air strike inside Afghanistan\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Correct-Sound-7295\"> /u/Correct-Sound-7295 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-187881\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhnrlm/taliban_fighters_attack_pakistani_army_in_several/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhnrlm", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhnrlm/taliban_fighters_attack_pakistani_army_in_several/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/H5Fa3lkVJY4ejCI7630XrGyBZkGLu_pJi8JCQIVlFsA.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=9e6804f3d16f08d6012d98f540137f43ea37dcfd"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhnrlm/taliban_fighters_attack_pakistani_army_in_several/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T10:48:03+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 10, 48, 3, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T10:48:03+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 10, 48, 3, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Taliban fighters attack Pakistani army in several points after Pakistani air strike inside Afghanistan", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Taliban fighters attack Pakistani army in several points after Pakistani air strike inside Afghanistan"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/NamelessForce", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/NamelessForce"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/NamelessForce", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/NamelessForce"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/NamelessForce", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhlof4/idf_troops_raid_gaza_citys_shifa_hospital_battle/\"> <img alt=\"IDF: Troops raid Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, battle Hamas members holed up inside\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/fwW4qS4nZQ0oUgEV2Mcl8cevHYns8iQHvWlzyEAKH3k.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=d8348e76208d35f933919b4d5397f26890823acc\" title=\"IDF: Troops raid Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, battle Hamas members holed up inside\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/NamelessForce\"> /u/NamelessForce </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-troops-raid-gaza-citys-shifa-hospital-battle-hamas-members-holed-up-inside/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhlof4/idf_troops_raid_gaza_citys_shifa_hospital_battle/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhlof4/idf_troops_raid_gaza_citys_shifa_hospital_battle/\"> <img alt=\"IDF: Troops raid Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, battle Hamas members holed up inside\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/fwW4qS4nZQ0oUgEV2Mcl8cevHYns8iQHvWlzyEAKH3k.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=d8348e76208d35f933919b4d5397f26890823acc\" title=\"IDF: Troops raid Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, battle Hamas members holed up inside\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/NamelessForce\"> /u/NamelessForce </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-troops-raid-gaza-citys-shifa-hospital-battle-hamas-members-holed-up-inside/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhlof4/idf_troops_raid_gaza_citys_shifa_hospital_battle/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhlof4", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhlof4/idf_troops_raid_gaza_citys_shifa_hospital_battle/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/fwW4qS4nZQ0oUgEV2Mcl8cevHYns8iQHvWlzyEAKH3k.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=d8348e76208d35f933919b4d5397f26890823acc"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhlof4/idf_troops_raid_gaza_citys_shifa_hospital_battle/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T08:20:53+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 8, 20, 53, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T08:20:53+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 8, 20, 53, 0, 78, 0], "title": "IDF: Troops raid Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, battle Hamas members holed up inside", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "IDF: Troops raid Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, battle Hamas members holed up inside"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/yuri_2022", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/yuri_2022"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/yuri_2022", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/yuri_2022"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/yuri_2022", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhixxv/mediazona_confirms_identities_of_over_47700/\"> <img alt=\"Mediazona confirms identities of over 47,700 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/qUfI7r6jNuJ4u7-9EIXv3ZponqUTVyXSYnxBJz573Yk.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=b883bb22e8b6262f86b6b69d93eafb47064e327c\" title=\"Mediazona confirms identities of over 47,700 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/yuri_2022\"> /u/yuri_2022 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://kyivindependent.com/mediazona-confirms-identities-of-over-47-700-russian-soldiers-killed-in-ukraine/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhixxv/mediazona_confirms_identities_of_over_47700/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhixxv/mediazona_confirms_identities_of_over_47700/\"> <img alt=\"Mediazona confirms identities of over 47,700 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/qUfI7r6jNuJ4u7-9EIXv3ZponqUTVyXSYnxBJz573Yk.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=b883bb22e8b6262f86b6b69d93eafb47064e327c\" title=\"Mediazona confirms identities of over 47,700 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/yuri_2022\"> /u/yuri_2022 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://kyivindependent.com/mediazona-confirms-identities-of-over-47-700-russian-soldiers-killed-in-ukraine/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhixxv/mediazona_confirms_identities_of_over_47700/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhixxv", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhixxv/mediazona_confirms_identities_of_over_47700/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/qUfI7r6jNuJ4u7-9EIXv3ZponqUTVyXSYnxBJz573Yk.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=b883bb22e8b6262f86b6b69d93eafb47064e327c"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhixxv/mediazona_confirms_identities_of_over_47700/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T05:07:57+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 5, 7, 57, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T05:07:57+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 5, 7, 57, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Mediazona confirms identities of over 47,700 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Mediazona confirms identities of over 47,700 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/Johannes_P", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Johannes_P"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/Johannes_P", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Johannes_P"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/Johannes_P", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhshjs/cubans_stage_rare_protests_demanding_electricity/\"> <img alt=\"Cubans stage rare protests demanding electricity, food\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/Xbx90ExwaNt7BsI5cW9W5NFrAtEtSL3aU_nQLKvhpko.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=6d392ff2c448fbe5c6d8b381c897c0fe0401e9e1\" title=\"Cubans stage rare protests demanding electricity, food\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Johannes_P\"> /u/Johannes_P </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/03/18/cubans-stage-rare-protests-demanding-electricity-food_6630722_4.html\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhshjs/cubans_stage_rare_protests_demanding_electricity/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhshjs/cubans_stage_rare_protests_demanding_electricity/\"> <img alt=\"Cubans stage rare protests demanding electricity, food\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/Xbx90ExwaNt7BsI5cW9W5NFrAtEtSL3aU_nQLKvhpko.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=6d392ff2c448fbe5c6d8b381c897c0fe0401e9e1\" title=\"Cubans stage rare protests demanding electricity, food\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Johannes_P\"> /u/Johannes_P </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/03/18/cubans-stage-rare-protests-demanding-electricity-food_6630722_4.html\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhshjs/cubans_stage_rare_protests_demanding_electricity/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhshjs", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhshjs/cubans_stage_rare_protests_demanding_electricity/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/Xbx90ExwaNt7BsI5cW9W5NFrAtEtSL3aU_nQLKvhpko.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=6d392ff2c448fbe5c6d8b381c897c0fe0401e9e1"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhshjs/cubans_stage_rare_protests_demanding_electricity/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T14:46:35+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 14, 46, 35, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T14:46:35+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 14, 46, 35, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Cubans stage rare protests demanding electricity, food", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Cubans stage rare protests demanding electricity, food"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/AlertTangerine", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/AlertTangerine"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/AlertTangerine", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/AlertTangerine"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/AlertTangerine", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhqhki/russiaukraine_war_west_slams_putins_sham_election/\"> <img alt=\"Russia-Ukraine war: West slams Putin\u2019s sham election as he threatens NATO with \u2018World War 3\u2019\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/cQXbVCJ09ESBTR3GeWeMEY49yA9Fk4d5JW1JqC3fvvc.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=e4ea510646260c020426fb3a2e8df452380a16f2\" title=\"Russia-Ukraine war: West slams Putin\u2019s sham election as he threatens NATO with \u2018World War 3\u2019\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/AlertTangerine\"> /u/AlertTangerine </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-ukraine-war-live-putin-092003533.html\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhqhki/russiaukraine_war_west_slams_putins_sham_election/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhqhki/russiaukraine_war_west_slams_putins_sham_election/\"> <img alt=\"Russia-Ukraine war: West slams Putin\u2019s sham election as he threatens NATO with \u2018World War 3\u2019\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/cQXbVCJ09ESBTR3GeWeMEY49yA9Fk4d5JW1JqC3fvvc.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=e4ea510646260c020426fb3a2e8df452380a16f2\" title=\"Russia-Ukraine war: West slams Putin\u2019s sham election as he threatens NATO with \u2018World War 3\u2019\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/AlertTangerine\"> /u/AlertTangerine </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-ukraine-war-live-putin-092003533.html\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhqhki/russiaukraine_war_west_slams_putins_sham_election/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhqhki", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhqhki/russiaukraine_war_west_slams_putins_sham_election/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/cQXbVCJ09ESBTR3GeWeMEY49yA9Fk4d5JW1JqC3fvvc.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=e4ea510646260c020426fb3a2e8df452380a16f2"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhqhki/russiaukraine_war_west_slams_putins_sham_election/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T13:17:00+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 13, 17, 0, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T13:17:00+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 13, 17, 0, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Russia-Ukraine war: West slams Putin\u2019s sham election as he threatens NATO with \u2018World War 3\u2019", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Russia-Ukraine war: West slams Putin\u2019s sham election as he threatens NATO with \u2018World War 3\u2019"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/Saltedline", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Saltedline"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/Saltedline", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Saltedline"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/Saltedline", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhhrrh/russiachina_relations_will_become_stronger/\"> <img alt=\"Russia-China relations will become stronger, Vladimir Putin says in post-election victory speech\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/MSSl9MrEQLQRhgK_xyuvd7SkdGfJf-Ps4o7EKfHzEUc.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=3f9de23d75e113c3ea6bd1a9f3dd94de5663c295\" title=\"Russia-China relations will become stronger, Vladimir Putin says in post-election victory speech\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Saltedline\"> /u/Saltedline </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3255724/russia-china-relations-will-become-stronger-putin-says-post-election-victory-speech?module=top_story&amp;pgtype=homepage\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhhrrh/russiachina_relations_will_become_stronger/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhhrrh/russiachina_relations_will_become_stronger/\"> <img alt=\"Russia-China relations will become stronger, Vladimir Putin says in post-election victory speech\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/MSSl9MrEQLQRhgK_xyuvd7SkdGfJf-Ps4o7EKfHzEUc.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=3f9de23d75e113c3ea6bd1a9f3dd94de5663c295\" title=\"Russia-China relations will become stronger, Vladimir Putin says in post-election victory speech\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Saltedline\"> /u/Saltedline </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3255724/russia-china-relations-will-become-stronger-putin-says-post-election-victory-speech?module=top_story&amp;pgtype=homepage\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhhrrh/russiachina_relations_will_become_stronger/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhhrrh", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhhrrh/russiachina_relations_will_become_stronger/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/MSSl9MrEQLQRhgK_xyuvd7SkdGfJf-Ps4o7EKfHzEUc.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=3f9de23d75e113c3ea6bd1a9f3dd94de5663c295"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhhrrh/russiachina_relations_will_become_stronger/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T04:00:39+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 4, 0, 39, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T04:00:39+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 4, 0, 39, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Russia-China relations will become stronger, Vladimir Putin says in post-election victory speech", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Russia-China relations will become stronger, Vladimir Putin says in post-election victory speech"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/WorldNewsMods", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/WorldNewsMods"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/WorldNewsMods", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/WorldNewsMods"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/WorldNewsMods", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhht7o/rworldnews_live_thread_russian_invasion_of/\"> <img alt=\"/r/WorldNews Live Thread: Russian Invasion of Ukraine Day 754, Part 1 (Thread #900)\" src=\"https://a.thumbs.redditmedia.com/jWqSTFxxKuo9aDK8JeM4yZL4Nb_RTA85H45u1-h63L8.jpg\" title=\"/r/WorldNews Live Thread: Russian Invasion of Ukraine Day 754, Part 1 (Thread #900)\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/WorldNewsMods\"> /u/WorldNewsMods </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/live/18hnzysb1elcs\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhht7o/rworldnews_live_thread_russian_invasion_of/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhht7o/rworldnews_live_thread_russian_invasion_of/\"> <img alt=\"/r/WorldNews Live Thread: Russian Invasion of Ukraine Day 754, Part 1 (Thread #900)\" src=\"https://a.thumbs.redditmedia.com/jWqSTFxxKuo9aDK8JeM4yZL4Nb_RTA85H45u1-h63L8.jpg\" title=\"/r/WorldNews Live Thread: Russian Invasion of Ukraine Day 754, Part 1 (Thread #900)\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/WorldNewsMods\"> /u/WorldNewsMods </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/live/18hnzysb1elcs\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhht7o/rworldnews_live_thread_russian_invasion_of/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhht7o", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhht7o/rworldnews_live_thread_russian_invasion_of/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://a.thumbs.redditmedia.com/jWqSTFxxKuo9aDK8JeM4yZL4Nb_RTA85H45u1-h63L8.jpg"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhht7o/rworldnews_live_thread_russian_invasion_of/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T04:02:29+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 4, 2, 29, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T04:02:29+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 4, 2, 29, 0, 78, 0], "title": "/r/WorldNews Live Thread: Russian Invasion of Ukraine Day 754, Part 1 (Thread #900)", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "/r/WorldNews Live Thread: Russian Invasion of Ukraine Day 754, Part 1 (Thread #900)"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/Loki-L", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Loki-L"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/Loki-L", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Loki-L"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/Loki-L", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhlxyv/filipino_police_free_hundreds_of_slaves_toiling/\"> <img alt=\"Filipino police free hundreds of slaves toiling in romance scam operation\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/Nhv5rECXdmK_I-sgYGR8TBSbyckxDtTwLZOLTBm_ODk.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=459d3ee094f600a976e5c9893874ab684e06c031\" title=\"Filipino police free hundreds of slaves toiling in romance scam operation\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Loki-L\"> /u/Loki-L </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/18/phillipines_cyberslavery_gang_busted/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhlxyv/filipino_police_free_hundreds_of_slaves_toiling/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhlxyv/filipino_police_free_hundreds_of_slaves_toiling/\"> <img alt=\"Filipino police free hundreds of slaves toiling in romance scam operation\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/Nhv5rECXdmK_I-sgYGR8TBSbyckxDtTwLZOLTBm_ODk.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=459d3ee094f600a976e5c9893874ab684e06c031\" title=\"Filipino police free hundreds of slaves toiling in romance scam operation\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Loki-L\"> /u/Loki-L </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/18/phillipines_cyberslavery_gang_busted/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhlxyv/filipino_police_free_hundreds_of_slaves_toiling/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhlxyv", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhlxyv/filipino_police_free_hundreds_of_slaves_toiling/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/Nhv5rECXdmK_I-sgYGR8TBSbyckxDtTwLZOLTBm_ODk.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=459d3ee094f600a976e5c9893874ab684e06c031"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhlxyv/filipino_police_free_hundreds_of_slaves_toiling/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T08:41:31+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 8, 41, 31, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T08:41:31+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 8, 41, 31, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Filipino police free hundreds of slaves toiling in romance scam operation", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Filipino police free hundreds of slaves toiling in romance scam operation"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/yuri_2022", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/yuri_2022"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/yuri_2022", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/yuri_2022"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/yuri_2022", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhw0df/eu_gives_final_approval_to_55_billion_for/\"> <img alt=\"EU gives final approval to $5.5 billion for military aid to Ukraine\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/iCshynSHzf5Q9TIxzh3Mw_9Ymlgi-Dp9jkoCVYwaIlo.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=86bb8d6df7cc9f329cd116d900893155b22990e0\" title=\"EU gives final approval to $5.5 billion for military aid to Ukraine\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/yuri_2022\"> /u/yuri_2022 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://kyivindependent.com/eu-gives-final-approval-to-5-5-billion-for-military-aid-to-ukraine-in-2024/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhw0df/eu_gives_final_approval_to_55_billion_for/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhw0df/eu_gives_final_approval_to_55_billion_for/\"> <img alt=\"EU gives final approval to $5.5 billion for military aid to Ukraine\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/iCshynSHzf5Q9TIxzh3Mw_9Ymlgi-Dp9jkoCVYwaIlo.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=86bb8d6df7cc9f329cd116d900893155b22990e0\" title=\"EU gives final approval to $5.5 billion for military aid to Ukraine\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/yuri_2022\"> /u/yuri_2022 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://kyivindependent.com/eu-gives-final-approval-to-5-5-billion-for-military-aid-to-ukraine-in-2024/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhw0df/eu_gives_final_approval_to_55_billion_for/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhw0df", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhw0df/eu_gives_final_approval_to_55_billion_for/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/iCshynSHzf5Q9TIxzh3Mw_9Ymlgi-Dp9jkoCVYwaIlo.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=86bb8d6df7cc9f329cd116d900893155b22990e0"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhw0df/eu_gives_final_approval_to_55_billion_for/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T17:10:50+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 17, 10, 50, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T17:10:50+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 17, 10, 50, 0, 78, 0], "title": "EU gives final approval to $5.5 billion for military aid to Ukraine", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "EU gives final approval to $5.5 billion for military aid to Ukraine"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/4920185", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/4920185"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/4920185", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/4920185"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/4920185", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhkm6o/thousands_of_russians_join_navalnyinspired_noon/\"> <img alt=\"Thousands of Russians join Navalny-inspired 'noon against Putin' election protest\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/ADm9n04iEkkgFoD2PDzItrExbURkBuGouZynnpB0rQI.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=ad853143e64c128ab4e131821cd96faa20b4ef82\" title=\"Thousands of Russians join Navalny-inspired 'noon against Putin' election protest\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/4920185\"> /u/4920185 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/noon-against-putin-thousands-russians-turn-out-fulfil-navalnys-last-wish-2024-03-17/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhkm6o/thousands_of_russians_join_navalnyinspired_noon/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhkm6o/thousands_of_russians_join_navalnyinspired_noon/\"> <img alt=\"Thousands of Russians join Navalny-inspired 'noon against Putin' election protest\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/ADm9n04iEkkgFoD2PDzItrExbURkBuGouZynnpB0rQI.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=ad853143e64c128ab4e131821cd96faa20b4ef82\" title=\"Thousands of Russians join Navalny-inspired 'noon against Putin' election protest\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/4920185\"> /u/4920185 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/noon-against-putin-thousands-russians-turn-out-fulfil-navalnys-last-wish-2024-03-17/\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhkm6o/thousands_of_russians_join_navalnyinspired_noon/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhkm6o", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhkm6o/thousands_of_russians_join_navalnyinspired_noon/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/ADm9n04iEkkgFoD2PDzItrExbURkBuGouZynnpB0rQI.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=ad853143e64c128ab4e131821cd96faa20b4ef82"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhkm6o/thousands_of_russians_join_navalnyinspired_noon/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T07:01:01+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 7, 1, 1, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T07:01:01+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 7, 1, 1, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Thousands of Russians join Navalny-inspired 'noon against Putin' election protest", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Thousands of Russians join Navalny-inspired 'noon against Putin' election protest"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/Puzzleheaded_223", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Puzzleheaded_223"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/Puzzleheaded_223", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Puzzleheaded_223"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/Puzzleheaded_223", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhrktt/sputnik_editor_admits_his_mission_was_to/\"> <img alt=\"Sputnik editor admits his mission was to destabilise Lithuania\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/8fjzNy_wHSQ9uW9YbQeq1Ari04Eou0TcgCeMzuqCtNE.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=7283b0a44ecc4367081f786650a1eabee71042a4\" title=\"Sputnik editor admits his mission was to destabilise Lithuania\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Puzzleheaded_223\"> /u/Puzzleheaded_223 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2226517/sputnik-editor-admits-his-mission-was-to-destabilise-lithuania\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhrktt/sputnik_editor_admits_his_mission_was_to/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhrktt/sputnik_editor_admits_his_mission_was_to/\"> <img alt=\"Sputnik editor admits his mission was to destabilise Lithuania\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/8fjzNy_wHSQ9uW9YbQeq1Ari04Eou0TcgCeMzuqCtNE.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=7283b0a44ecc4367081f786650a1eabee71042a4\" title=\"Sputnik editor admits his mission was to destabilise Lithuania\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Puzzleheaded_223\"> /u/Puzzleheaded_223 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2226517/sputnik-editor-admits-his-mission-was-to-destabilise-lithuania\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhrktt/sputnik_editor_admits_his_mission_was_to/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhrktt", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhrktt/sputnik_editor_admits_his_mission_was_to/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/8fjzNy_wHSQ9uW9YbQeq1Ari04Eou0TcgCeMzuqCtNE.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=7283b0a44ecc4367081f786650a1eabee71042a4"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhrktt/sputnik_editor_admits_his_mission_was_to/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T14:06:57+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 14, 6, 57, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T14:06:57+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 14, 6, 57, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Sputnik editor admits his mission was to destabilise Lithuania", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Sputnik editor admits his mission was to destabilise Lithuania"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/Lucky_Resource2083", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Lucky_Resource2083"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/Lucky_Resource2083", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Lucky_Resource2083"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/Lucky_Resource2083", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bi03ox/car_industry_insists_2000_increase_in_sales_to/\"> <img alt=\"Car industry insists 2000% increase in sales to Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Russia\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/YTkVidIiLgE4d6bCoRjZljy8RJBt6twBKkFkS5Cc08w.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=5e65a4f308f3ac0b8cef181faf6af97c1310b12a\" title=\"Car industry insists 2000% increase in sales to Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Russia\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Lucky_Resource2083\"> /u/Lucky_Resource2083 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://news.sky.com/story/car-industry-insists-2000-increase-in-sales-to-azerbaijan-has-nothing-to-with-russia-13097685\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bi03ox/car_industry_insists_2000_increase_in_sales_to/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bi03ox/car_industry_insists_2000_increase_in_sales_to/\"> <img alt=\"Car industry insists 2000% increase in sales to Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Russia\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/YTkVidIiLgE4d6bCoRjZljy8RJBt6twBKkFkS5Cc08w.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=5e65a4f308f3ac0b8cef181faf6af97c1310b12a\" title=\"Car industry insists 2000% increase in sales to Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Russia\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Lucky_Resource2083\"> /u/Lucky_Resource2083 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://news.sky.com/story/car-industry-insists-2000-increase-in-sales-to-azerbaijan-has-nothing-to-with-russia-13097685\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bi03ox/car_industry_insists_2000_increase_in_sales_to/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bi03ox", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bi03ox/car_industry_insists_2000_increase_in_sales_to/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/YTkVidIiLgE4d6bCoRjZljy8RJBt6twBKkFkS5Cc08w.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=5e65a4f308f3ac0b8cef181faf6af97c1310b12a"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bi03ox/car_industry_insists_2000_increase_in_sales_to/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T19:53:43+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 19, 53, 43, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T19:53:43+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 19, 53, 43, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Car industry insists 2000% increase in sales to Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Russia", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Car industry insists 2000% increase in sales to Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Russia"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/4920185", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/4920185"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/4920185", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/4920185"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/4920185", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhmzhs/putin_extends_his_rule_over_russia_claiming/\"> <img alt=\"Putin extends his rule over Russia, claiming landslide win after election with no real opposition\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/cxVkhBoQ3EA7LOFHU4Ky3qV_tDzdnHhvuhzoP3BUzjM.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=375b5289a7fb418f4230a4eb63e0b4f1c70334d5\" title=\"Putin extends his rule over Russia, claiming landslide win after election with no real opposition\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/4920185\"> /u/4920185 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-win-russian-election-opposition-rcna142926\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhmzhs/putin_extends_his_rule_over_russia_claiming/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhmzhs/putin_extends_his_rule_over_russia_claiming/\"> <img alt=\"Putin extends his rule over Russia, claiming landslide win after election with no real opposition\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/cxVkhBoQ3EA7LOFHU4Ky3qV_tDzdnHhvuhzoP3BUzjM.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=375b5289a7fb418f4230a4eb63e0b4f1c70334d5\" title=\"Putin extends his rule over Russia, claiming landslide win after election with no real opposition\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/4920185\"> /u/4920185 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-win-russian-election-opposition-rcna142926\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhmzhs/putin_extends_his_rule_over_russia_claiming/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhmzhs", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhmzhs/putin_extends_his_rule_over_russia_claiming/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/cxVkhBoQ3EA7LOFHU4Ky3qV_tDzdnHhvuhzoP3BUzjM.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=375b5289a7fb418f4230a4eb63e0b4f1c70334d5"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhmzhs/putin_extends_his_rule_over_russia_claiming/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T09:57:55+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 9, 57, 55, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T09:57:55+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 9, 57, 55, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Putin extends his rule over Russia, claiming landslide win after election with no real opposition", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "Putin extends his rule over Russia, claiming landslide win after election with no real opposition"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/japef98", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/japef98"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/japef98", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/japef98"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/japef98", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfngj/thats_what_friends_are_for_jaishankar_as_bulgaria/\"> <img alt=\"\u2018That\u2019s what friends are for\u2019: Jaishankar as Bulgaria thanks India for rescuing its nationals from hijacked vessel\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/xyi6kumLHO3vFLcjXed7xOjfTp5t0htl7z9Xl9oW94M.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=9c0241b0943c6781b6313b51d08a574c2f3b30ef\" title=\"\u2018That\u2019s what friends are for\u2019: Jaishankar as Bulgaria thanks India for rescuing its nationals from hijacked vessel\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/japef98\"> /u/japef98 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.livemint.com/news/world/thats-what-friends-are-for-jaishankar-as-bulgaria-thanks-india-for-rescuing-its-nationals-from-hijacked-vessel-11710693610517.html\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfngj/thats_what_friends_are_for_jaishankar_as_bulgaria/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfngj/thats_what_friends_are_for_jaishankar_as_bulgaria/\"> <img alt=\"\u2018That\u2019s what friends are for\u2019: Jaishankar as Bulgaria thanks India for rescuing its nationals from hijacked vessel\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/xyi6kumLHO3vFLcjXed7xOjfTp5t0htl7z9Xl9oW94M.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=9c0241b0943c6781b6313b51d08a574c2f3b30ef\" title=\"\u2018That\u2019s what friends are for\u2019: Jaishankar as Bulgaria thanks India for rescuing its nationals from hijacked vessel\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/japef98\"> /u/japef98 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://www.livemint.com/news/world/thats-what-friends-are-for-jaishankar-as-bulgaria-thanks-india-for-rescuing-its-nationals-from-hijacked-vessel-11710693610517.html\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfngj/thats_what_friends_are_for_jaishankar_as_bulgaria/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhfngj", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfngj/thats_what_friends_are_for_jaishankar_as_bulgaria/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/xyi6kumLHO3vFLcjXed7xOjfTp5t0htl7z9Xl9oW94M.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=9c0241b0943c6781b6313b51d08a574c2f3b30ef"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfngj/thats_what_friends_are_for_jaishankar_as_bulgaria/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T02:11:03+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 2, 11, 3, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T02:11:03+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 2, 11, 3, 0, 78, 0], "title": "\u2018That\u2019s what friends are for\u2019: Jaishankar as Bulgaria thanks India for rescuing its nationals from hijacked vessel", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "\u2018That\u2019s what friends are for\u2019: Jaishankar as Bulgaria thanks India for rescuing its nationals from hijacked vessel"}}, {"authors": [{"name": "/u/Itllbuffrightout1", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Itllbuffrightout1"}], "author_detail": {"name": "/u/Itllbuffrightout1", "href": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Itllbuffrightout1"}, "href": "", "author": "/u/Itllbuffrightout1", "tags": [{"term": "worldnews", "scheme": null, "label": "r/worldnews"}], "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfpy7/idf_launches_new_op_in_gazas_shifa_hospital_heavy/\"> <img alt=\"IDF launches new op. in Gaza's Shifa hospital, heavy clashes reported\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/C_zSGMaFIobqiPgbZ8XVekw8b_kLv2BCBLRogri7TTE.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=3f1cf77fddbcebc08c3fbe79d82641e19e048c0d\" title=\"IDF launches new op. in Gaza's Shifa hospital, heavy clashes reported\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Itllbuffrightout1\"> /u/Itllbuffrightout1 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://m.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-792443\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfpy7/idf_launches_new_op_in_gazas_shifa_hospital_heavy/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>"}], "summary": "<table> <tr><td> <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfpy7/idf_launches_new_op_in_gazas_shifa_hospital_heavy/\"> <img alt=\"IDF launches new op. in Gaza's Shifa hospital, heavy clashes reported\" src=\"https://external-preview.redd.it/C_zSGMaFIobqiPgbZ8XVekw8b_kLv2BCBLRogri7TTE.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=3f1cf77fddbcebc08c3fbe79d82641e19e048c0d\" title=\"IDF launches new op. in Gaza's Shifa hospital, heavy clashes reported\" /> </a> </td><td> &#32; submitted by &#32; <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/user/Itllbuffrightout1\"> /u/Itllbuffrightout1 </a> <br /> <span><a href=\"https://m.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-792443\">[link]</a></span> &#32; <span><a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfpy7/idf_launches_new_op_in_gazas_shifa_hospital_heavy/\">[comments]</a></span> </td></tr></table>", "id": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/t3_1bhfpy7", "guidislink": true, "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfpy7/idf_launches_new_op_in_gazas_shifa_hospital_heavy/", "media_thumbnail": [{"url": "https://external-preview.redd.it/C_zSGMaFIobqiPgbZ8XVekw8b_kLv2BCBLRogri7TTE.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=3f1cf77fddbcebc08c3fbe79d82641e19e048c0d"}], "links": [{"href": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1bhfpy7/idf_launches_new_op_in_gazas_shifa_hospital_heavy/", "rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html"}], "updated": "2024-03-18T02:14:20+00:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 2, 14, 20, 0, 78, 0], "published": "2024-03-18T02:14:20+00:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 2, 14, 20, 0, 78, 0], "title": "IDF launches new op. in Gaza's Shifa hospital, heavy clashes reported", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": null, "base": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/top/.rss", "value": "IDF launches new op. in Gaza's Shifa hospital, heavy clashes reported"}}]}


url: http://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml
title: Vox
created_at: 2024-03-19 00:09:31
entries:
{"entries": [{"published": "2024-03-18T17:15:00-04:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 21, 15, 0, 0, 78, 0], "updated": "2024-03-18T17:15:00-04:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 21, 15, 0, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Where is Kate Middleton?", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "Where is Kate Middleton?"}, "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"Princess Kate, in a royal blue coat and hat, bends down to accept a bouquet of red roses from a little girl amid a crowd of onlookers.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r3Rxp_A7LmaHjg8JxF88a3D7_t8=/645x0:5808x3872/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73175779/1874660179.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Princess Kate the last time she was seen in public, greeting the crowd after attending a Christmas morning service at Sandringham Church on December 25, 2023, in Sandringham, Norfolk. | Stephen Pond/Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>Her disappearance from public view is getting weirder.</p> <p id=\"TwBP4b\">Princess Kate, formerly Kate Middleton, one day to become Catherine, Queen Consort of the United Kingdom, has finally reappeared \u2014 and this time, she\u2019s live in living color.</p>\n<p id=\"lt6VLA\">On March 18, <a href=\"https://www.tmz.com/2024/03/18/kate-middleton-seen-new-video-windsor-farm-shop-prince-william/\">TMZ published a video of Kate</a>, smiling and apparently happy as she walked with Prince William through a grocery store parking lot. Lest anyone think it\u2019s fake, TMZ reports that it has vetted the metadata, and the video was recorded Saturday night in Windsor. It is the least suspicious image of Kate anyone has seen in a good long while. </p>\n<p id=\"ueSppB\">For months, one of the world\u2019s most photographed women, a figure who has lived her life genteelly in public since she was Prince William\u2019s college girlfriend, had apparently vanished from public view. </p>\n<p id=\"E8vaLz\">On January 17, <a href=\"https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2024-01-17/a-statement-from-kensington-palace\">Kensington Palace announced</a> that Kate had entered the hospital the day before for planned abdominal surgery. \u201cThe Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate,\u201d the announcement read. \u201cShe hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.\u201d It added that she was \u201cunlikely\u201d to resume her public duties until Easter, which falls this year on March 31.</p>\n<p id=\"A2Mu7b\">So far, Kate has stuck to the previously announced schedule. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1751938452721996034\">Kensington Palace announced on January 29</a> that she had returned home, on track with her planned 10 to 14 days of hospital recovery. Currently, it is not yet Easter, and she has not yet resumed her duties. Yet the long pause in Kate\u2019s public appearances and the lack of concrete information about her health has created a fertile breeding ground for conspiracy theories. When <a href=\"https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a46986618/kate-middleton-update-prince-william-misses-memorial/\">Prince William canceled a planned appearance</a> of his own on February 27, citing a \u201cpersonal matter,\u201d rumors began to fly.</p>\n<p id=\"IedlAr\">Something, some people theorized, had gone terribly wrong with Kate\u2019s health. Perhaps she was in real danger of dying. <a href=\"https://www.thelist.com/1526431/concha-calleja-kate-middleton-coma-claims/\">Perhaps she was in an induced coma</a>. Perhaps her marriage to William was on the rocks, and she was in hiding. Perhaps she\u2019d been killed and would be replaced by a body double. As the story took off, the joke theories began to take up more space: Kate was waiting for bad bangs to grow out, or to recover from plastic surgery; she\u2019d become the villain in the viral <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/technology/2024/2/28/24086217/willy-wonka-glasgow-scotland\">Willy Wonka experience</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"x3XuUp\">Meanwhile, responses from Kensington Palace have failed to set the public\u2019s mind at ease. At first, <a href=\"https://people.com/kate-middleton-doing-well-recovery-surgery-prince-william-pulls-out-memorial-service-8600805\">all the Palace would say</a> was that Kate \u201ccontinues to be doing well.\u201d On March 4, <a href=\"https://www.etonline.com/see-kate-middleton-for-the-first-time-since-hospitalization-for-abdominal-surgery-pic-220894\">she was photographed</a> driving in a car with her mother, Carol Middleton, in a grainy image that the Palace firmly disavowed as unsanctioned.</p>\n<p id=\"9SGoLX\">On March 10, Kensington Palace <a href=\"https://uk.news.yahoo.com/picture-agencies-pull-kate-photo-214600346.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHC97tmmo87KJOEm7YLrtZPfWYUeiEdxu2M0I_5TFSPzME8LtpX4vswH1EqzcAK6_RwwS8ag2Qdm4tWLp3fuQDbonpf_Ee4KLPdbqkVTfdeei8gbv9Jm8zaIlYiRzswOIGJFS2VTEzG-MfUl-wuMwOa2XoVsBNHRVvJodV4Jj64S\">circulated a picture</a> of the Princess of Wales smiling with her children in honor of Mother\u2019s Day in the UK. The picture would have marked the second of only two public appearances by Kate since Christmas Day \u2014 but shortly after the picture came out, it was marred by scandal. Multiple major photo agencies, including the AP and Reuters, concluded that the image had been \u201cmanipulated\u201d and issued a kill notice for it. </p>\n<p id=\"eiaiiD\">The next day, on March 11, the X account for the Prince and Princess of Wales <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1767135566645092616\">posted an apology</a> reading, \u201cLike many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother\u2019s Day.\u201d It was signed \u201cC,\u201d for Catherine. Later that same day, she was reportedly photographed leaving Windsor Castle, according to the <a href=\"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2024/03/11/royal-family-photo-kate-princess-of-wales-live-latest/\">Telegraph</a>. The picture shows Prince William in a car next to a brunette woman, with her ear and a bit of cheek visible.</p>\n<p id=\"C4XL1x\">In the absence of a clear image of Kate, the rumors roared on. Most of the conspiracy theories are silly, but they were all reacting to a real issue. Kate has long been a reliable pillar of the British family, showing up and smiling at every public event at which she was asked to appear, reacting to the Sturm und Drang of royal drama with an air of determined normalcy. Then she did something decidedly out of the ordinary: She disappeared.</p>\n<div id=\"1DCFWR\"></div>\n<h3 id=\"C7o4ms\">Why some people think Kate\u2019s cover story was fishy</h3>\n<p id=\"Eisuz1\">Officially, Kate was in the hospital for planned abdominal surgery. Still, skeptical onlookers pounced almost immediately on an apparent discrepancy in <a href=\"https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2024-01-17/a-statement-from-kensington-palace\">Kensington Palace\u2019s first statement about her health</a> on January 17. If Kate\u2019s surgery was \u201cplanned,\u201d the onlookers demanded to know, then why had the Palace also said that she was \u201cpostponing her upcoming engagements?\u201d How far in advance could this surgery really have been planned?</p>\n<p id=\"FZ254J\">Also raising eyebrows was the detail that Kate would be recovering from her surgery for \u201c10 to 14 days.\u201d Some abdominal surgeries can be minor, like an appendectomy, but those procedures don\u2019t come with such lengthy in-patient stays. What kind of surgery was Kate undergoing that she wouldn\u2019t be able to go back home for two weeks afterward?</p>\n<p id=\"cUrLzT\">The speculation only increased when Buckingham Palace announced the same day that King Charles would be receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate. For two such high-ranking royals to be undergoing medical procedures at the same time was unusual, almost shocking. Royal watchers speculated that <a href=\"https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/royals/king-charles-protected-kate-middleton-31937497\">the palace was trying to cover something up</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"kxQvAt\">As the weeks went by, Kate\u2019s condition remained mysterious, while Charles was almost pointedly transparent about his own health. In February he announced that <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/king-charles-cancer-diagnosis-health-update-undergoing-treatment/\">he had been diagnosed with cancer</a>, that it had been caught early, that he was doing well, and that he had begun treatment. As for Kate, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/28/style/princess-kate-middleton-health.html\">Kensington Palace would only say tersely</a> that her condition was \u201cnot cancerous.\u201d Why, royal watchers demanded, was Kate\u2019s condition so much more mysterious than the king\u2019s was?</p>\n<p id=\"159FsB\">The more time went by without so much as a single blurry telephoto lens shot of Kate, the more the rumors built. <a href=\"https://people.com/prince-william-visits-kate-middleton-hospital-after-abdominal-surgery-8431213\">William was photographed visiting the hospital</a>, but no one saw Kate make her way out of the hospital and back to her own home in Windsor Home Park.</p>\n<p id=\"AMN9Z4\">Under normal circumstances, the lack of photos of a woman recovering from a medical procedure would be recognized as a reasonable respect for someone\u2019s privacy. However, the life of a future queen of England is not normal circumstances. In a country with a <a href=\"https://www.rd.com/list/why-british-tabloids-are-more-extreme-than-americas/\">notoriously ruthless tabloid press</a>, royals are considered to be fair game as much as anyone. </p>\n<p id=\"wwLL0P\">Royals are expected to keep the public informed on their well-being, to play the game with <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/media\">the media</a>. The royal women, particularly, are expected to meet nearly impossible expectations: to be always beautifully groomed, always pleasant, always available to their public, no matter the circumstances. Kate has traditionally done so with reliable goodwill. <a href=\"https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a19674665/kate-middleton-post-birth-appearance-differences-comparison/\">After the birth of each of her three children</a>, Kate appeared dutifully in front of the hospital in full hair and makeup for a photo op for the paparazzi within 24 hours, and she did it with a cheerful smile each time to boot. What made this particular procedure different? What had kept Kate from wanting to show her face, and kept the press from demanding to show it anyway? Why did the palace eventually feel driven to release an apparently manipulated photo of her?</p>\n<p id=\"V0fgPs\">\u201cYou\u2019re telling me that Kate Middleton\u2014the same woman who posed outside the hospital like a freaking supermodel mere hours after giving birth\u2014suddenly requires months of recovery before showing her face?\u201d <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MRSFVenom/status/1762128060185219379\">posted one onlooker on X, summing up the skepticism</a>. \u201cAnd the British press now magically respects privacy? This feels\u2026sinister.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"jHet8u\">\u201cKensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess\u2019 recovery and we\u2019d only be providing significant updates. That guidance stands,\u201d <a href=\"https://people.com/palace-responds-kate-middleton-conspiracy-theories-online-surgery-recovery-rare-statement-8602191\">palace representatives said in February</a>.</p>\n<h3 id=\"HDBe3H\">A brief history of Princess Kate\u2019s reliability</h3>\n<p id=\"pyIyjW\">Kate\u2019s disappearance seems to strike people as odd because it is so counter to her brand. For as long as she has been in the public eye, Kate has been dependable, reliable, and always there. Constancy is so clearly central to Kate\u2019s public image that the press has made it at various points her most heroic trait and her only liability.</p>\n<p id=\"LR9EzM\">Even early in her relationship with Prince William, during which the press granted her the humiliating nickname of \u201cWaity Katie,\u201d Kate was polite to the paparazzi. She didn\u2019t cultivate a chummy relationship with them, as the late Princess Diana did at certain parts of her career, but she also didn\u2019t try to outmaneuver them. She knew what they wanted and she was matter-of-fact about it. In <em>The Palace Papers</em>, royal journalist Tina Brown describes how the paparazzi would show up outside the midmarket fashion line where Kate worked while she and William were dating. Her boss would ask if she wanted to sneak out the back, but Kate would reply, \u201cTo be honest, they\u2019re going to hound us until they\u2019ve got the picture. So why don\u2019t I just go, get the picture done, and then they\u2019ll leave us alone.\u201d She was right.</p>\n<p id=\"U1miTG\">After Kate and William married in 2011, Kate enjoyed a brief honeymoon period as one of the most popular members of the royal family. With her famously shiny hair and demurely polished wardrobe, she had, like Diana before her, a dash of the kind of glamor that could make the dowdy Windsor brand feel new again. At the same time, she was so sensible, so straightforward, so clearly walking into her fate with open eyes and a cool head. She was not the kind of woman who would be destroyed by the pressures of royal life. She would be, as Brown writes in <em>The Palace Papers</em>, \u201cunlike the child-bride Diana, road tested in resilience as well as royal life.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"dzNQIa\">When <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/22323456/harry-meghan-markle-diana-oprah-interview-cbs\">Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in 2018</a>, Kate and Meghan became each other\u2019s foils in the press, and once again, Kate\u2019s constancy was her defining feature. When Meghan was popular, Kate was the drab and conservative duchess of yesterday compared to Meghan\u2019s exciting progressivism. When Meghan was unpopular, <a href=\"https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/meghan-markle-kate-middleton-double-standards-royal\">or the British press was feeling particularly racist</a>, Kate was the steadfast maternal icon who could be counted on to lead the British in times of trouble, whereas Meghan was troublingly mercurial and far too trendy to be trusted.</p>\n<p id=\"dzy1wQ\">The royal family has contracted over the past few years, with <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/2022/9/8/22846451/queen-elizabeth-ii-death-96-obituary-reign-monarchy\">the older generation dying off</a> and members of the younger generation <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/1/8/21057103/meghan-harry-step-back-royal-duties\">drawing back</a> or <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2019/11/17/20969336/prince-andrew-epstein-bbc-interview-statement-news\">becoming mired in scandal</a>. Yet as her press coverage fluctuates, Kate has continued performing her duties, almost always with her signature public smile: cheerful, reliable, the face of a woman pleased to be doing what\u2019s right. She is a star player for the royal family in a dangerous time of transition. She is always where she should be. </p>\n<p id=\"wM2ybk\">\u201cThe inescapable truth is that in the unlikely event that the Cambridge marriage [between William and Kate] ever becomes troubled, the whole Windsor house of cards could come tumbling down,\u201d writes Brown in <em>The Palace Papers</em>. \u201cKate has become a cherished national icon of flawless motherhood.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"07CfRr\">Under these circumstances, Kate\u2019s disappearance goes from benign oddity to near scandal: something totally out of the norm for a very public and very reliable figure. Even now that she\u2019s begun to reemerge, it\u2019s unlikely that waiting watchers will learn more about what she\u2019s been up to than they can glean from a silent phone camera video. If there\u2019s one thing Princess Kate knows how to do as well as smile, it\u2019s how to keep her mouth shut.</p>\n<p id=\"IRx9IJ\"><em><strong>Update, March 18, 5:15 pm</strong></em><em>: This story was originally published on March 1 and has been updated multiple times, most recently to include mention of TMZ\u2019s publication of a video reported to be Kate.</em></p>"}], "summary": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"Princess Kate, in a royal blue coat and hat, bends down to accept a bouquet of red roses from a little girl amid a crowd of onlookers.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r3Rxp_A7LmaHjg8JxF88a3D7_t8=/645x0:5808x3872/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73175779/1874660179.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Princess Kate the last time she was seen in public, greeting the crowd after attending a Christmas morning service at Sandringham Church on December 25, 2023, in Sandringham, Norfolk. | Stephen Pond/Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>Her disappearance from public view is getting weirder.</p> <p id=\"TwBP4b\">Princess Kate, formerly Kate Middleton, one day to become Catherine, Queen Consort of the United Kingdom, has finally reappeared \u2014 and this time, she\u2019s live in living color.</p>\n<p id=\"lt6VLA\">On March 18, <a href=\"https://www.tmz.com/2024/03/18/kate-middleton-seen-new-video-windsor-farm-shop-prince-william/\">TMZ published a video of Kate</a>, smiling and apparently happy as she walked with Prince William through a grocery store parking lot. Lest anyone think it\u2019s fake, TMZ reports that it has vetted the metadata, and the video was recorded Saturday night in Windsor. It is the least suspicious image of Kate anyone has seen in a good long while. </p>\n<p id=\"ueSppB\">For months, one of the world\u2019s most photographed women, a figure who has lived her life genteelly in public since she was Prince William\u2019s college girlfriend, had apparently vanished from public view. </p>\n<p id=\"E8vaLz\">On January 17, <a href=\"https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2024-01-17/a-statement-from-kensington-palace\">Kensington Palace announced</a> that Kate had entered the hospital the day before for planned abdominal surgery. \u201cThe Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate,\u201d the announcement read. \u201cShe hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.\u201d It added that she was \u201cunlikely\u201d to resume her public duties until Easter, which falls this year on March 31.</p>\n<p id=\"A2Mu7b\">So far, Kate has stuck to the previously announced schedule. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1751938452721996034\">Kensington Palace announced on January 29</a> that she had returned home, on track with her planned 10 to 14 days of hospital recovery. Currently, it is not yet Easter, and she has not yet resumed her duties. Yet the long pause in Kate\u2019s public appearances and the lack of concrete information about her health has created a fertile breeding ground for conspiracy theories. When <a href=\"https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a46986618/kate-middleton-update-prince-william-misses-memorial/\">Prince William canceled a planned appearance</a> of his own on February 27, citing a \u201cpersonal matter,\u201d rumors began to fly.</p>\n<p id=\"IedlAr\">Something, some people theorized, had gone terribly wrong with Kate\u2019s health. Perhaps she was in real danger of dying. <a href=\"https://www.thelist.com/1526431/concha-calleja-kate-middleton-coma-claims/\">Perhaps she was in an induced coma</a>. Perhaps her marriage to William was on the rocks, and she was in hiding. Perhaps she\u2019d been killed and would be replaced by a body double. As the story took off, the joke theories began to take up more space: Kate was waiting for bad bangs to grow out, or to recover from plastic surgery; she\u2019d become the villain in the viral <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/technology/2024/2/28/24086217/willy-wonka-glasgow-scotland\">Willy Wonka experience</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"x3XuUp\">Meanwhile, responses from Kensington Palace have failed to set the public\u2019s mind at ease. At first, <a href=\"https://people.com/kate-middleton-doing-well-recovery-surgery-prince-william-pulls-out-memorial-service-8600805\">all the Palace would say</a> was that Kate \u201ccontinues to be doing well.\u201d On March 4, <a href=\"https://www.etonline.com/see-kate-middleton-for-the-first-time-since-hospitalization-for-abdominal-surgery-pic-220894\">she was photographed</a> driving in a car with her mother, Carol Middleton, in a grainy image that the Palace firmly disavowed as unsanctioned.</p>\n<p id=\"9SGoLX\">On March 10, Kensington Palace <a href=\"https://uk.news.yahoo.com/picture-agencies-pull-kate-photo-214600346.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHC97tmmo87KJOEm7YLrtZPfWYUeiEdxu2M0I_5TFSPzME8LtpX4vswH1EqzcAK6_RwwS8ag2Qdm4tWLp3fuQDbonpf_Ee4KLPdbqkVTfdeei8gbv9Jm8zaIlYiRzswOIGJFS2VTEzG-MfUl-wuMwOa2XoVsBNHRVvJodV4Jj64S\">circulated a picture</a> of the Princess of Wales smiling with her children in honor of Mother\u2019s Day in the UK. The picture would have marked the second of only two public appearances by Kate since Christmas Day \u2014 but shortly after the picture came out, it was marred by scandal. Multiple major photo agencies, including the AP and Reuters, concluded that the image had been \u201cmanipulated\u201d and issued a kill notice for it. </p>\n<p id=\"eiaiiD\">The next day, on March 11, the X account for the Prince and Princess of Wales <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1767135566645092616\">posted an apology</a> reading, \u201cLike many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother\u2019s Day.\u201d It was signed \u201cC,\u201d for Catherine. Later that same day, she was reportedly photographed leaving Windsor Castle, according to the <a href=\"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2024/03/11/royal-family-photo-kate-princess-of-wales-live-latest/\">Telegraph</a>. The picture shows Prince William in a car next to a brunette woman, with her ear and a bit of cheek visible.</p>\n<p id=\"C4XL1x\">In the absence of a clear image of Kate, the rumors roared on. Most of the conspiracy theories are silly, but they were all reacting to a real issue. Kate has long been a reliable pillar of the British family, showing up and smiling at every public event at which she was asked to appear, reacting to the Sturm und Drang of royal drama with an air of determined normalcy. Then she did something decidedly out of the ordinary: She disappeared.</p>\n<div id=\"1DCFWR\"></div>\n<h3 id=\"C7o4ms\">Why some people think Kate\u2019s cover story was fishy</h3>\n<p id=\"Eisuz1\">Officially, Kate was in the hospital for planned abdominal surgery. Still, skeptical onlookers pounced almost immediately on an apparent discrepancy in <a href=\"https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2024-01-17/a-statement-from-kensington-palace\">Kensington Palace\u2019s first statement about her health</a> on January 17. If Kate\u2019s surgery was \u201cplanned,\u201d the onlookers demanded to know, then why had the Palace also said that she was \u201cpostponing her upcoming engagements?\u201d How far in advance could this surgery really have been planned?</p>\n<p id=\"FZ254J\">Also raising eyebrows was the detail that Kate would be recovering from her surgery for \u201c10 to 14 days.\u201d Some abdominal surgeries can be minor, like an appendectomy, but those procedures don\u2019t come with such lengthy in-patient stays. What kind of surgery was Kate undergoing that she wouldn\u2019t be able to go back home for two weeks afterward?</p>\n<p id=\"cUrLzT\">The speculation only increased when Buckingham Palace announced the same day that King Charles would be receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate. For two such high-ranking royals to be undergoing medical procedures at the same time was unusual, almost shocking. Royal watchers speculated that <a href=\"https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/royals/king-charles-protected-kate-middleton-31937497\">the palace was trying to cover something up</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"kxQvAt\">As the weeks went by, Kate\u2019s condition remained mysterious, while Charles was almost pointedly transparent about his own health. In February he announced that <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/king-charles-cancer-diagnosis-health-update-undergoing-treatment/\">he had been diagnosed with cancer</a>, that it had been caught early, that he was doing well, and that he had begun treatment. As for Kate, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/28/style/princess-kate-middleton-health.html\">Kensington Palace would only say tersely</a> that her condition was \u201cnot cancerous.\u201d Why, royal watchers demanded, was Kate\u2019s condition so much more mysterious than the king\u2019s was?</p>\n<p id=\"159FsB\">The more time went by without so much as a single blurry telephoto lens shot of Kate, the more the rumors built. <a href=\"https://people.com/prince-william-visits-kate-middleton-hospital-after-abdominal-surgery-8431213\">William was photographed visiting the hospital</a>, but no one saw Kate make her way out of the hospital and back to her own home in Windsor Home Park.</p>\n<p id=\"AMN9Z4\">Under normal circumstances, the lack of photos of a woman recovering from a medical procedure would be recognized as a reasonable respect for someone\u2019s privacy. However, the life of a future queen of England is not normal circumstances. In a country with a <a href=\"https://www.rd.com/list/why-british-tabloids-are-more-extreme-than-americas/\">notoriously ruthless tabloid press</a>, royals are considered to be fair game as much as anyone. </p>\n<p id=\"wwLL0P\">Royals are expected to keep the public informed on their well-being, to play the game with <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/media\">the media</a>. The royal women, particularly, are expected to meet nearly impossible expectations: to be always beautifully groomed, always pleasant, always available to their public, no matter the circumstances. Kate has traditionally done so with reliable goodwill. <a href=\"https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a19674665/kate-middleton-post-birth-appearance-differences-comparison/\">After the birth of each of her three children</a>, Kate appeared dutifully in front of the hospital in full hair and makeup for a photo op for the paparazzi within 24 hours, and she did it with a cheerful smile each time to boot. What made this particular procedure different? What had kept Kate from wanting to show her face, and kept the press from demanding to show it anyway? Why did the palace eventually feel driven to release an apparently manipulated photo of her?</p>\n<p id=\"V0fgPs\">\u201cYou\u2019re telling me that Kate Middleton\u2014the same woman who posed outside the hospital like a freaking supermodel mere hours after giving birth\u2014suddenly requires months of recovery before showing her face?\u201d <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MRSFVenom/status/1762128060185219379\">posted one onlooker on X, summing up the skepticism</a>. \u201cAnd the British press now magically respects privacy? This feels\u2026sinister.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"jHet8u\">\u201cKensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess\u2019 recovery and we\u2019d only be providing significant updates. That guidance stands,\u201d <a href=\"https://people.com/palace-responds-kate-middleton-conspiracy-theories-online-surgery-recovery-rare-statement-8602191\">palace representatives said in February</a>.</p>\n<h3 id=\"HDBe3H\">A brief history of Princess Kate\u2019s reliability</h3>\n<p id=\"pyIyjW\">Kate\u2019s disappearance seems to strike people as odd because it is so counter to her brand. For as long as she has been in the public eye, Kate has been dependable, reliable, and always there. Constancy is so clearly central to Kate\u2019s public image that the press has made it at various points her most heroic trait and her only liability.</p>\n<p id=\"LR9EzM\">Even early in her relationship with Prince William, during which the press granted her the humiliating nickname of \u201cWaity Katie,\u201d Kate was polite to the paparazzi. She didn\u2019t cultivate a chummy relationship with them, as the late Princess Diana did at certain parts of her career, but she also didn\u2019t try to outmaneuver them. She knew what they wanted and she was matter-of-fact about it. In <em>The Palace Papers</em>, royal journalist Tina Brown describes how the paparazzi would show up outside the midmarket fashion line where Kate worked while she and William were dating. Her boss would ask if she wanted to sneak out the back, but Kate would reply, \u201cTo be honest, they\u2019re going to hound us until they\u2019ve got the picture. So why don\u2019t I just go, get the picture done, and then they\u2019ll leave us alone.\u201d She was right.</p>\n<p id=\"U1miTG\">After Kate and William married in 2011, Kate enjoyed a brief honeymoon period as one of the most popular members of the royal family. With her famously shiny hair and demurely polished wardrobe, she had, like Diana before her, a dash of the kind of glamor that could make the dowdy Windsor brand feel new again. At the same time, she was so sensible, so straightforward, so clearly walking into her fate with open eyes and a cool head. She was not the kind of woman who would be destroyed by the pressures of royal life. She would be, as Brown writes in <em>The Palace Papers</em>, \u201cunlike the child-bride Diana, road tested in resilience as well as royal life.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"dzNQIa\">When <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/22323456/harry-meghan-markle-diana-oprah-interview-cbs\">Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in 2018</a>, Kate and Meghan became each other\u2019s foils in the press, and once again, Kate\u2019s constancy was her defining feature. When Meghan was popular, Kate was the drab and conservative duchess of yesterday compared to Meghan\u2019s exciting progressivism. When Meghan was unpopular, <a href=\"https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/meghan-markle-kate-middleton-double-standards-royal\">or the British press was feeling particularly racist</a>, Kate was the steadfast maternal icon who could be counted on to lead the British in times of trouble, whereas Meghan was troublingly mercurial and far too trendy to be trusted.</p>\n<p id=\"dzy1wQ\">The royal family has contracted over the past few years, with <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/2022/9/8/22846451/queen-elizabeth-ii-death-96-obituary-reign-monarchy\">the older generation dying off</a> and members of the younger generation <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/1/8/21057103/meghan-harry-step-back-royal-duties\">drawing back</a> or <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2019/11/17/20969336/prince-andrew-epstein-bbc-interview-statement-news\">becoming mired in scandal</a>. Yet as her press coverage fluctuates, Kate has continued performing her duties, almost always with her signature public smile: cheerful, reliable, the face of a woman pleased to be doing what\u2019s right. She is a star player for the royal family in a dangerous time of transition. She is always where she should be. </p>\n<p id=\"wM2ybk\">\u201cThe inescapable truth is that in the unlikely event that the Cambridge marriage [between William and Kate] ever becomes troubled, the whole Windsor house of cards could come tumbling down,\u201d writes Brown in <em>The Palace Papers</em>. \u201cKate has become a cherished national icon of flawless motherhood.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"07CfRr\">Under these circumstances, Kate\u2019s disappearance goes from benign oddity to near scandal: something totally out of the norm for a very public and very reliable figure. Even now that she\u2019s begun to reemerge, it\u2019s unlikely that waiting watchers will learn more about what she\u2019s been up to than they can glean from a silent phone camera video. If there\u2019s one thing Princess Kate knows how to do as well as smile, it\u2019s how to keep her mouth shut.</p>\n<p id=\"IRx9IJ\"><em><strong>Update, March 18, 5:15 pm</strong></em><em>: This story was originally published on March 1 and has been updated multiple times, most recently to include mention of TMZ\u2019s publication of a video reported to be Kate.</em></p>", "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.vox.com/culture/24087565/princess-kate-middleton-disappearance-rumors-explained-abdominal-surgery-kensington-palace"}], "link": "https://www.vox.com/culture/24087565/princess-kate-middleton-disappearance-rumors-explained-abdominal-surgery-kensington-palace", "id": "https://www.vox.com/culture/24087565/princess-kate-middleton-disappearance-rumors-explained-abdominal-surgery-kensington-palace", "guidislink": false, "authors": [{"name": "Constance Grady"}], "author_detail": {"name": "Constance Grady"}, "author": "Constance Grady"}, {"published": "2024-03-18T15:45:33-04:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 19, 45, 33, 0, 78, 0], "updated": "2024-03-18T15:45:33-04:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 19, 45, 33, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Brett Kavanaugh rides to the Biden administration\u2019s defense in a big First Amendment case", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "Brett Kavanaugh rides to the Biden administration\u2019s defense in a big First Amendment case"}, "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"President Joe Biden and Justice Kavanaugh, both wearing suits, smile at each other.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hM8OSCBlXOZiXUkIlvDQ0Jh3qd0=/234x0:4279x3034/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73216162/1246877112.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>President Joe Biden greets Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh before delivering the State of the Union address on February 7, 2023, in Washington, DC. | Jacquelyn Martin/Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>The Supreme Court\u2019s center right appears increasingly frustrated with the judiciary\u2019s far right.</p> <p id=\"mLK3ac\">There are several recent signs that the federal judiciary\u2019s center right is losing patience with its far right. </p>\n<p id=\"rLc3wS\">Last week, a policymaking body within the judiciary announced new steps to <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/12/24098760/supreme-court-matthew-kacsmaryk-judge-shopping-republicans-judicial-conference\">combat \u201cjudge shopping,\u201d</a> a practice that has allowed Republican litigants to <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/17/23512766/supreme-court-matthew-kacsmaryk-judge-trump-abortion-immigration-birth-control\">choose to have their cases heard by partisan judges</a> who are well to the right of even the median Trump appointee. The <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus\">Supreme Court</a> has also heard several cases in its current term where it appears likely to <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/23845702/supreme-court-fifth-circuit-term-cfpb-guns-voting-chevron\">reverse rulings made by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit</a>, a MAGA stronghold that frequently hands down decisions that appear designed to sabotage the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/joe-biden\">Biden administration</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"kNIOFH\">On Monday, the Supreme Court held oral arguments in one of these Fifth Circuit cases, known as <a href=\"https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/murthy-v-missouri-3/\"><em>Murthy v. Missouri</em></a>, where the lower court handed down a <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/11/24092227/supreme-court-murthy-missouri-nra-vullo-first-amendment-social-media\">sweeping injunction</a> forbidding much of the federal government from having any communications at all with social <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/media\">media companies</a>. A majority of the justices appeared very unlikely to sustain that injunction on Monday, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh repeatedly noting that the Fifth Circuit\u2019s approach would prevent the most routine interactions between government officials and the media.</p>\n<p id=\"3c6Rrx\"><em>Murthy</em> was one of two cases heard by the justices on Monday involving so-called \u201cjawboning\u201d \u2014 cases where the government tried to pressure private companies into taking certain actions, without necessarily using its coercive power to do so. The other case, known as <a href=\"https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/national-rifle-association-of-america-v-vullo/\"><em>National Rifle Association v. Vullo</em></a><em>, </em>involves a fairly egregious violation of the First Amendment. Based on Monday\u2019s argument, as many as all nine of the justices may side with the NRA in that case. (You can read our coverage of the <em>NRA</em> case <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/11/24092227/supreme-court-murthy-missouri-nra-vullo-first-amendment-social-media\">here</a>.)</p>\n<p id=\"rmN4OZ\">Most of the justices, in other words, appeared eager to resolve both cases without significantly altering their Court\u2019s First Amendment doctrines, and without disrupting the government\u2019s ability to function. That\u2019s good news for the NRA, but also good news for the Biden administration.</p>\n<h3 id=\"1gfNxE\">So what is the <em>Murthy</em> case about?</h3>\n<p id=\"cqCSec\">The general rule in First Amendment cases is that the federal government may not coerce a media company into changing which content it publishes, but it can ask a platform or outlet to remove or alter its content. Indeed, as Kavanaugh pointed out a few times during the oral argument, if the government were not allowed to do so, White House press aides and the like wouldn\u2019t be allowed to speak to reporters to try to shape their coverage.</p>\n<p id=\"mXFJ5j\">In <em>Murthy</em>, various officials throughout the federal government had many communications with major social media platforms, where the officials either asked the platforms to remove certain content or provided them with information that convinced the platforms to do so.</p>\n<p id=\"LwEsqr\">These communications <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/11/24092227/supreme-court-murthy-missouri-nra-vullo-first-amendment-social-media\">concerned many topics</a>. The FBI, for example, frequently contacts social media platforms to warn them about criminal or terroristic activity that is occurring online. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) flags social media content for the platforms that contains election-related disinformation, such as false statements about when an election will take place. The White House sometimes asks social media companies to remove accounts that falsely impersonate a member of the president\u2019s family.</p>\n<p id=\"Y457yv\">Many of these communications also involved government requests that the platforms pull down information that contains false and harmful health information, including misinformation about <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19\">Covid-19</a>. And these communications were center stage during the <em>Murthy</em> oral argument \u2014 the <em>Murthy</em> plaintiffs include several individuals who are <a href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-411/299644/20240202144405984_2024-02-02%20-%20Murthy%20v.%20Missouri%20-%20Brief%20of%20Respondents%20-%20Final%20with%20Tables.pdf\">upset that their content was removed</a> because the platforms determined that it was Covid misinformation.</p>\n<p id=\"KlWRyo\">These plaintiffs were able to identify several examples where government officials were curt, bossy, or otherwise rude to representatives from the social media companies when those companies refused to pull down content that the government asked them to remove. Notably, however, <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/11/24092227/supreme-court-murthy-missouri-nra-vullo-first-amendment-social-media\">neither these plaintiffs nor the Fifth Circuit identified a single example</a> where a government official threatened some kind of consequence if a platform did not comply with the government\u2019s requests. </p>\n<p id=\"0qf1EU\">Instead, the Fifth Circuit appeared to complain about the fact that the government has so many communications with social media companies. It claimed that the Biden administration violated the First Amendment because government officials \u201c<a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/9/22/23883888/supreme-court-social-media-first-amendment-netchoice-paxton-murthy-missouri-twitter-facebook\">entangled themselves in the platforms\u2019 decision-making processes</a>,\u201d and ordered the government to stop having \u201cconsistent and consequential\u201d communications with social media platforms.</p>\n<p id=\"BCVF8W\">It\u2019s unclear what that decision even means \u2014 how many times, exactly, may the government talk to a social media company before it violates the Fifth Circuit\u2019s order? \u2014 and at least six of the justices appeared frustrated by the Fifth Circuit\u2019s ham-handed approach to this case.</p>\n<h3 id=\"mf3mZa\">The two justices who\u2019ve worked in senior White House jobs appeared especially dismissive of the Fifth Circuit\u2019s position</h3>\n<p id=\"ZEKq2a\">Justices Elena Kagan and Kavanaugh seemed especially frustrated with the Fifth Circuit\u2019s attempt to shut down communication between the government and the platforms, and for the same reason. Both Kagan and Kavanaugh worked in high-level White House jobs \u2014 Kagan as deputy domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton, and Kavanaugh as staff secretary to President George W. Bush \u2014 and both recoiled at the suggestion that the White House can\u2019t try to persuade the media to change what it publishes.</p>\n<p id=\"Fah2ab\">Kavanaugh, a Republican appointed by <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/donald-trump\">Donald Trump</a>, even rose to the government\u2019s defense after Justice Samuel Alito attacked Biden administration officials who, Alito claimed, were too demanding toward the platforms. </p>\n<p id=\"z8zvBd\">After Alito ranted about what he called \u201cconstant pestering\u201d by White House officials who would sometimes \u201ccurse\u201d at corporate officials or treat them like \u201csubordinates,\u201d Kavanaugh said that, in his experience, White House press aides often call up members of the media and \u201cberate\u201d them if they don\u2019t like the press\u2019s coverage.</p>\n<p id=\"LOeA7P\">Similarly, Kagan admitted that \u201clike Justice Kavanaugh, I\u2019ve had experience encouraging people to suppress their own speech\u201d after a journalist published a bad editorial or a piece with a factual error. But this sort of routine back-and-forth between White House officials and reporters is not a First Amendment violation unless there is some kind of threat or coercion. Why should the rule be any different for social media companies?</p>\n<p id=\"K5oq8E\">So Benjamin Agui\u00f1aga, the lawyer trying to defend the Fifth Circuit\u2019s order, arrived at the Court this morning facing an already skeptical bench. And his disastrous response to a hypothetical from <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22995032/supreme-court-nominee-ketanji-brown-jackson\">Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson</a> only dug him deeper into a hole.</p>\n<p id=\"z7r7t4\">Jackson imagined a scenario where various people online challenged teenagers to jump out of windows and that there actually was an epidemic of teens seriously injuring themselves by doing so. Could the government, she asked, encourage the platforms to pull down content urging young people to defenestrate themselves? </p>\n<p id=\"fyaqS4\">Agui\u00f1aga\u2019s answer was \u201cno\u201d \u2014 an answer that provoked an incredulous Chief Justice John Roberts to restate the question and ask Agui\u00f1aga to answer it again. And yet the lawyer still clung to his view that the government cannot encourage <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/twitter\">Twitter</a> or <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/facebook\">Facebook</a> to remove content urging people to hurl themselves out of windows.</p>\n<p id=\"TgRSuv\">It is likely, for what it\u2019s worth, that at least two justices will dissent. Last October, the Court <a href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23a243_7l48.pdf\">temporarily blocked the Fifth Circuit\u2019s <em>Murthy</em> decision</a> while this case was being litigated before the justices, but it did so over objections by three justices: Alito, plus Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch.</p>\n<p id=\"jfXMDu\">On Monday, Gorsuch did ask a few questions suggesting that he may have reconsidered his previous position because he now views the Fifth Circuit\u2019s injunction as too broad, but Thomas and Alito appeared determined to back their fellow members of the judiciary\u2019s far right.</p>\n<p id=\"7hWQsx\">So, while an alliance between the Court\u2019s center left and its center right appears likely to hold in the <em>Murthy</em> case, that could change rapidly if former President Donald Trump is returned to office and gets to replace some of the current justices with members of the Fifth Circuit (or with other judges who share Thomas and Alito\u2019s MAGA-infused approach to judging).</p>\n<p id=\"WMPZSX\">But for the time being, at least, most of the justices appear to recognize that the government needs to function. And that means that the Fifth Circuit\u2019s attempt to cut off communications between the Biden administration and the platforms is likely to fail.</p>"}], "summary": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"President Joe Biden and Justice Kavanaugh, both wearing suits, smile at each other.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hM8OSCBlXOZiXUkIlvDQ0Jh3qd0=/234x0:4279x3034/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73216162/1246877112.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>President Joe Biden greets Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh before delivering the State of the Union address on February 7, 2023, in Washington, DC. | Jacquelyn Martin/Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>The Supreme Court\u2019s center right appears increasingly frustrated with the judiciary\u2019s far right.</p> <p id=\"mLK3ac\">There are several recent signs that the federal judiciary\u2019s center right is losing patience with its far right. </p>\n<p id=\"rLc3wS\">Last week, a policymaking body within the judiciary announced new steps to <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/12/24098760/supreme-court-matthew-kacsmaryk-judge-shopping-republicans-judicial-conference\">combat \u201cjudge shopping,\u201d</a> a practice that has allowed Republican litigants to <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/17/23512766/supreme-court-matthew-kacsmaryk-judge-trump-abortion-immigration-birth-control\">choose to have their cases heard by partisan judges</a> who are well to the right of even the median Trump appointee. The <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus\">Supreme Court</a> has also heard several cases in its current term where it appears likely to <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/23845702/supreme-court-fifth-circuit-term-cfpb-guns-voting-chevron\">reverse rulings made by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit</a>, a MAGA stronghold that frequently hands down decisions that appear designed to sabotage the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/joe-biden\">Biden administration</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"kNIOFH\">On Monday, the Supreme Court held oral arguments in one of these Fifth Circuit cases, known as <a href=\"https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/murthy-v-missouri-3/\"><em>Murthy v. Missouri</em></a>, where the lower court handed down a <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/11/24092227/supreme-court-murthy-missouri-nra-vullo-first-amendment-social-media\">sweeping injunction</a> forbidding much of the federal government from having any communications at all with social <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/media\">media companies</a>. A majority of the justices appeared very unlikely to sustain that injunction on Monday, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh repeatedly noting that the Fifth Circuit\u2019s approach would prevent the most routine interactions between government officials and the media.</p>\n<p id=\"3c6Rrx\"><em>Murthy</em> was one of two cases heard by the justices on Monday involving so-called \u201cjawboning\u201d \u2014 cases where the government tried to pressure private companies into taking certain actions, without necessarily using its coercive power to do so. The other case, known as <a href=\"https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/national-rifle-association-of-america-v-vullo/\"><em>National Rifle Association v. Vullo</em></a><em>, </em>involves a fairly egregious violation of the First Amendment. Based on Monday\u2019s argument, as many as all nine of the justices may side with the NRA in that case. (You can read our coverage of the <em>NRA</em> case <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/11/24092227/supreme-court-murthy-missouri-nra-vullo-first-amendment-social-media\">here</a>.)</p>\n<p id=\"rmN4OZ\">Most of the justices, in other words, appeared eager to resolve both cases without significantly altering their Court\u2019s First Amendment doctrines, and without disrupting the government\u2019s ability to function. That\u2019s good news for the NRA, but also good news for the Biden administration.</p>\n<h3 id=\"1gfNxE\">So what is the <em>Murthy</em> case about?</h3>\n<p id=\"cqCSec\">The general rule in First Amendment cases is that the federal government may not coerce a media company into changing which content it publishes, but it can ask a platform or outlet to remove or alter its content. Indeed, as Kavanaugh pointed out a few times during the oral argument, if the government were not allowed to do so, White House press aides and the like wouldn\u2019t be allowed to speak to reporters to try to shape their coverage.</p>\n<p id=\"mXFJ5j\">In <em>Murthy</em>, various officials throughout the federal government had many communications with major social media platforms, where the officials either asked the platforms to remove certain content or provided them with information that convinced the platforms to do so.</p>\n<p id=\"LwEsqr\">These communications <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/11/24092227/supreme-court-murthy-missouri-nra-vullo-first-amendment-social-media\">concerned many topics</a>. The FBI, for example, frequently contacts social media platforms to warn them about criminal or terroristic activity that is occurring online. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) flags social media content for the platforms that contains election-related disinformation, such as false statements about when an election will take place. The White House sometimes asks social media companies to remove accounts that falsely impersonate a member of the president\u2019s family.</p>\n<p id=\"Y457yv\">Many of these communications also involved government requests that the platforms pull down information that contains false and harmful health information, including misinformation about <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19\">Covid-19</a>. And these communications were center stage during the <em>Murthy</em> oral argument \u2014 the <em>Murthy</em> plaintiffs include several individuals who are <a href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-411/299644/20240202144405984_2024-02-02%20-%20Murthy%20v.%20Missouri%20-%20Brief%20of%20Respondents%20-%20Final%20with%20Tables.pdf\">upset that their content was removed</a> because the platforms determined that it was Covid misinformation.</p>\n<p id=\"KlWRyo\">These plaintiffs were able to identify several examples where government officials were curt, bossy, or otherwise rude to representatives from the social media companies when those companies refused to pull down content that the government asked them to remove. Notably, however, <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/11/24092227/supreme-court-murthy-missouri-nra-vullo-first-amendment-social-media\">neither these plaintiffs nor the Fifth Circuit identified a single example</a> where a government official threatened some kind of consequence if a platform did not comply with the government\u2019s requests. </p>\n<p id=\"0qf1EU\">Instead, the Fifth Circuit appeared to complain about the fact that the government has so many communications with social media companies. It claimed that the Biden administration violated the First Amendment because government officials \u201c<a href=\"https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/9/22/23883888/supreme-court-social-media-first-amendment-netchoice-paxton-murthy-missouri-twitter-facebook\">entangled themselves in the platforms\u2019 decision-making processes</a>,\u201d and ordered the government to stop having \u201cconsistent and consequential\u201d communications with social media platforms.</p>\n<p id=\"BCVF8W\">It\u2019s unclear what that decision even means \u2014 how many times, exactly, may the government talk to a social media company before it violates the Fifth Circuit\u2019s order? \u2014 and at least six of the justices appeared frustrated by the Fifth Circuit\u2019s ham-handed approach to this case.</p>\n<h3 id=\"mf3mZa\">The two justices who\u2019ve worked in senior White House jobs appeared especially dismissive of the Fifth Circuit\u2019s position</h3>\n<p id=\"ZEKq2a\">Justices Elena Kagan and Kavanaugh seemed especially frustrated with the Fifth Circuit\u2019s attempt to shut down communication between the government and the platforms, and for the same reason. Both Kagan and Kavanaugh worked in high-level White House jobs \u2014 Kagan as deputy domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton, and Kavanaugh as staff secretary to President George W. Bush \u2014 and both recoiled at the suggestion that the White House can\u2019t try to persuade the media to change what it publishes.</p>\n<p id=\"Fah2ab\">Kavanaugh, a Republican appointed by <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/donald-trump\">Donald Trump</a>, even rose to the government\u2019s defense after Justice Samuel Alito attacked Biden administration officials who, Alito claimed, were too demanding toward the platforms. </p>\n<p id=\"z8zvBd\">After Alito ranted about what he called \u201cconstant pestering\u201d by White House officials who would sometimes \u201ccurse\u201d at corporate officials or treat them like \u201csubordinates,\u201d Kavanaugh said that, in his experience, White House press aides often call up members of the media and \u201cberate\u201d them if they don\u2019t like the press\u2019s coverage.</p>\n<p id=\"LOeA7P\">Similarly, Kagan admitted that \u201clike Justice Kavanaugh, I\u2019ve had experience encouraging people to suppress their own speech\u201d after a journalist published a bad editorial or a piece with a factual error. But this sort of routine back-and-forth between White House officials and reporters is not a First Amendment violation unless there is some kind of threat or coercion. Why should the rule be any different for social media companies?</p>\n<p id=\"K5oq8E\">So Benjamin Agui\u00f1aga, the lawyer trying to defend the Fifth Circuit\u2019s order, arrived at the Court this morning facing an already skeptical bench. And his disastrous response to a hypothetical from <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22995032/supreme-court-nominee-ketanji-brown-jackson\">Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson</a> only dug him deeper into a hole.</p>\n<p id=\"z7r7t4\">Jackson imagined a scenario where various people online challenged teenagers to jump out of windows and that there actually was an epidemic of teens seriously injuring themselves by doing so. Could the government, she asked, encourage the platforms to pull down content urging young people to defenestrate themselves? </p>\n<p id=\"fyaqS4\">Agui\u00f1aga\u2019s answer was \u201cno\u201d \u2014 an answer that provoked an incredulous Chief Justice John Roberts to restate the question and ask Agui\u00f1aga to answer it again. And yet the lawyer still clung to his view that the government cannot encourage <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/twitter\">Twitter</a> or <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/facebook\">Facebook</a> to remove content urging people to hurl themselves out of windows.</p>\n<p id=\"TgRSuv\">It is likely, for what it\u2019s worth, that at least two justices will dissent. Last October, the Court <a href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23a243_7l48.pdf\">temporarily blocked the Fifth Circuit\u2019s <em>Murthy</em> decision</a> while this case was being litigated before the justices, but it did so over objections by three justices: Alito, plus Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch.</p>\n<p id=\"jfXMDu\">On Monday, Gorsuch did ask a few questions suggesting that he may have reconsidered his previous position because he now views the Fifth Circuit\u2019s injunction as too broad, but Thomas and Alito appeared determined to back their fellow members of the judiciary\u2019s far right.</p>\n<p id=\"7hWQsx\">So, while an alliance between the Court\u2019s center left and its center right appears likely to hold in the <em>Murthy</em> case, that could change rapidly if former President Donald Trump is returned to office and gets to replace some of the current justices with members of the Fifth Circuit (or with other judges who share Thomas and Alito\u2019s MAGA-infused approach to judging).</p>\n<p id=\"WMPZSX\">But for the time being, at least, most of the justices appear to recognize that the government needs to function. And that means that the Fifth Circuit\u2019s attempt to cut off communications between the Biden administration and the platforms is likely to fail.</p>", "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/18/24104880/supreme-court-brett-kavanaugh-murthy-missouri-vullo-nra-first-amendment-jawboning"}], "link": "https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/18/24104880/supreme-court-brett-kavanaugh-murthy-missouri-vullo-nra-first-amendment-jawboning", "id": "https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/18/24104880/supreme-court-brett-kavanaugh-murthy-missouri-vullo-nra-first-amendment-jawboning", "guidislink": false, "authors": [{"name": "Ian Millhiser"}], "author_detail": {"name": "Ian Millhiser"}, "author": "Ian Millhiser"}, {"published": "2024-03-18T15:10:00-04:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 19, 10, 0, 0, 78, 0], "updated": "2024-03-18T15:10:00-04:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 19, 10, 0, 0, 78, 0], "title": "The Mr. Beastification of entertainment", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "The Mr. Beastification of entertainment"}, "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FOfw-RwO6D_1OFmAnpMc5VbLROs=/76x0:987x683/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73216060/GettyImages_1247748364.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Jimmy Donaldson, a.k.a. Mr. Beast, at the 2023 Nickelodeon Kids\u2019 Choice Awards. | Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>The most popular YouTuber in the world is going Hollywood.</p> <p id=\"itrZzj\">A helicopter drops Mr. Beast and his friends onto the roof of an abandoned hotel, resting on the water\u2019s edge of a Mediterranean resort town. They\u2019re about to spend the next seven days there, trying not to die, all in service of a recent YouTube video called \u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWYsfOSY9vY\">I Survived 7 Days in an Abandoned City</a>.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"SF0i8A\">\u201cThis once beautiful city was bombed and abandoned because of war,\u201d Mr. Beast\u2019s voiceover explains. Which city? What war? It\u2019s not yet clear, and at no point in the rest of the 17-minute video does MrBeast (as it\u2019s styled on his channel) \u2014 age 25, real name Jimmy Donaldson \u2014 explain where he is. Outside of a half-second appearance of a postcard with the town\u2019s name (Kupari), the location and its history as a casualty of the Croatian War of Independence in the early 1990s goes unacknowledged. </p>\n<p id=\"HGFCI6\">Why he\u2019s there, however, is obvious to anyone familiar with his oeuvre. Mr. Beast is a <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/youtube\">YouTube</a> creator whose approach to video production is far less interested in what is on screen than in what will make the numbers in the bottom left corner go up. What matters is more views, longer watch times, and more subscribers, and nothing in a Mr. Beast video is not in service of this goal: not the creepily airbrushed thumbnails, not the titles with an ever-increasing number of zeros (\u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxYjTTXc-J8\">Last to Leave Circle Wins $500,000</a>,\u201d \u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktyJIj6i4Qw\">If You Can Carry $1,000,000 You Keep It!</a>,\u201d \u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ryID_SwU5E\">$1 vs $100,000,000 House</a>!\u201d), not the watch time (usually around 20 minutes, or roughly the length of a meal), not the total lack of politics, current events, or extraneous details like, say, the complex aftermath of the breakup of Yugoslavia. </p>\n<div id=\"rUhBbe\"><div style=\"width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\"></div></div>\n<p id=\"Vyfx9A\">Since starting his YouTube channel in 2012 at age 13, Donaldson has been a devoted student of virality, shirking basically everything else in his life in service to the YouTube algorithm. It worked; at 244 million subscribers, his is currently the second most popular channel in the world, second only to T-Series, an Indian record label. (Cocomelon, the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/12/20/21025139/youtube-kids-coppa-law-ftc-2020\">beloved of iPad babies</a>, is third.) His enormous fanbase, largely made up of children and teenagers, doesn\u2019t mind that he is, as the <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/12/magazine/mrbeast-youtube.html\">New York Times magazine put it</a>, \u201cnot particularly funny or well spoken or physically striking,\u201d nor that he\u2019s a socially awkward introvert <a href=\"https://archive.is/MpzVg\">who is</a> \u201cnot really good at keeping friends.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"SCQrfe\">They care about him because Donaldson has figured out what makes a perfect YouTube video, how to capture young people\u2019s dwindling attention spans by giving them nonstop visual stimulation with just enough real human drama and glimpses of the American dream that they can feel good about watching it. Now, with a just-<a href=\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/mr-beast-tv-series-amazon-youtube-1235854631/\">announced deal</a> \u2014 rumored to be worth as much as <a href=\"https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/mrbeast-reality-show-amazon-prime-video-1235882230/\">$100 million</a> \u2014 to host an <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/amazon\">Amazon</a> reality competition show with the biggest single prize in TV history ($5 million), he\u2019s coming for Hollywood, too. </p>\n<div><aside id=\"xW8dUU\"><q>If your first thought is that this sounds a little icky, you\u2019ve probably aged out of the Mr. Beast demographic</q></aside></div>\n<p id=\"9pRYio\">The Mr. Beast origin story, as recounted in profiles in <a href=\"https://time.com/collection/time100-leadership-series/6693255/mrbeast-interview/\">Time</a>, <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/mrbeast-youtube-cover-story-interview-1334604/\">Rolling Stone</a>, <a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-22/who-is-mrbeast-meet-youtube-s-top-creator-of-2020\">Bloomberg</a>, and the <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/12/magazine/mrbeast-youtube.html\">New York Times</a>, goes like this: After a Crohn\u2019s disease diagnosis halted his baseball career in his sophomore year of high school, he turned his focus to his YouTube page, where he already had a presence making gaming content. Over time, his channel filled up with the standard fare of a teenage boy experimenting to see what sticks: There are bait-y headlines about \u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy17S3g8ZuY\">HOW TO UNLOCK ANY IPHONE</a>,\u201d <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSDBr0WjrwQ\"><em>Bee Movie</em> memes</a>, silly stunts (he counts to <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ax56oRhcZc\">10,000</a> and later <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWcldHxHFpo\">100,000</a> in one sitting, then watches fellow YouTuber Jake Paul\u2019s terrible music video, \u201cIt\u2019s Everyday Bro\u201d <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJwX2jTXWwQ\">for 10 hours straight)</a>, and <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG1N5kzeAhM\">letters to his future self</a> (naturally, they are all about how many subscribers he hopes to have). </p>\n<p id=\"dPwje9\">After dropping out of community college midway through his first semester, his mother kicked him out of the house. Luckily, he\u2019d also just scored his first brand deal and used the money in a video called \u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_GMakKf7G4\">Giving A Random Homeless Man $10,000</a>\u201d in which he does just that. Its success was the beginning of a cycle in which the more money he\u2019d give away, the more attention it got, the more money he\u2019d make from sponsorships, and the more money he\u2019d be able to give away next time. </p>\n<p id=\"r3I6tn\">It\u2019s a cycle that\u2019s continued to this day, where a typical Mr. Beast video might pit <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxYjTTXc-J8\">a hundred people against each other to win $500,000</a> (the last to leave a certain designated area wins the money; at one point the contestants were forced to stand still for 24 hours straight and the last 10 remained in the circle for a full 12 days), or, in his most popular video ever, create <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3GPea1Tyg\">a real-life version</a> of the dystopian Korean <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/netflix\">Netflix</a> series <em>Squid Game</em>. On his charity-focused channel, Beast Philanthropy, Donaldson films himself and his team <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCKQBMlXeGc\">rebuilding a school in Cameroon</a>, paying for <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q49kJeG6nr8\">kids\u2019 cleft palate surgeries</a>, and giving away <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idtvY5lN314\">$30 million worth of food</a>. </p>\n<div id=\"vu5Oep\"><div style=\"width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\"></div></div>\n<p id=\"QVDChZ\">If your first thought is that this sounds a little icky, you\u2019ve probably aged out of the Mr. Beast demographic, who have grown up less on traditional film and <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/tv\">television</a> created by adults and more on videos created by <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/influencers\">influencers</a> not much older than themselves. Last year, when Donaldson advertised his video \u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ2ifmkGGus\">1,000 Blind People See for the First Time</a>,\u201d the lawyer and popular TikToker Alex Clavering <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LolOverruled/status/1619538554555895808\">tweeted</a>, \u201cThere is something so demonic about this and I can\u2019t even articulate what it is.\u201d 81,000 people liked the tweet, drawing the stark differences between the kind of people who watch Mr. Beast videos and (presumably older) people who use <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/twitter\">Twitter</a>. While many have criticized Donaldson for <a href=\"https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/2023/8/29/23849563/mrbeast-criticized-white-savior-orphanage/\">white saviorism</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVWAh8WlcHg&amp;t=3s\">poverty profiteering</a>, and <a href=\"https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/social-media/2023/02/tasteless-dangerous-rise-charity-porn-content\">exploitation</a>, Clavering <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LolOverruled/status/1619603876742832128\">made clear</a> that it wasn\u2019t Donaldson\u2019s individual acts of <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/philanthropy\">philanthropy</a> that felt off, it\u2019s the implication that \u201ca single rich guy paid for life-changing surgery for us, and it\u2019s easy to do this.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"aASfss\">In response to such criticisms, Donaldson <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1720840900283163032\">has tweeted</a>, \u201cI already know I\u2019m gonna get canceled because I uploaded a video helping people, and to be 100% clear, I don\u2019t care.\u201d As with any celebrity as famous as Mr. Beast, with every bit of criticism, the comments and replies are filled with his defenders.</p>\n<p id=\"eGfojm\">In part, this is because Mr. Beast\u2019s viewers, like any fans, feel as though they know him, even if it\u2019s mediated through a screen. His videos almost always feature his clique: employees-slash-friends Karl Jacobs, Chandler Hallow, Tareq Salameh, Nolan Hansen, and Kris Tyson, the latter of whom <a href=\"https://people.com/mrbeast-kris-tyson-6-months-on-hormone-replacement-therapy-new-photo-7567530\">came out</a> as <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/lgbtq\">transgender</a> last year. In the face of fans\u2019 <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/mrbeast-fans-chris-tyson-gender-presentation-1234712381/\">harassment</a>, Donaldson defended Tyson in a tweet, <a href=\"https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/mrbeast-anti-trans-chris-tyson-transphobia-video-1235583400/\">writing</a> \u201cAll this transphobia is starting to piss me off.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"d5HVIc\">Donaldson has admitted he isn\u2019t good at keeping friends <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/mrbeast-youtube-cover-story-interview-1334604/\">and that</a> \u201call my friends revolve around work.\u201d In recounting his first meeting with his now-girlfriend, South African esports caster Thea Booysen, Donaldson <a href=\"https://www.unilad.com/technology/social-media/mrbeast-girlfriend-test-860423-20231108\">said on a podcast</a> that he had to pepper her with specific questions before dating because \u201cI don\u2019t really get along with women if they don\u2019t love learning, they\u2019re not obsessive, they don\u2019t have a hobby.\u201d His perfect idea of a date, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F73I47u1iQU\">he said</a>, is the two of them taking an IQ test and then studying to see if they can beat their scores. </p>\n<p id=\"PiAkPL\">Donaldson currently employs 500 people, 300 on his production team and 200 at his snack company, Feastables, which <a href=\"https://time.com/collection/time100-leadership-series/6693255/mrbeast-interview/\">reportedly</a> accounts for about 70 percent of his total revenue. They\u2019re based in Greenville, North Carolina, where he\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/03/mr-beast-money-hometown-greenville-creator-economy/\">transformed the town</a> into a creator economy paradise, complete with a five-home cul-de-sac locals call \u201cBeastville\u201d where he and his crew live and work. He\u2019s now a citywide hero, acting as something between Santa Claus and Willy Wonka: Kids reportedly crowd around wherever he goes, dreaming of being in one of his videos. </p>\n  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ym8a2DZ3Otb_iUl769ESM1yR2PE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25342761/GettyImages_1420812477.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for MrBeast Burger</cite>\n      <figcaption>Mr. Beast at the opening of the first Mr. Beast Burger restaurant at the American Dream mall in New Jersey.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n<p id=\"bmiUsZ\">The more immediate issue with producing the world\u2019s most-viewed YouTube videos is what it takes to make them: Not only are they expensive (the <em>Squid Game</em> video reportedly cost <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/12/magazine/mrbeast-youtube.html\">$3.5 million</a>), but former employees have accused the Mr. Beast company of fostering dangerous and exploitative conditions. One <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/technology/mr-beast-youtube.html\">editor said</a> that Donaldson berated him almost every day, called him offensive names, and described a workplace of favoritism and toxic perfectionism. Another former employee <a href=\"https://time.com/collection/time100-leadership-series/6693255/mrbeast-interview/\">said</a> that he believed he was let go because he was the only one campaigning for better safety protocols; in response, a Mr. Beast spokesperson told Time that \u201cthe company has high standards for performance and not everyone is best suited for this work.\u201d Because of Donaldson\u2019s reputation for giving money away to subscribers, scammers have <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/mrbeast-impersonators-scamming-fans-money-1234795000/\">used his likeness</a> to promote <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/mrbeast-ai-tiktok-ad-deepfake-rcna118596\">AI giveaways</a> and referral schemes (Donaldson has also been accused of misleading his followers by promoting a <a href=\"https://www.gfinityesports.com/gaming-news/MrBeasts-fans-believe-he-has-misled-them-into-a-Refinable-crypto-scam/\">cryptocurrency that tanked in 2021</a>). </p>\n<p id=\"XX5WYb\">Despite pulling in around $600 million to $700 million per year, according to <a href=\"https://time.com/collection/time100-leadership-series/6693255/mrbeast-interview/\">his own estimate</a>, Donaldson\u2019s production company does not make a profit and does not expect to be profitable this year. Instead, he reinvests the money into his charity channel and his other videos, or his numerous other business ventures. Primary among them is Feastables, the snack brand that once included a chocolate bar called \u201cDeez Nuts\u201d (they\u2019re no longer allowed to use the name after a company called Dee\u2019s Nuts <a href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/mrbeast-can-no-longer-use-deez-nuts-on-feastables-branding-2023-12\">won a lawsuit</a> against it). He\u2019s currently planning Mr. Beast-branded games and apps, and has a deal with the collectible toy company <a href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beast-of-a-partnership-moose-toys-and-mrbeast-join-forces-for-most-anticipated-new-launch-of-the-year-302044637.html\">Moose Toys</a>. Though he briefly ran a ghost kitchen burger chain, last year <a href=\"https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/mrbeast-burger-lawsuit-inedible-response-1235685415/\">Donaldson sued</a> the operating company, calling the burgers \u201cdisgusting\u201d and \u201cinedible\u201d; they then <a href=\"https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/mr-beast-sued-burger-company-100-million-1235689127/\">countersued</a>.</p>\n<div><aside id=\"u1E09t\"><q>\u201cThe more I suffer, the more you guys watch\u201d</q></aside></div>\n<p id=\"K3wqNL\">There\u2019s a solid chance that, if you\u2019re reading this, you find Mr. Beast\u2019s whole thing rather distasteful and/or a grim signifier of the state of children\u2019s entertainment: uninterested in quality and only making bigger, louder, more attention-grabbing and easier-to-consume content for kids to get addicted to and form misguided <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/ad/18080060/psychology-of-binge-watching-tv-movies\">parasocial relationships</a> with. These interpretations may be true, but what\u2019s at least a little bit interesting about Mr. Beast is that the man behind it <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1695493740331446648?s=20\">doesn\u2019t appear</a> to be enjoying himself. </p>\n<p id=\"AVRbD6\">Watch enough of his videos and you\u2019ll have seen Donaldson spend <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bqk6ZUsKyA\">50 hours buried alive</a> (and <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dYTw-jAYkY\">later a whole week</a>), <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IKab3HcfFk\">50 hours in Antarctica</a>, 24 hours <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZQhgExjBvQ\">trapped in ice</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaIgyRoUkQI\">30 days without food</a>, seven days <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_CbgLpvH9E\">alone in a white padded room</a> (a video that made me feel deranged by the end of it), and a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhB3BgJyGl8\">full week on a small raft</a> in the middle of the ocean. (Which ocean? C\u2019mon, we\u2019ve been through this.) He has paid <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLt73w6criQ\">assassins</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQHEJj68Jew\">bounty hunters</a>, the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxwpkM5w3Cc\">FBI</a>, and <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbJJwaVdgIs\">US military</a> members to try and hunt him and lost money in the process. </p>\n<div id=\"wL3jNQ\"><div style=\"width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\"></div></div>\n<p id=\"UMdTTd\">After consuming enough Mr. Beast content, it\u2019s hard not to wonder who\u2019s actually having fun here and to think how much you\u2019d rather watch a behind-the-scenes documentary about the grunt work that goes into each video. \u201cThe more I suffer, the more you guys watch,\u201d he says on day four of being trapped at sea. Later, as a storm approaches and he and his crew attempt to build a waterproof structure that will last the night, he delivers an upbeat scripted ad for Shopify. (The structure does not hold and they all have to sleep under soaked-through towels; one of his crew members describes it as \u201cthe worst experience I\u2019ve ever had in my entire life.\u201d)</p>\n<p id=\"8pDHWr\">Some of his former employees have spoken out against these kinds of stunts and brainless stimulation for clicks; one director of a Mr. Beast video <a href=\"https://time.com/collection/time100-leadership-series/6693255/mrbeast-interview/\">told Time</a>, \u201cThese algorithms are poisonous to humanity. They prioritize addictive, isolated experiences over ethical social design, all just for ads. It\u2019s not MrBeast I have a problem with. It\u2019s platforms which encourage someone like me to study a retention graph so I can make the next video more addicting. At Beast I did that on steroids.\u201d By <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bpoppenheimer/status/1633158463361634306?s=12&amp;t=GArJOEJ41SKT7sLfzFsugQ&amp;utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\">exploiting YouTube\u2019s algorithm</a>, Mr. Beast has created a modern-day arena for influencer-gladiators to torture each other and where average Joes can compete for a piece of the spoils. It\u2019s <em>Jackass</em> if the <em>Jackass</em> dudes read self-help books and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1285974639462830081\">idolized Elon Musk</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"Qy12fc\">This is a strategy that legacy entertainment companies are looking to mimic. With his Amazon competition show, Donaldson is the latest in a long list of digital native influencers <a href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/why-youtubers-struggle-to-break-into-mainstream-entertainment-2019-12\">who\u2019ve attempted to go Hollywood</a>, usually with floundering success. That\u2019s because famous influencers are in large part one-person shows who deeply understand their followers, and studio executives and traditional film and television producers have different goals and different audiences to attract. It hasn\u2019t stopped them from trying to harness the popularity of influencers, of course, but the pivot doesn\u2019t always land. </p>\n<p class=\"c-end-para\" id=\"MSaJ1s\">What\u2019s easier to imagine than Mr. Beast becoming, say, a late-night talk show host or TV presenter is the entertainment industry continuing its current race to the bottom of <a href=\"https://www.honest-broker.com/p/the-state-of-the-culture-2024?utm_source=www.garbageday.email&amp;utm_medium=newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=the-cnn-mtv-and-disney-of-the-future\">what\u2019s profitable in the attention economy</a>. By leaning harder into algorithmically generated recommendations and lowest-common-denominator programming, they\u2019re mirroring the Mr. Beast philosophy of creating content totally devoid of complexity and point of view in the hope that it\u2019s addicting enough that people will pay $10 a month for it. Unfortunately for the Netflixes and NBCs of the world, however, they\u2019re up against a guy who says he wants to give all his money away \u2014 just as long as you \u201clike\u201d and subscribe. </p>"}], "summary": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FOfw-RwO6D_1OFmAnpMc5VbLROs=/76x0:987x683/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73216060/GettyImages_1247748364.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Jimmy Donaldson, a.k.a. Mr. Beast, at the 2023 Nickelodeon Kids\u2019 Choice Awards. | Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>The most popular YouTuber in the world is going Hollywood.</p> <p id=\"itrZzj\">A helicopter drops Mr. Beast and his friends onto the roof of an abandoned hotel, resting on the water\u2019s edge of a Mediterranean resort town. They\u2019re about to spend the next seven days there, trying not to die, all in service of a recent YouTube video called \u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWYsfOSY9vY\">I Survived 7 Days in an Abandoned City</a>.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"SF0i8A\">\u201cThis once beautiful city was bombed and abandoned because of war,\u201d Mr. Beast\u2019s voiceover explains. Which city? What war? It\u2019s not yet clear, and at no point in the rest of the 17-minute video does MrBeast (as it\u2019s styled on his channel) \u2014 age 25, real name Jimmy Donaldson \u2014 explain where he is. Outside of a half-second appearance of a postcard with the town\u2019s name (Kupari), the location and its history as a casualty of the Croatian War of Independence in the early 1990s goes unacknowledged. </p>\n<p id=\"HGFCI6\">Why he\u2019s there, however, is obvious to anyone familiar with his oeuvre. Mr. Beast is a <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/youtube\">YouTube</a> creator whose approach to video production is far less interested in what is on screen than in what will make the numbers in the bottom left corner go up. What matters is more views, longer watch times, and more subscribers, and nothing in a Mr. Beast video is not in service of this goal: not the creepily airbrushed thumbnails, not the titles with an ever-increasing number of zeros (\u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxYjTTXc-J8\">Last to Leave Circle Wins $500,000</a>,\u201d \u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktyJIj6i4Qw\">If You Can Carry $1,000,000 You Keep It!</a>,\u201d \u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ryID_SwU5E\">$1 vs $100,000,000 House</a>!\u201d), not the watch time (usually around 20 minutes, or roughly the length of a meal), not the total lack of politics, current events, or extraneous details like, say, the complex aftermath of the breakup of Yugoslavia. </p>\n<div id=\"rUhBbe\"><div style=\"width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\"></div></div>\n<p id=\"Vyfx9A\">Since starting his YouTube channel in 2012 at age 13, Donaldson has been a devoted student of virality, shirking basically everything else in his life in service to the YouTube algorithm. It worked; at 244 million subscribers, his is currently the second most popular channel in the world, second only to T-Series, an Indian record label. (Cocomelon, the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/12/20/21025139/youtube-kids-coppa-law-ftc-2020\">beloved of iPad babies</a>, is third.) His enormous fanbase, largely made up of children and teenagers, doesn\u2019t mind that he is, as the <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/12/magazine/mrbeast-youtube.html\">New York Times magazine put it</a>, \u201cnot particularly funny or well spoken or physically striking,\u201d nor that he\u2019s a socially awkward introvert <a href=\"https://archive.is/MpzVg\">who is</a> \u201cnot really good at keeping friends.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"SCQrfe\">They care about him because Donaldson has figured out what makes a perfect YouTube video, how to capture young people\u2019s dwindling attention spans by giving them nonstop visual stimulation with just enough real human drama and glimpses of the American dream that they can feel good about watching it. Now, with a just-<a href=\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/mr-beast-tv-series-amazon-youtube-1235854631/\">announced deal</a> \u2014 rumored to be worth as much as <a href=\"https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/mrbeast-reality-show-amazon-prime-video-1235882230/\">$100 million</a> \u2014 to host an <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/amazon\">Amazon</a> reality competition show with the biggest single prize in TV history ($5 million), he\u2019s coming for Hollywood, too. </p>\n<div><aside id=\"xW8dUU\"><q>If your first thought is that this sounds a little icky, you\u2019ve probably aged out of the Mr. Beast demographic</q></aside></div>\n<p id=\"9pRYio\">The Mr. Beast origin story, as recounted in profiles in <a href=\"https://time.com/collection/time100-leadership-series/6693255/mrbeast-interview/\">Time</a>, <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/mrbeast-youtube-cover-story-interview-1334604/\">Rolling Stone</a>, <a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-22/who-is-mrbeast-meet-youtube-s-top-creator-of-2020\">Bloomberg</a>, and the <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/12/magazine/mrbeast-youtube.html\">New York Times</a>, goes like this: After a Crohn\u2019s disease diagnosis halted his baseball career in his sophomore year of high school, he turned his focus to his YouTube page, where he already had a presence making gaming content. Over time, his channel filled up with the standard fare of a teenage boy experimenting to see what sticks: There are bait-y headlines about \u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy17S3g8ZuY\">HOW TO UNLOCK ANY IPHONE</a>,\u201d <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSDBr0WjrwQ\"><em>Bee Movie</em> memes</a>, silly stunts (he counts to <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ax56oRhcZc\">10,000</a> and later <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWcldHxHFpo\">100,000</a> in one sitting, then watches fellow YouTuber Jake Paul\u2019s terrible music video, \u201cIt\u2019s Everyday Bro\u201d <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJwX2jTXWwQ\">for 10 hours straight)</a>, and <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG1N5kzeAhM\">letters to his future self</a> (naturally, they are all about how many subscribers he hopes to have). </p>\n<p id=\"dPwje9\">After dropping out of community college midway through his first semester, his mother kicked him out of the house. Luckily, he\u2019d also just scored his first brand deal and used the money in a video called \u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_GMakKf7G4\">Giving A Random Homeless Man $10,000</a>\u201d in which he does just that. Its success was the beginning of a cycle in which the more money he\u2019d give away, the more attention it got, the more money he\u2019d make from sponsorships, and the more money he\u2019d be able to give away next time. </p>\n<p id=\"r3I6tn\">It\u2019s a cycle that\u2019s continued to this day, where a typical Mr. Beast video might pit <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxYjTTXc-J8\">a hundred people against each other to win $500,000</a> (the last to leave a certain designated area wins the money; at one point the contestants were forced to stand still for 24 hours straight and the last 10 remained in the circle for a full 12 days), or, in his most popular video ever, create <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3GPea1Tyg\">a real-life version</a> of the dystopian Korean <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/netflix\">Netflix</a> series <em>Squid Game</em>. On his charity-focused channel, Beast Philanthropy, Donaldson films himself and his team <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCKQBMlXeGc\">rebuilding a school in Cameroon</a>, paying for <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q49kJeG6nr8\">kids\u2019 cleft palate surgeries</a>, and giving away <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idtvY5lN314\">$30 million worth of food</a>. </p>\n<div id=\"vu5Oep\"><div style=\"width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\"></div></div>\n<p id=\"QVDChZ\">If your first thought is that this sounds a little icky, you\u2019ve probably aged out of the Mr. Beast demographic, who have grown up less on traditional film and <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/tv\">television</a> created by adults and more on videos created by <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/influencers\">influencers</a> not much older than themselves. Last year, when Donaldson advertised his video \u201c<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ2ifmkGGus\">1,000 Blind People See for the First Time</a>,\u201d the lawyer and popular TikToker Alex Clavering <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LolOverruled/status/1619538554555895808\">tweeted</a>, \u201cThere is something so demonic about this and I can\u2019t even articulate what it is.\u201d 81,000 people liked the tweet, drawing the stark differences between the kind of people who watch Mr. Beast videos and (presumably older) people who use <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/twitter\">Twitter</a>. While many have criticized Donaldson for <a href=\"https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/2023/8/29/23849563/mrbeast-criticized-white-savior-orphanage/\">white saviorism</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVWAh8WlcHg&amp;t=3s\">poverty profiteering</a>, and <a href=\"https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/social-media/2023/02/tasteless-dangerous-rise-charity-porn-content\">exploitation</a>, Clavering <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LolOverruled/status/1619603876742832128\">made clear</a> that it wasn\u2019t Donaldson\u2019s individual acts of <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/philanthropy\">philanthropy</a> that felt off, it\u2019s the implication that \u201ca single rich guy paid for life-changing surgery for us, and it\u2019s easy to do this.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"aASfss\">In response to such criticisms, Donaldson <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1720840900283163032\">has tweeted</a>, \u201cI already know I\u2019m gonna get canceled because I uploaded a video helping people, and to be 100% clear, I don\u2019t care.\u201d As with any celebrity as famous as Mr. Beast, with every bit of criticism, the comments and replies are filled with his defenders.</p>\n<p id=\"eGfojm\">In part, this is because Mr. Beast\u2019s viewers, like any fans, feel as though they know him, even if it\u2019s mediated through a screen. His videos almost always feature his clique: employees-slash-friends Karl Jacobs, Chandler Hallow, Tareq Salameh, Nolan Hansen, and Kris Tyson, the latter of whom <a href=\"https://people.com/mrbeast-kris-tyson-6-months-on-hormone-replacement-therapy-new-photo-7567530\">came out</a> as <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/lgbtq\">transgender</a> last year. In the face of fans\u2019 <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/mrbeast-fans-chris-tyson-gender-presentation-1234712381/\">harassment</a>, Donaldson defended Tyson in a tweet, <a href=\"https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/mrbeast-anti-trans-chris-tyson-transphobia-video-1235583400/\">writing</a> \u201cAll this transphobia is starting to piss me off.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"d5HVIc\">Donaldson has admitted he isn\u2019t good at keeping friends <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/mrbeast-youtube-cover-story-interview-1334604/\">and that</a> \u201call my friends revolve around work.\u201d In recounting his first meeting with his now-girlfriend, South African esports caster Thea Booysen, Donaldson <a href=\"https://www.unilad.com/technology/social-media/mrbeast-girlfriend-test-860423-20231108\">said on a podcast</a> that he had to pepper her with specific questions before dating because \u201cI don\u2019t really get along with women if they don\u2019t love learning, they\u2019re not obsessive, they don\u2019t have a hobby.\u201d His perfect idea of a date, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F73I47u1iQU\">he said</a>, is the two of them taking an IQ test and then studying to see if they can beat their scores. </p>\n<p id=\"PiAkPL\">Donaldson currently employs 500 people, 300 on his production team and 200 at his snack company, Feastables, which <a href=\"https://time.com/collection/time100-leadership-series/6693255/mrbeast-interview/\">reportedly</a> accounts for about 70 percent of his total revenue. They\u2019re based in Greenville, North Carolina, where he\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/03/mr-beast-money-hometown-greenville-creator-economy/\">transformed the town</a> into a creator economy paradise, complete with a five-home cul-de-sac locals call \u201cBeastville\u201d where he and his crew live and work. He\u2019s now a citywide hero, acting as something between Santa Claus and Willy Wonka: Kids reportedly crowd around wherever he goes, dreaming of being in one of his videos. </p>\n  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ym8a2DZ3Otb_iUl769ESM1yR2PE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25342761/GettyImages_1420812477.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for MrBeast Burger</cite>\n      <figcaption>Mr. Beast at the opening of the first Mr. Beast Burger restaurant at the American Dream mall in New Jersey.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n<p id=\"bmiUsZ\">The more immediate issue with producing the world\u2019s most-viewed YouTube videos is what it takes to make them: Not only are they expensive (the <em>Squid Game</em> video reportedly cost <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/12/magazine/mrbeast-youtube.html\">$3.5 million</a>), but former employees have accused the Mr. Beast company of fostering dangerous and exploitative conditions. One <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/technology/mr-beast-youtube.html\">editor said</a> that Donaldson berated him almost every day, called him offensive names, and described a workplace of favoritism and toxic perfectionism. Another former employee <a href=\"https://time.com/collection/time100-leadership-series/6693255/mrbeast-interview/\">said</a> that he believed he was let go because he was the only one campaigning for better safety protocols; in response, a Mr. Beast spokesperson told Time that \u201cthe company has high standards for performance and not everyone is best suited for this work.\u201d Because of Donaldson\u2019s reputation for giving money away to subscribers, scammers have <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/mrbeast-impersonators-scamming-fans-money-1234795000/\">used his likeness</a> to promote <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/mrbeast-ai-tiktok-ad-deepfake-rcna118596\">AI giveaways</a> and referral schemes (Donaldson has also been accused of misleading his followers by promoting a <a href=\"https://www.gfinityesports.com/gaming-news/MrBeasts-fans-believe-he-has-misled-them-into-a-Refinable-crypto-scam/\">cryptocurrency that tanked in 2021</a>). </p>\n<p id=\"XX5WYb\">Despite pulling in around $600 million to $700 million per year, according to <a href=\"https://time.com/collection/time100-leadership-series/6693255/mrbeast-interview/\">his own estimate</a>, Donaldson\u2019s production company does not make a profit and does not expect to be profitable this year. Instead, he reinvests the money into his charity channel and his other videos, or his numerous other business ventures. Primary among them is Feastables, the snack brand that once included a chocolate bar called \u201cDeez Nuts\u201d (they\u2019re no longer allowed to use the name after a company called Dee\u2019s Nuts <a href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/mrbeast-can-no-longer-use-deez-nuts-on-feastables-branding-2023-12\">won a lawsuit</a> against it). He\u2019s currently planning Mr. Beast-branded games and apps, and has a deal with the collectible toy company <a href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beast-of-a-partnership-moose-toys-and-mrbeast-join-forces-for-most-anticipated-new-launch-of-the-year-302044637.html\">Moose Toys</a>. Though he briefly ran a ghost kitchen burger chain, last year <a href=\"https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/mrbeast-burger-lawsuit-inedible-response-1235685415/\">Donaldson sued</a> the operating company, calling the burgers \u201cdisgusting\u201d and \u201cinedible\u201d; they then <a href=\"https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/mr-beast-sued-burger-company-100-million-1235689127/\">countersued</a>.</p>\n<div><aside id=\"u1E09t\"><q>\u201cThe more I suffer, the more you guys watch\u201d</q></aside></div>\n<p id=\"K3wqNL\">There\u2019s a solid chance that, if you\u2019re reading this, you find Mr. Beast\u2019s whole thing rather distasteful and/or a grim signifier of the state of children\u2019s entertainment: uninterested in quality and only making bigger, louder, more attention-grabbing and easier-to-consume content for kids to get addicted to and form misguided <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/ad/18080060/psychology-of-binge-watching-tv-movies\">parasocial relationships</a> with. These interpretations may be true, but what\u2019s at least a little bit interesting about Mr. Beast is that the man behind it <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1695493740331446648?s=20\">doesn\u2019t appear</a> to be enjoying himself. </p>\n<p id=\"AVRbD6\">Watch enough of his videos and you\u2019ll have seen Donaldson spend <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bqk6ZUsKyA\">50 hours buried alive</a> (and <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dYTw-jAYkY\">later a whole week</a>), <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IKab3HcfFk\">50 hours in Antarctica</a>, 24 hours <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZQhgExjBvQ\">trapped in ice</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaIgyRoUkQI\">30 days without food</a>, seven days <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_CbgLpvH9E\">alone in a white padded room</a> (a video that made me feel deranged by the end of it), and a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhB3BgJyGl8\">full week on a small raft</a> in the middle of the ocean. (Which ocean? C\u2019mon, we\u2019ve been through this.) He has paid <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLt73w6criQ\">assassins</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQHEJj68Jew\">bounty hunters</a>, the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxwpkM5w3Cc\">FBI</a>, and <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbJJwaVdgIs\">US military</a> members to try and hunt him and lost money in the process. </p>\n<div id=\"wL3jNQ\"><div style=\"width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\"></div></div>\n<p id=\"UMdTTd\">After consuming enough Mr. Beast content, it\u2019s hard not to wonder who\u2019s actually having fun here and to think how much you\u2019d rather watch a behind-the-scenes documentary about the grunt work that goes into each video. \u201cThe more I suffer, the more you guys watch,\u201d he says on day four of being trapped at sea. Later, as a storm approaches and he and his crew attempt to build a waterproof structure that will last the night, he delivers an upbeat scripted ad for Shopify. (The structure does not hold and they all have to sleep under soaked-through towels; one of his crew members describes it as \u201cthe worst experience I\u2019ve ever had in my entire life.\u201d)</p>\n<p id=\"8pDHWr\">Some of his former employees have spoken out against these kinds of stunts and brainless stimulation for clicks; one director of a Mr. Beast video <a href=\"https://time.com/collection/time100-leadership-series/6693255/mrbeast-interview/\">told Time</a>, \u201cThese algorithms are poisonous to humanity. They prioritize addictive, isolated experiences over ethical social design, all just for ads. It\u2019s not MrBeast I have a problem with. It\u2019s platforms which encourage someone like me to study a retention graph so I can make the next video more addicting. At Beast I did that on steroids.\u201d By <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bpoppenheimer/status/1633158463361634306?s=12&amp;t=GArJOEJ41SKT7sLfzFsugQ&amp;utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\">exploiting YouTube\u2019s algorithm</a>, Mr. Beast has created a modern-day arena for influencer-gladiators to torture each other and where average Joes can compete for a piece of the spoils. It\u2019s <em>Jackass</em> if the <em>Jackass</em> dudes read self-help books and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1285974639462830081\">idolized Elon Musk</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"Qy12fc\">This is a strategy that legacy entertainment companies are looking to mimic. With his Amazon competition show, Donaldson is the latest in a long list of digital native influencers <a href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/why-youtubers-struggle-to-break-into-mainstream-entertainment-2019-12\">who\u2019ve attempted to go Hollywood</a>, usually with floundering success. That\u2019s because famous influencers are in large part one-person shows who deeply understand their followers, and studio executives and traditional film and television producers have different goals and different audiences to attract. It hasn\u2019t stopped them from trying to harness the popularity of influencers, of course, but the pivot doesn\u2019t always land. </p>\n<p class=\"c-end-para\" id=\"MSaJ1s\">What\u2019s easier to imagine than Mr. Beast becoming, say, a late-night talk show host or TV presenter is the entertainment industry continuing its current race to the bottom of <a href=\"https://www.honest-broker.com/p/the-state-of-the-culture-2024?utm_source=www.garbageday.email&amp;utm_medium=newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=the-cnn-mtv-and-disney-of-the-future\">what\u2019s profitable in the attention economy</a>. By leaning harder into algorithmically generated recommendations and lowest-common-denominator programming, they\u2019re mirroring the Mr. Beast philosophy of creating content totally devoid of complexity and point of view in the hope that it\u2019s addicting enough that people will pay $10 a month for it. Unfortunately for the Netflixes and NBCs of the world, however, they\u2019re up against a guy who says he wants to give all his money away \u2014 just as long as you \u201clike\u201d and subscribe. </p>", "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.vox.com/culture/24105035/mr-beast-youtube-amazon-show"}], "link": "https://www.vox.com/culture/24105035/mr-beast-youtube-amazon-show", "id": "https://www.vox.com/culture/24105035/mr-beast-youtube-amazon-show", "guidislink": false, "authors": [{"name": "Rebecca Jennings"}], "author_detail": {"name": "Rebecca Jennings"}, "author": "Rebecca Jennings"}, {"published": "2024-03-18T12:15:30-04:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 16, 15, 30, 0, 78, 0], "updated": "2024-03-18T12:15:30-04:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 16, 15, 30, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Putin\u2019s reelection puts him in a class of Russia\u2019s longest-ruling autocrats", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "Putin\u2019s reelection puts him in a class of Russia\u2019s longest-ruling autocrats"}, "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"A close-up image of Putin, who lifts his hand in a thumbs-up gesture. \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QKdjwcq-aQ6XLpYddGrgIu577Hk=/180x0:3059x2159/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73215436/2084805375.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the media at his campaign headquarters in Moscow on March 18, 2024.  | Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>Putin has eliminated all of his most significant rivals, cementing his grip on power.</p> <p id=\"7iUtoo\">As expected, Russian President Vladimir Putin has <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/17/world/europe/russia-putin-election.html\">won his fifth term in office</a>, following a campaign in which all his significant rivals were <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-court-upholds-ruling-barring-anti-war-candidate-vote-2024-03-04/\">barred from running</a>, <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-court-jails-prominent-nationalist-girkin-four-years-over-extremism-2024-01-25/\">imprisoned</a>, or <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/jailed-russian-opposition-leader-navalny-dead-prison-service-2024-02-16/\">dead</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"N1Bv0t\">Voting started Friday and concluded Sunday. Putin won the contest with <a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-17/putin-takes-record-election-win-to-press-russia-s-war-in-ukraine?sref=qYiz2hd0\">over 87 percent of the vote</a>, with a <a href=\"https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/03/18/unprecedented-number-of-russians-voted-abroad-says-mfa-a84506\">reported 77 percent turnout</a>. The record post-Soviet win was Putin\u2019s choreographed attempt to demonstrate his popularity \u2014 and that of <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/russia-ukraine\">the war in Ukraine</a>. But it is impossible to take much away, given the level of repression in Russian society and Putin\u2019s ambition to make himself synonymous with the Russian state.</p>\n<p id=\"02Yeic\">The results come just a month after the death of Putin\u2019s most potent and vocal foe, <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2024/2/16/24075332/russia-navalny-putin-death-kremlin\">the anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny</a>, while he was<a href=\"http://apnews.com/article/russia-navalny-opposition-crackdown-prison-term-b42769d2ba1beb99954279fbb93815d4\"> serving a 19-year sentence in an Arctic penal colony</a> on multiple charges including extremism. It\u2019s also a little over two years after <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/russia-ukraine\">Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine</a>, which <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/russia\">Russia</a> refers to as a \u201cspecial military operation.\u201d Western countries have backed Ukraine during the grueling two-year war and <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/23049187/russia-sanctions-ukraine-ruble\">imposed heavy sanctions on Russia</a>, but those efforts have done little to loosen Putin\u2019s grip on power; on the contrary, Putin\u2019s government is at its most repressive since he first took power in 2000.</p>\n<p id=\"ea4KLz\">Even before his fifth term starts, Putin will already be the longest-serving Russian leader since Soviet dictator <a href=\"https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Stalin/Lenins-successor\">Josef Stalin</a>. If he serves out the entirety of this six-year term, he will surpass Stalin and be in the running next with <a href=\"https://theconversation.com/vladimir-putin-justifies-his-imperial-aims-in-tucker-carlson-interview-223395\">Catherine the Great</a> and then perhaps eventually <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/10/putin-compares-himself-to-peter-the-great-in-quest-to-take-back-russian-lands\">Peter the Great</a> \u2014 two rulers whose imperial power Putin has <a href=\"https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/putins-history-lecture-reveals-his-dreams-of-a-new-russian-empire/\">sought to mimic in his conquest of Ukraine and other former Soviet and imperial lands</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"pXSNOV\">With his reelection, Putin will be in power till at least 2030, unless he dies or is somehow removed from power in the intervening six years.</p>\n<h3 id=\"3YHqUM\">How Putin engineered his decades in power</h3>\n<p id=\"gOcaq6\">Putin\u2019s ruthless quest to build power \u2014 not only his own, but Russia\u2019s \u2014 might come as a surprise to anyone who saw him when he first became president in 2000. </p>\n<p id=\"586nVF\">An unknown, unmemorable bureaucrat from St. Petersburg who served in the Soviet spy agency in Dresden during the tail end of the Cold War, Putin hardly seemed poised to gain the near-total power he now has in Russia.</p>\n<p id=\"3ixRfO\">But through a combination of immense wealth, cronyism, fraud, increasingly cruel repression, and constant information warfare, Putin has consolidated his power over the past 24 years, <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-medvedev-putin-russia\">even when his deputy Dmitry Medvedev was nominally in charge</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"ZJOzLS\">Putin came into incredible wealth following the collapse of the Soviet Union and was appointed acting president in 1999 after Boris Yeltsin resigned. He was officially elected in 2000, serving his constitutionally mandated two terms \u2014 and even seemed more willing to cooperate with the West during that time. But he was also displaying imperial ambitions, <a href=\"https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/putin-has-always-been-war\">fighting wars in Chechnya and Georgia</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"k0Onc0\">After Medvedev pushed through a constitutional change allowing additional presidential terms, Putin <a href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-implications-of-putins-return-to-presidency/\">regained the presidency in 2012</a>. Amid the most fervent protests against the autocratic and corrupt regime, his government began instituting and escalating brutal crackdowns on minority groups like the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/lgbtq\">LGBTQ</a> population, opposition members, and civil society to entrench a narrative of Russian tradition. </p>\n<p id=\"bjJUMP\">\u201cIn the 1990s\u20132000s, Russia experienced a range of issues such as economic and demographic crises and the loss of its impactful role on the international stage, causing the perceived \u2018emasculation\u2019 of the population,\u201d Radzhana Buyantueva, a researcher studying LGBTQ communities in Russia and their intersection with the political sphere, <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/12/5/23988527/russia-anti-lgbtq-ruling-extremist-putin\">explained to Vox over email in December</a>. \u201cThe Kremlin has utilized these insecurities in its anti-gender queerphobic propaganda,\u201d cracking down on LGBTQ groups and other perceived opponents while also militarizing society and \u201cculminating in the escalating military aggression toward neighboring states (Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine since 2014).\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"pknpnz\">Putin also systematically undermined or eliminated political opposition, cementing his hold on power not just through a popular narrative about Russia\u2019s national identity, but also with <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/world/europe/russian-parliamentary-elections-criticized-by-west.html\">election fraud</a>, murder, <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/16/chemical-burns-poisoning-prison-alexei-navalny-persecution\">poisonings</a>, draconian jail sentences, and other political repression. </p>\n<p id=\"n5tJzT\">Over the past year, the Kremlin quashed multiple attempts to compete against him in this weekend\u2019s elections. Though three competitors did stand in this year\u2019s contest, <a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-15/putin-re-election-how-he-became-russia-s-longest-ruler-since-stalin?sref=qYiz2hd0&amp;embedded-checkout=true\">they were all state-backed and lacked any real popular support</a>. There were multiple true opposition candidates with demonstrated popular support \u2014 like <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/27/world/europe/russia-putin-election-boris-nadezhdin.html\">Boris Nadezhdin</a>, an anti-war candidate \u2014 who <a href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/23/russia-bars-yekaterina-duntsova-from-contesting-in-presidential-election\">attempted to stand against Putin this year</a> but were barred from doing so.  </p>\n<p id=\"VYa6ul\">Now, almost anyone who would vocally oppose or present an alternative to Russian propaganda has been silenced or has fled.</p>"}], "summary": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"A close-up image of Putin, who lifts his hand in a thumbs-up gesture. \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QKdjwcq-aQ6XLpYddGrgIu577Hk=/180x0:3059x2159/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73215436/2084805375.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the media at his campaign headquarters in Moscow on March 18, 2024.  | Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>Putin has eliminated all of his most significant rivals, cementing his grip on power.</p> <p id=\"7iUtoo\">As expected, Russian President Vladimir Putin has <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/17/world/europe/russia-putin-election.html\">won his fifth term in office</a>, following a campaign in which all his significant rivals were <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-court-upholds-ruling-barring-anti-war-candidate-vote-2024-03-04/\">barred from running</a>, <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-court-jails-prominent-nationalist-girkin-four-years-over-extremism-2024-01-25/\">imprisoned</a>, or <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/jailed-russian-opposition-leader-navalny-dead-prison-service-2024-02-16/\">dead</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"N1Bv0t\">Voting started Friday and concluded Sunday. Putin won the contest with <a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-17/putin-takes-record-election-win-to-press-russia-s-war-in-ukraine?sref=qYiz2hd0\">over 87 percent of the vote</a>, with a <a href=\"https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/03/18/unprecedented-number-of-russians-voted-abroad-says-mfa-a84506\">reported 77 percent turnout</a>. The record post-Soviet win was Putin\u2019s choreographed attempt to demonstrate his popularity \u2014 and that of <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/russia-ukraine\">the war in Ukraine</a>. But it is impossible to take much away, given the level of repression in Russian society and Putin\u2019s ambition to make himself synonymous with the Russian state.</p>\n<p id=\"02Yeic\">The results come just a month after the death of Putin\u2019s most potent and vocal foe, <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2024/2/16/24075332/russia-navalny-putin-death-kremlin\">the anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny</a>, while he was<a href=\"http://apnews.com/article/russia-navalny-opposition-crackdown-prison-term-b42769d2ba1beb99954279fbb93815d4\"> serving a 19-year sentence in an Arctic penal colony</a> on multiple charges including extremism. It\u2019s also a little over two years after <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/russia-ukraine\">Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine</a>, which <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/russia\">Russia</a> refers to as a \u201cspecial military operation.\u201d Western countries have backed Ukraine during the grueling two-year war and <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/23049187/russia-sanctions-ukraine-ruble\">imposed heavy sanctions on Russia</a>, but those efforts have done little to loosen Putin\u2019s grip on power; on the contrary, Putin\u2019s government is at its most repressive since he first took power in 2000.</p>\n<p id=\"ea4KLz\">Even before his fifth term starts, Putin will already be the longest-serving Russian leader since Soviet dictator <a href=\"https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Stalin/Lenins-successor\">Josef Stalin</a>. If he serves out the entirety of this six-year term, he will surpass Stalin and be in the running next with <a href=\"https://theconversation.com/vladimir-putin-justifies-his-imperial-aims-in-tucker-carlson-interview-223395\">Catherine the Great</a> and then perhaps eventually <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/10/putin-compares-himself-to-peter-the-great-in-quest-to-take-back-russian-lands\">Peter the Great</a> \u2014 two rulers whose imperial power Putin has <a href=\"https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/putins-history-lecture-reveals-his-dreams-of-a-new-russian-empire/\">sought to mimic in his conquest of Ukraine and other former Soviet and imperial lands</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"pXSNOV\">With his reelection, Putin will be in power till at least 2030, unless he dies or is somehow removed from power in the intervening six years.</p>\n<h3 id=\"3YHqUM\">How Putin engineered his decades in power</h3>\n<p id=\"gOcaq6\">Putin\u2019s ruthless quest to build power \u2014 not only his own, but Russia\u2019s \u2014 might come as a surprise to anyone who saw him when he first became president in 2000. </p>\n<p id=\"586nVF\">An unknown, unmemorable bureaucrat from St. Petersburg who served in the Soviet spy agency in Dresden during the tail end of the Cold War, Putin hardly seemed poised to gain the near-total power he now has in Russia.</p>\n<p id=\"3ixRfO\">But through a combination of immense wealth, cronyism, fraud, increasingly cruel repression, and constant information warfare, Putin has consolidated his power over the past 24 years, <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-medvedev-putin-russia\">even when his deputy Dmitry Medvedev was nominally in charge</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"ZJOzLS\">Putin came into incredible wealth following the collapse of the Soviet Union and was appointed acting president in 1999 after Boris Yeltsin resigned. He was officially elected in 2000, serving his constitutionally mandated two terms \u2014 and even seemed more willing to cooperate with the West during that time. But he was also displaying imperial ambitions, <a href=\"https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/putin-has-always-been-war\">fighting wars in Chechnya and Georgia</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"k0Onc0\">After Medvedev pushed through a constitutional change allowing additional presidential terms, Putin <a href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-implications-of-putins-return-to-presidency/\">regained the presidency in 2012</a>. Amid the most fervent protests against the autocratic and corrupt regime, his government began instituting and escalating brutal crackdowns on minority groups like the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/lgbtq\">LGBTQ</a> population, opposition members, and civil society to entrench a narrative of Russian tradition. </p>\n<p id=\"bjJUMP\">\u201cIn the 1990s\u20132000s, Russia experienced a range of issues such as economic and demographic crises and the loss of its impactful role on the international stage, causing the perceived \u2018emasculation\u2019 of the population,\u201d Radzhana Buyantueva, a researcher studying LGBTQ communities in Russia and their intersection with the political sphere, <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/12/5/23988527/russia-anti-lgbtq-ruling-extremist-putin\">explained to Vox over email in December</a>. \u201cThe Kremlin has utilized these insecurities in its anti-gender queerphobic propaganda,\u201d cracking down on LGBTQ groups and other perceived opponents while also militarizing society and \u201cculminating in the escalating military aggression toward neighboring states (Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine since 2014).\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"pknpnz\">Putin also systematically undermined or eliminated political opposition, cementing his hold on power not just through a popular narrative about Russia\u2019s national identity, but also with <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/world/europe/russian-parliamentary-elections-criticized-by-west.html\">election fraud</a>, murder, <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/16/chemical-burns-poisoning-prison-alexei-navalny-persecution\">poisonings</a>, draconian jail sentences, and other political repression. </p>\n<p id=\"n5tJzT\">Over the past year, the Kremlin quashed multiple attempts to compete against him in this weekend\u2019s elections. Though three competitors did stand in this year\u2019s contest, <a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-15/putin-re-election-how-he-became-russia-s-longest-ruler-since-stalin?sref=qYiz2hd0&amp;embedded-checkout=true\">they were all state-backed and lacked any real popular support</a>. There were multiple true opposition candidates with demonstrated popular support \u2014 like <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/27/world/europe/russia-putin-election-boris-nadezhdin.html\">Boris Nadezhdin</a>, an anti-war candidate \u2014 who <a href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/23/russia-bars-yekaterina-duntsova-from-contesting-in-presidential-election\">attempted to stand against Putin this year</a> but were barred from doing so.  </p>\n<p id=\"VYa6ul\">Now, almost anyone who would vocally oppose or present an alternative to Russian propaganda has been silenced or has fled.</p>", "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2024/3/18/24104857/putins-russia-elections-2024-results-navalny"}], "link": "https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2024/3/18/24104857/putins-russia-elections-2024-results-navalny", "id": "https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2024/3/18/24104857/putins-russia-elections-2024-results-navalny", "guidislink": false, "authors": [{"name": "Ellen Ioanes"}], "author_detail": {"name": "Ellen Ioanes"}, "author": "Ellen Ioanes"}, {"published": "2024-03-18T09:02:09-04:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 13, 2, 9, 0, 78, 0], "updated": "2024-03-18T09:02:09-04:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 13, 2, 9, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Can we protect and profit from the oceans?", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "Can we protect and profit from the oceans?"}, "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"An illustration with a split screen. On the left side gloved hands are cleaning fish; on the right side men in suits are counting stacks of money.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NX0LdahJ6ev8_pbMqdtOglxBsyI=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73132318/MPA_Vox_JoeGough.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Joe Gough for Vox</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n\n  <p>What the UN is missing with its plan to save the seas</p> <p id=\"cZqdIQ\"></p>\n<p id=\"2BoCAC\">The ocean is <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/life-by-environment\">home to most animal life</a> on Earth. It\u2019s also <a href=\"https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/01/1081742\">vital to human survival</a>, regulating the climate, <a href=\"https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/ocean%20\">capturing</a> 90 percent of the heat caused by carbon emissions, and producing 50 percent of the Earth\u2019s oxygen. But most of the ocean is poorly regulated, amounting to a free-for-all of resource extraction \u2014 from commercial fishing to drilling for oil \u2014 that severely damages the marine ecosystems we all depend on. </p>\n<p id=\"phz9hg\">Now, world governments are inching closer to the most decisive step ever to safeguard the ocean\u2019s future. The United Nations High Seas Treaty, which was drafted last March and will take effect once 60 countries ratify it, <a href=\"https://www.science.org/content/article/historic-treaty-could-open-way-protecting-30-oceans\">aims to protect 30 percent of the ocean</a> by 2030. It particularly focuses on the part of the ocean that is currently least protected, the high seas, which make up about <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/graphics/GLOBAL-ENVIRONMENT/OCEANS/jnvwyjomdvw/\">two-thirds</a> of the ocean and are defined as any area beyond 200 nautical miles off of a country\u2019s coast.</p>\n<p id=\"itdhXy\">The treaty intends to create \u201c<a href=\"https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/oceans-seas/what-we-do/promoting-effective-marine-protected-areas\">marine protected areas</a>,\u201d or MPAs, a legal designation that would regulate and limit the kinds of <a href=\"https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries\">extractive activities</a> that can happen within the high seas. Once ratified, participating governments would designate MPAs \u2014 ideally prioritizing protecting areas rich in biodiversity \u2014 and compliance would be monitored by a central body formed under the treaty.</p>\n<p id=\"CagZFv\">Yet MPAs are also highly limited. Though they sound like a kind of Yellowstone in the sea, they can perhaps be <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2023/5/23/23720486/marine-protected-areas-sanctuaries-fishing-conservation\">better thought of as \u201cprotected in name only,\u201d</a> as Vox\u2019s Benji Jones put it last year, because commercial fishing, oil drilling, and mining will still happen in these areas. Instead, MPA regulations hope to prevent the worst injustices against humans and animals, while the revenue generated from permitted activities \u2014 which could range from recreational diving and fisheries to mining and drilling<strong> </strong>\u2014 would then <a href=\"https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/marine-protected-areas_9789264276208-en#page116\">partially pay the management fees</a> for these zones. </p>\n<p id=\"gxym3K\">Another major goal of the UN High Seas Treaty is promoting the equitable sharing of ocean resources, such as <a href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/who-owns-the-ocean-rsquo-s-genes-tension-on-the-high-seas/\">new genetic discoveries that can help advance medicine</a>, between high- and low-income countries. It also aims to create a more regulated ocean economy, with <a href=\"https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/an-audacious-plan-to-save-the-worlds-oceans/\">some nations able to pay off national debt if they agree to protect certain areas.</a> </p>\n<p id=\"PkJgsa\">Some management is better than the usual way of doing business in the high seas \u2014 a lawless place where nations do not have jurisdiction, <a href=\"https://www.theoutlawocean.com/reporting/slavery-is-not-gone-it-has-just-moved-out-to-sea/#:~:text=The%20Outlaw%20Ocean%20Project%2C%20a,a%20purse%20seiner%20fishing%20ship.\">horrors like slavery on industrial fishing vessels are common</a>, and ocean trawlers catch and often kill <a href=\"https://oceana.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/Bycatch_Report_FINAL.pdf\">billions of pounds of bycatch</a> (unintentionally captured creatures like dolphins, whales, and turtles) every year.</p>\n<p id=\"sEJr6k\">A deeper look, however, into the proposed management in Marine Protected Areas complicates its image as a conservation solution. The crux of it all is the trade-off between making a profit and fully protecting the ocean. We can\u2019t have both. </p>\n<p id=\"WwtMJ6\">There\u2019s a lot of money to be made in exploiting the ocean in the short term. But thinking solely of short-term profit will cost us more down the line, even in purely economic terms. The <a href=\"https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/oceans_practice/reviving_the_ocean_economy/\">ocean economy</a> \u2014 encompassing industries like fishing, maritime shipping, and oil drilling \u2014 generates <a href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/24/7th-largest-economy-at-24-trillion-our-oceans-says-wwf.html\">nearly $3 trillion of global GDP</a> every year, and its worth is estimated at $24 trillion. Its stability depends on making conservation a priority now, rather than extracting more from the ocean than it can bear. </p>\n<p id=\"I1SuX0\">The High Seas Treaty\u2019s 30 percent target for turning the ocean into protected areas is just a starting point if we want to conserve oceans and the future of life on Earth. But proposed regulation needs teeth. Figuring out what activities should and should not be allowed in MPAs is a broad and tough conversation about what we think the true value of the ocean is.    </p>\n<h3 id=\"TkfcCA\">What is a marine protected area?</h3>\n<p id=\"KShgao\">The concept of a marine protected area goes back centuries. \u201cTaboo,\u201d or <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/20/cultural-tabu-how-an-ancient-ocean-custom-is-saving-fijis-reefs\">tabu</a>, as historically practiced in the Pacific Islands, has contemporary resonance as a conservation strategy. To this day, it keeps certain areas of the ocean off-limits to fishing. </p>\n<p id=\"mJA56U\">MPAs, as we think of them today, have been in the global conversation since at least 1962, when the <a href=\"https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/nps/first_world.pdf\">limits of the ocean</a><a href=\"https://www.worldparkscongress.org/about/history\">\u2019s resources</a> were discussed at the World <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/congress\">Congress</a> on National Parks, the international forum for creating protected natural areas. Then, at the UN\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.un.org/en/conferences/environment/rio1992\">1992 Earth Summit</a> in Rio de Janeiro, world leaders agreed on a target to turn 10 percent of the ocean into MPAs by 2020, but this goal was not met. Today, just 2.9<a href=\"https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/paper-parks-undermine-marine-protected-areas\"> percent of the ocean</a> is <a href=\"https://mpatlas.org/zones/\">fully or highly protected from fishing impacts</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"zUQcFf\">A shuffle of different targets and conversations then ensued, culminating in the 30 percent by 2030 goal set by the <a href=\"https://www.un.org/bbnj/sites/www.un.org.bbnj/files/draft_agreement_advanced_unedited_for_posting_v1.pdf\">UN High Seas Treaty</a> last year. Even that ambitious target represents the bare minimum needed to adequately protect the ocean, experts told me, and the agreement may take years to come into force. That\u2019s time we do not have. </p>\n  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"A map of marine protected areas (MPAs) in US ocean waters.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/omMXgvSPz5AkPmbZ-Lw_VEwFomY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24674116/fmars_09_849927_g001.jpeg\" />\n      <cite><a class=\"ql-link\" href=\"https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.849927/full\" target=\"_blank\">Jenna Sullivan-Stack et al | <em>Frontiers in Marine Science</em></a></cite>\n  </figure>\n<p id=\"BZnG3v\">The size and scope of MPAs can vary widely: The largest is in the <a href=\"https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/environment/antarctica-and-the-southern-ocean/ross-sea-region-marine-protected-area/#:~:text=PDF%202.1%20MB%5D-,The%20Marine%20Protected%20Area%20agreement,square%20kilometres%20is%20fully%20protected.\">Ross Sea region</a> near Antarctica, where 1.12 million square kilometers have been protected since <a href=\"https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2017/10/research-and-monitoring-in-the-worlds-largest-marine-protected-area#:~:text=The%20Ross%20Sea%20Region%20MPA,-In%20October%202016&amp;text=The%202.06%2Dmillion%2Dsquare%2D,marine%20protected%20area%20(MPA).\">2016</a>. The smallest MPA is <a href=\"https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/importance-marine-protected-areas/\">Echo Bay Marine Provincial Park</a> in Gilford Island, between Vancouver Island and British Columbia, which has just 1 acre of protection. </p>\n<p id=\"NnO20Q\">The <a href=\"https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/ten-things-high-seas-treaty/\">UN High Seas treaty, for the first time, sets out a process</a> for states to set up marine protected areas in the high seas, outside of any nation\u2019s direct jurisdiction. In their proposals, states must show what area they intend to protect, the threats it faces, and plans for its management. In exchange, countries could create a range of economic benefits from the ocean, like debt restructuring (as was the case with the Seychelles), benefiting fisheries, and even <a href=\"https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/marine-protected-areas_9789264276208-en#page126\">selling blue carbon credits</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"7q5CI1\">Beyond marine protected areas, the High Seas Treaty lays out a framework for the use of marine genetic resources and what fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from discovery would look like. Currently, developed nations are far outpacing developing nations in finding and commercializing marine genetic resources, such as the anti-cancer drug <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/03/crucial-un-high-seas-treaty-stuck-over-sharing-of-genetic-resources\">Halaven, which is derived from a Japanese sea sponge</a> and has annual sales of $300 million. </p>\n<p id=\"5Qi7gp\">There\u2019s still a lively debate in ocean politics over whether an MPA should fully protect a region of the ocean, or whether it can also be used for commercial purposes like fishing, mining, and oil extraction. Critics of the MPA approach go so far as to call them <a href=\"https://hakaimagazine.com/features/marine-protected-area-may-or-may-not-include-actual-protection/\">\u201cpaper parks\u201d</a> (or parks in name only)<strong> </strong>because, as they exist now, they allow a number of exploitative activities within protected areas. </p>\n<p id=\"iISydC\">Groups like the <a href=\"https://www.iucn.org\">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a> (IUCN), the world\u2019s premier conservation organization, have proposed supplementary guidelines for MPAs that would ban extractive activities, especially at industrial scales. The UN High Seas Treaty as it stands now <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/05/high-seas-treaty-agreement-to-protect-international-waters-finally-reached-at-un\">does not limit</a> what existing fisheries, cargo ships, and deep-sea mining organizations can do in open waters. </p>\n<p id=\"hSJEmq\">\u201cWe need to remove perverse incentives, and we need to rewire the world in a different way,\u201d said <a href=\"https://danlaffoley.com/biography/\">Dan Laffoley</a>, an ocean conservationist at the International Union for Conservation of Nature. </p>\n<p id=\"vfDf55\">The IUCN also advocates for an ecosystem-wide approach to conserving the ocean rather than single species protections, and for <a href=\"https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/PAPS-016.pdf\">protecting</a> species as they migrate across the ocean over time, rather than solely in one static location. Additionally, <a href=\"https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/PAPS-016.pdf\">IUCN guidelines</a> point to the fluctuating nature of the ocean and its inhabitants that travel across large distances; because of this, they suggest that there should be temporal protections in migratory paths and spawning locations. </p>\n<p id=\"jxCZah\">The IUCN guidelines also call for greater protection of the entire water column, from the top to the bottom of the seafloor. The UN High Seas Treaty, on the other hand, would <a href=\"https://www.climatechangenews.com/2023/03/08/high-seas-treaty-exempts-deep-sea-mining-from-stricter-environmental-rules/\">exempt deep-sea mining operators</a> from submitting environmental impact assessments on their proposed activities on the ocean floor.   </p>\n  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"A pile of lumpy gray rocks.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XxfuQQBQZwv6whMl7HG2W689tvU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25243924/1453601450.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Pallava Bagla/Corbis via Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>These black polymetallic sea nodules form naturally in the deep sea.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n<h3 id=\"xtjoNS\">There\u2019s something fishy about extracting buckets of money from the ocean in order to save it</h3>\n<p id=\"wc4NIn\">Getting world leaders to agree to these terms is the challenge. Scientists and activists want full protection of the oceans now, while business interests argue that there\u2019s too much money to be made by continuing extractive activities.</p>\n<p id=\"LxCOe2\">The challenge for ocean advocates is to create economic incentives for conservation that can outweigh the enormous incentive to continue to allow business-as-usual pollution and exploitation of marine ecosystems. \u201cGiving a different value to nature is one of our biggest challenges,\u201d said marine biologist and explorer <a href=\"https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sylvia-earle\">Sylvia Earle</a> in a panel at the UN World Oceans Day conference last June. \u201cOur continued existence \u2014 that needs to be on the balance sheet.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"NvTkhe\">This conversation plugs into a long-running debate over whether economic incentives and market forces can promote effective stewardship of nature. The 1970s saw the emergence of the idea of \u201c<a href=\"https://www.jstor.org/stable/26393131\">ecosystem services</a>\u201d: the benefits we get from functioning ecosystems. It started as a way for biologists to highlight the life support systems that keep the Earth habitable, but ecosystem services later started to be used by economists to create analyses of the monetary value of ecosystems. </p>\n<p id=\"52oImd\">While these monetary valuations could be used in conservation advocacy by translating the benefits of ecosystems into the dollars-and-cents language of policy, they\u2019re inherently incomplete and reductive. Critics of putting a price on nature have argued that this approach would put financial incentives before sound ecological measures. </p>\n<p id=\"oDL8HY\"><a href=\"https://www.monbiot.com/2012/08/06/the-great-impostors/\">Environmental journalist George Monbiot</a> has written that treating nature and its benefits as \u201c<a href=\"https://e360.yale.edu/features/ecosystem_services_whats_wrong_with_putting_a_price_on_nature\">ecosystem services</a>\u201d that can be paid for will make them seem fungible and make it easy for companies to destroy ecosystems by claiming they can build technological replacements that can do the same thing. And, by expressing the value of nature only in economic terms, the ecosystem services framework could consolidate decision-making power in the hands of those who have money. When it comes to conservation, practicality can be the cloak under which cynicism hides. </p>\n<p id=\"eKITDx\">We\u2019re still in the early stages of knowing whether financial approaches to conservation can align with the well-being of oceans. There are some promising case studies: Following the example set by the Seychelles, for example, could let countries restructure their debt into protection of the ocean by creating MPAs. </p>\n<p id=\"mtRD8H\"><a href=\"https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200803-the-deal-that-saved-seychelles-troubled-waters\">In 2015, the Seychelles sold $22 million of its debt</a> to <a href=\"https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/who-we-are/\">the Nature Conservancy</a>, a nonprofit, in exchange for protecting its oceans by creating 13 marine protected areas across 30 percent of its national waters. The country has banned or restricted fishing, development, and oil exploration in these zones \u2014 regulations that are enforced with steep penalties, including imprisonment. </p>\n<h3 id=\"96DvTS\">The risks outweigh the rewards when the bait for conservation is money</h3>\n<p id=\"cpzDHh\">The High Seas Treaty\u2019s vision of conserving 30 percent of global oceans would allocate more protection for marine ecosystems than the world has ever seen, but it has to be approached thoughtfully, conservationists say. <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tessa-hempson-6b519415/?originalSubdomain=za\">Tessa Hempson</a> \u2014 chief scientist at Mission Blue, a global coalition founded by Earle to support a network of global MPAs \u2014 thought of the questions we should first be asking.  </p>\n<p id=\"aq8BtT\">\u201cAre we targeting the really essential areas that we need to be focusing on?\u201d Hempson told Vox. \u201cDo we know enough to make sure that we are targeting those areas correctly? And then also, you know, it\u2019s all good and well having those areas demarcated on a map, but are they actually effectively conserved?\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"t9g6rk\">It\u2019s not the first time these tensions (and their corollary benefits and consequences) have been highlighted. The idea of a \u201cblue economy\u201d first <a href=\"https://unric.org/en/blue-economy-oceans-as-the-next-great-economic-frontier/#:~:text=The%20UN%20first%20introduced%20%E2%80%9Cblue,productive%20when%20they%20are%20healthy.\">emerged</a> at a 2012 UN conference, aiming to bridge the gap between conservation and treating marine ecosystems as a fungible asset. At the time, Pacific Island nations saw how the ocean could be their gateway to be included in global \u201cgreen\u201d development by highlighting the importance of the ocean and coasts to their livelihoods, culture, and economy. The blue economy, in turn, would help bolster equitable sharing of benefits between developed and developing countries.</p>\n<p id=\"0thkTr\">In the years that followed, the agenda of equity fell through the cracks. Framing of the blue economy turned to prioritizing growth and promoting \u201c<a href=\"https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2022.999571/full\">decoupling</a>\u201d \u2014 an idea that the economy can keep growing without consequences to the environment. Decoupling separates nature and economy in an intellectualized way in which the effects of capitalism and consumption can continue undeterred. </p>\n<p id=\"6gVwuG\">Though the concept of the blue economy began with intentions of global equity and fair distribution of benefits from the use of ocean resources, we\u2019ve landed in a wayward place where endless growth models don\u2019t truly respect the limits of nature. The ocean stands to be mined for all it is worth unless MPAs start to guarantee meaningful protection.</p>\n<p id=\"f4ETXe\">The high seas were long held as global commons; expressions like \u201cplenty of fish in the sea\u201d reflected the impression that the ocean held infinite resources for the taking. Now, it\u2019s clearer than ever that this model won\u2019t work anymore. </p>\n<p id=\"XKxEM1\">If overfishing continues, we can expect a <a href=\"https://www3.epa.gov/region1/npdes/schillerstation/pdfs/AR-024.pdf\">global collapse of all species currently fished by 2050</a> \u2014 though the lead author of the study, Boris Worm, <a href=\"https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/557273-running-out-of-fish-by-2048-the-wake-up-call-needed-to-replenish/\">wrote in 2021</a> that putting forth ocean protections could give us reason for hope. In any case, the collapse of fish stocks will have ecosystem-wide consequences, like the <a href=\"https://futurism.com/in-the-current-mass-extinction-the-largest-marine-animals-will-be-the-first-to-go\">mass extinction of large ocean creatures</a>, sharks, whales, dolphins, sea lions, and seals.</p>\n<p id=\"P1d2CV\">Another major threat to the ocean looms on the horizon: mining. Deep-sea mining is not yet occurring on an industrial scale, but it\u2019s a major issue of discussion in the marine space because of its implications for the global renewable energy transition. Firms are hoping to mine the ocean bed in search of <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/mining-critical-materials-sea-ocean-7d883d7e9238006a0faaab837d3d1240\">polymetallic nodules</a> containing cobalt and nickel for use in renewable car batteries. Last year, the International Seabed Authority, the body that regulates the ocean floor, postponed a decision on whether to start allowing mining, citing the <a href=\"https://www.conservation.org/blog/disaster-deferred-deep-sea-mining-talks-postponed\">need for more time to understand</a> what science-backed guidelines should be in place before moving forward. </p>\n<p id=\"tERjUS\">But many believe it\u2019s only a matter of time before companies are <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/mining-critical-materials-sea-ocean-7d883d7e9238006a0faaab837d3d1240\">granted licenses</a> to begin mining the ocean floor \u2014 unleashing a drilling bonanza that could have consequences we don\u2019t yet understand because the deep ocean has barely been explored. </p>\n<p id=\"r28iKq\">Arguably, the only thing we should be extracting from the ocean is knowledge. Indeed, the knowledge we have of the ocean pales in comparison to the knowledge we have of outer space, with <a href=\"https://www.americanprogress.org/article/rockets-top-submarines-space-exploration-dollars-dwarf-ocean-spending/\">funding for space exploration exceeding that of ocean exploration more than 150-fold</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"gPaKYx\">People have been debating for a long time whether greed will be the end of humanity, or whether financial incentives can be used to create protections. When it comes to the oceans, the stakes couldn\u2019t be higher. </p>\n<p id=\"9KYTme\">As Sylvia Earle said at the June UN conference, \u201cThe most important thing we take from the oceans is our existence. If you like to breathe, you\u2019ll listen up.\u201d </p>"}], "summary": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"An illustration with a split screen. On the left side gloved hands are cleaning fish; on the right side men in suits are counting stacks of money.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NX0LdahJ6ev8_pbMqdtOglxBsyI=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73132318/MPA_Vox_JoeGough.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Joe Gough for Vox</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n\n  <p>What the UN is missing with its plan to save the seas</p> <p id=\"cZqdIQ\"></p>\n<p id=\"2BoCAC\">The ocean is <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/life-by-environment\">home to most animal life</a> on Earth. It\u2019s also <a href=\"https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/01/1081742\">vital to human survival</a>, regulating the climate, <a href=\"https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/ocean%20\">capturing</a> 90 percent of the heat caused by carbon emissions, and producing 50 percent of the Earth\u2019s oxygen. But most of the ocean is poorly regulated, amounting to a free-for-all of resource extraction \u2014 from commercial fishing to drilling for oil \u2014 that severely damages the marine ecosystems we all depend on. </p>\n<p id=\"phz9hg\">Now, world governments are inching closer to the most decisive step ever to safeguard the ocean\u2019s future. The United Nations High Seas Treaty, which was drafted last March and will take effect once 60 countries ratify it, <a href=\"https://www.science.org/content/article/historic-treaty-could-open-way-protecting-30-oceans\">aims to protect 30 percent of the ocean</a> by 2030. It particularly focuses on the part of the ocean that is currently least protected, the high seas, which make up about <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/graphics/GLOBAL-ENVIRONMENT/OCEANS/jnvwyjomdvw/\">two-thirds</a> of the ocean and are defined as any area beyond 200 nautical miles off of a country\u2019s coast.</p>\n<p id=\"itdhXy\">The treaty intends to create \u201c<a href=\"https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/oceans-seas/what-we-do/promoting-effective-marine-protected-areas\">marine protected areas</a>,\u201d or MPAs, a legal designation that would regulate and limit the kinds of <a href=\"https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries\">extractive activities</a> that can happen within the high seas. Once ratified, participating governments would designate MPAs \u2014 ideally prioritizing protecting areas rich in biodiversity \u2014 and compliance would be monitored by a central body formed under the treaty.</p>\n<p id=\"CagZFv\">Yet MPAs are also highly limited. Though they sound like a kind of Yellowstone in the sea, they can perhaps be <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2023/5/23/23720486/marine-protected-areas-sanctuaries-fishing-conservation\">better thought of as \u201cprotected in name only,\u201d</a> as Vox\u2019s Benji Jones put it last year, because commercial fishing, oil drilling, and mining will still happen in these areas. Instead, MPA regulations hope to prevent the worst injustices against humans and animals, while the revenue generated from permitted activities \u2014 which could range from recreational diving and fisheries to mining and drilling<strong> </strong>\u2014 would then <a href=\"https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/marine-protected-areas_9789264276208-en#page116\">partially pay the management fees</a> for these zones. </p>\n<p id=\"gxym3K\">Another major goal of the UN High Seas Treaty is promoting the equitable sharing of ocean resources, such as <a href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/who-owns-the-ocean-rsquo-s-genes-tension-on-the-high-seas/\">new genetic discoveries that can help advance medicine</a>, between high- and low-income countries. It also aims to create a more regulated ocean economy, with <a href=\"https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/an-audacious-plan-to-save-the-worlds-oceans/\">some nations able to pay off national debt if they agree to protect certain areas.</a> </p>\n<p id=\"PkJgsa\">Some management is better than the usual way of doing business in the high seas \u2014 a lawless place where nations do not have jurisdiction, <a href=\"https://www.theoutlawocean.com/reporting/slavery-is-not-gone-it-has-just-moved-out-to-sea/#:~:text=The%20Outlaw%20Ocean%20Project%2C%20a,a%20purse%20seiner%20fishing%20ship.\">horrors like slavery on industrial fishing vessels are common</a>, and ocean trawlers catch and often kill <a href=\"https://oceana.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/Bycatch_Report_FINAL.pdf\">billions of pounds of bycatch</a> (unintentionally captured creatures like dolphins, whales, and turtles) every year.</p>\n<p id=\"sEJr6k\">A deeper look, however, into the proposed management in Marine Protected Areas complicates its image as a conservation solution. The crux of it all is the trade-off between making a profit and fully protecting the ocean. We can\u2019t have both. </p>\n<p id=\"WwtMJ6\">There\u2019s a lot of money to be made in exploiting the ocean in the short term. But thinking solely of short-term profit will cost us more down the line, even in purely economic terms. The <a href=\"https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/oceans_practice/reviving_the_ocean_economy/\">ocean economy</a> \u2014 encompassing industries like fishing, maritime shipping, and oil drilling \u2014 generates <a href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/24/7th-largest-economy-at-24-trillion-our-oceans-says-wwf.html\">nearly $3 trillion of global GDP</a> every year, and its worth is estimated at $24 trillion. Its stability depends on making conservation a priority now, rather than extracting more from the ocean than it can bear. </p>\n<p id=\"I1SuX0\">The High Seas Treaty\u2019s 30 percent target for turning the ocean into protected areas is just a starting point if we want to conserve oceans and the future of life on Earth. But proposed regulation needs teeth. Figuring out what activities should and should not be allowed in MPAs is a broad and tough conversation about what we think the true value of the ocean is.    </p>\n<h3 id=\"TkfcCA\">What is a marine protected area?</h3>\n<p id=\"KShgao\">The concept of a marine protected area goes back centuries. \u201cTaboo,\u201d or <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/20/cultural-tabu-how-an-ancient-ocean-custom-is-saving-fijis-reefs\">tabu</a>, as historically practiced in the Pacific Islands, has contemporary resonance as a conservation strategy. To this day, it keeps certain areas of the ocean off-limits to fishing. </p>\n<p id=\"mJA56U\">MPAs, as we think of them today, have been in the global conversation since at least 1962, when the <a href=\"https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/nps/first_world.pdf\">limits of the ocean</a><a href=\"https://www.worldparkscongress.org/about/history\">\u2019s resources</a> were discussed at the World <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/congress\">Congress</a> on National Parks, the international forum for creating protected natural areas. Then, at the UN\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.un.org/en/conferences/environment/rio1992\">1992 Earth Summit</a> in Rio de Janeiro, world leaders agreed on a target to turn 10 percent of the ocean into MPAs by 2020, but this goal was not met. Today, just 2.9<a href=\"https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/paper-parks-undermine-marine-protected-areas\"> percent of the ocean</a> is <a href=\"https://mpatlas.org/zones/\">fully or highly protected from fishing impacts</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"zUQcFf\">A shuffle of different targets and conversations then ensued, culminating in the 30 percent by 2030 goal set by the <a href=\"https://www.un.org/bbnj/sites/www.un.org.bbnj/files/draft_agreement_advanced_unedited_for_posting_v1.pdf\">UN High Seas Treaty</a> last year. Even that ambitious target represents the bare minimum needed to adequately protect the ocean, experts told me, and the agreement may take years to come into force. That\u2019s time we do not have. </p>\n  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"A map of marine protected areas (MPAs) in US ocean waters.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/omMXgvSPz5AkPmbZ-Lw_VEwFomY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24674116/fmars_09_849927_g001.jpeg\" />\n      <cite><a class=\"ql-link\" href=\"https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.849927/full\" target=\"_blank\">Jenna Sullivan-Stack et al | <em>Frontiers in Marine Science</em></a></cite>\n  </figure>\n<p id=\"BZnG3v\">The size and scope of MPAs can vary widely: The largest is in the <a href=\"https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/environment/antarctica-and-the-southern-ocean/ross-sea-region-marine-protected-area/#:~:text=PDF%202.1%20MB%5D-,The%20Marine%20Protected%20Area%20agreement,square%20kilometres%20is%20fully%20protected.\">Ross Sea region</a> near Antarctica, where 1.12 million square kilometers have been protected since <a href=\"https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2017/10/research-and-monitoring-in-the-worlds-largest-marine-protected-area#:~:text=The%20Ross%20Sea%20Region%20MPA,-In%20October%202016&amp;text=The%202.06%2Dmillion%2Dsquare%2D,marine%20protected%20area%20(MPA).\">2016</a>. The smallest MPA is <a href=\"https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/importance-marine-protected-areas/\">Echo Bay Marine Provincial Park</a> in Gilford Island, between Vancouver Island and British Columbia, which has just 1 acre of protection. </p>\n<p id=\"NnO20Q\">The <a href=\"https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/ten-things-high-seas-treaty/\">UN High Seas treaty, for the first time, sets out a process</a> for states to set up marine protected areas in the high seas, outside of any nation\u2019s direct jurisdiction. In their proposals, states must show what area they intend to protect, the threats it faces, and plans for its management. In exchange, countries could create a range of economic benefits from the ocean, like debt restructuring (as was the case with the Seychelles), benefiting fisheries, and even <a href=\"https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/marine-protected-areas_9789264276208-en#page126\">selling blue carbon credits</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"7q5CI1\">Beyond marine protected areas, the High Seas Treaty lays out a framework for the use of marine genetic resources and what fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from discovery would look like. Currently, developed nations are far outpacing developing nations in finding and commercializing marine genetic resources, such as the anti-cancer drug <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/03/crucial-un-high-seas-treaty-stuck-over-sharing-of-genetic-resources\">Halaven, which is derived from a Japanese sea sponge</a> and has annual sales of $300 million. </p>\n<p id=\"5Qi7gp\">There\u2019s still a lively debate in ocean politics over whether an MPA should fully protect a region of the ocean, or whether it can also be used for commercial purposes like fishing, mining, and oil extraction. Critics of the MPA approach go so far as to call them <a href=\"https://hakaimagazine.com/features/marine-protected-area-may-or-may-not-include-actual-protection/\">\u201cpaper parks\u201d</a> (or parks in name only)<strong> </strong>because, as they exist now, they allow a number of exploitative activities within protected areas. </p>\n<p id=\"iISydC\">Groups like the <a href=\"https://www.iucn.org\">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a> (IUCN), the world\u2019s premier conservation organization, have proposed supplementary guidelines for MPAs that would ban extractive activities, especially at industrial scales. The UN High Seas Treaty as it stands now <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/05/high-seas-treaty-agreement-to-protect-international-waters-finally-reached-at-un\">does not limit</a> what existing fisheries, cargo ships, and deep-sea mining organizations can do in open waters. </p>\n<p id=\"hSJEmq\">\u201cWe need to remove perverse incentives, and we need to rewire the world in a different way,\u201d said <a href=\"https://danlaffoley.com/biography/\">Dan Laffoley</a>, an ocean conservationist at the International Union for Conservation of Nature. </p>\n<p id=\"vfDf55\">The IUCN also advocates for an ecosystem-wide approach to conserving the ocean rather than single species protections, and for <a href=\"https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/PAPS-016.pdf\">protecting</a> species as they migrate across the ocean over time, rather than solely in one static location. Additionally, <a href=\"https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/PAPS-016.pdf\">IUCN guidelines</a> point to the fluctuating nature of the ocean and its inhabitants that travel across large distances; because of this, they suggest that there should be temporal protections in migratory paths and spawning locations. </p>\n<p id=\"jxCZah\">The IUCN guidelines also call for greater protection of the entire water column, from the top to the bottom of the seafloor. The UN High Seas Treaty, on the other hand, would <a href=\"https://www.climatechangenews.com/2023/03/08/high-seas-treaty-exempts-deep-sea-mining-from-stricter-environmental-rules/\">exempt deep-sea mining operators</a> from submitting environmental impact assessments on their proposed activities on the ocean floor.   </p>\n  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"A pile of lumpy gray rocks.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XxfuQQBQZwv6whMl7HG2W689tvU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25243924/1453601450.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Pallava Bagla/Corbis via Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>These black polymetallic sea nodules form naturally in the deep sea.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n<h3 id=\"xtjoNS\">There\u2019s something fishy about extracting buckets of money from the ocean in order to save it</h3>\n<p id=\"wc4NIn\">Getting world leaders to agree to these terms is the challenge. Scientists and activists want full protection of the oceans now, while business interests argue that there\u2019s too much money to be made by continuing extractive activities.</p>\n<p id=\"LxCOe2\">The challenge for ocean advocates is to create economic incentives for conservation that can outweigh the enormous incentive to continue to allow business-as-usual pollution and exploitation of marine ecosystems. \u201cGiving a different value to nature is one of our biggest challenges,\u201d said marine biologist and explorer <a href=\"https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sylvia-earle\">Sylvia Earle</a> in a panel at the UN World Oceans Day conference last June. \u201cOur continued existence \u2014 that needs to be on the balance sheet.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"NvTkhe\">This conversation plugs into a long-running debate over whether economic incentives and market forces can promote effective stewardship of nature. The 1970s saw the emergence of the idea of \u201c<a href=\"https://www.jstor.org/stable/26393131\">ecosystem services</a>\u201d: the benefits we get from functioning ecosystems. It started as a way for biologists to highlight the life support systems that keep the Earth habitable, but ecosystem services later started to be used by economists to create analyses of the monetary value of ecosystems. </p>\n<p id=\"52oImd\">While these monetary valuations could be used in conservation advocacy by translating the benefits of ecosystems into the dollars-and-cents language of policy, they\u2019re inherently incomplete and reductive. Critics of putting a price on nature have argued that this approach would put financial incentives before sound ecological measures. </p>\n<p id=\"oDL8HY\"><a href=\"https://www.monbiot.com/2012/08/06/the-great-impostors/\">Environmental journalist George Monbiot</a> has written that treating nature and its benefits as \u201c<a href=\"https://e360.yale.edu/features/ecosystem_services_whats_wrong_with_putting_a_price_on_nature\">ecosystem services</a>\u201d that can be paid for will make them seem fungible and make it easy for companies to destroy ecosystems by claiming they can build technological replacements that can do the same thing. And, by expressing the value of nature only in economic terms, the ecosystem services framework could consolidate decision-making power in the hands of those who have money. When it comes to conservation, practicality can be the cloak under which cynicism hides. </p>\n<p id=\"eKITDx\">We\u2019re still in the early stages of knowing whether financial approaches to conservation can align with the well-being of oceans. There are some promising case studies: Following the example set by the Seychelles, for example, could let countries restructure their debt into protection of the ocean by creating MPAs. </p>\n<p id=\"mtRD8H\"><a href=\"https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200803-the-deal-that-saved-seychelles-troubled-waters\">In 2015, the Seychelles sold $22 million of its debt</a> to <a href=\"https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/who-we-are/\">the Nature Conservancy</a>, a nonprofit, in exchange for protecting its oceans by creating 13 marine protected areas across 30 percent of its national waters. The country has banned or restricted fishing, development, and oil exploration in these zones \u2014 regulations that are enforced with steep penalties, including imprisonment. </p>\n<h3 id=\"96DvTS\">The risks outweigh the rewards when the bait for conservation is money</h3>\n<p id=\"cpzDHh\">The High Seas Treaty\u2019s vision of conserving 30 percent of global oceans would allocate more protection for marine ecosystems than the world has ever seen, but it has to be approached thoughtfully, conservationists say. <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tessa-hempson-6b519415/?originalSubdomain=za\">Tessa Hempson</a> \u2014 chief scientist at Mission Blue, a global coalition founded by Earle to support a network of global MPAs \u2014 thought of the questions we should first be asking.  </p>\n<p id=\"aq8BtT\">\u201cAre we targeting the really essential areas that we need to be focusing on?\u201d Hempson told Vox. \u201cDo we know enough to make sure that we are targeting those areas correctly? And then also, you know, it\u2019s all good and well having those areas demarcated on a map, but are they actually effectively conserved?\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"t9g6rk\">It\u2019s not the first time these tensions (and their corollary benefits and consequences) have been highlighted. The idea of a \u201cblue economy\u201d first <a href=\"https://unric.org/en/blue-economy-oceans-as-the-next-great-economic-frontier/#:~:text=The%20UN%20first%20introduced%20%E2%80%9Cblue,productive%20when%20they%20are%20healthy.\">emerged</a> at a 2012 UN conference, aiming to bridge the gap between conservation and treating marine ecosystems as a fungible asset. At the time, Pacific Island nations saw how the ocean could be their gateway to be included in global \u201cgreen\u201d development by highlighting the importance of the ocean and coasts to their livelihoods, culture, and economy. The blue economy, in turn, would help bolster equitable sharing of benefits between developed and developing countries.</p>\n<p id=\"0thkTr\">In the years that followed, the agenda of equity fell through the cracks. Framing of the blue economy turned to prioritizing growth and promoting \u201c<a href=\"https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2022.999571/full\">decoupling</a>\u201d \u2014 an idea that the economy can keep growing without consequences to the environment. Decoupling separates nature and economy in an intellectualized way in which the effects of capitalism and consumption can continue undeterred. </p>\n<p id=\"6gVwuG\">Though the concept of the blue economy began with intentions of global equity and fair distribution of benefits from the use of ocean resources, we\u2019ve landed in a wayward place where endless growth models don\u2019t truly respect the limits of nature. The ocean stands to be mined for all it is worth unless MPAs start to guarantee meaningful protection.</p>\n<p id=\"f4ETXe\">The high seas were long held as global commons; expressions like \u201cplenty of fish in the sea\u201d reflected the impression that the ocean held infinite resources for the taking. Now, it\u2019s clearer than ever that this model won\u2019t work anymore. </p>\n<p id=\"XKxEM1\">If overfishing continues, we can expect a <a href=\"https://www3.epa.gov/region1/npdes/schillerstation/pdfs/AR-024.pdf\">global collapse of all species currently fished by 2050</a> \u2014 though the lead author of the study, Boris Worm, <a href=\"https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/557273-running-out-of-fish-by-2048-the-wake-up-call-needed-to-replenish/\">wrote in 2021</a> that putting forth ocean protections could give us reason for hope. In any case, the collapse of fish stocks will have ecosystem-wide consequences, like the <a href=\"https://futurism.com/in-the-current-mass-extinction-the-largest-marine-animals-will-be-the-first-to-go\">mass extinction of large ocean creatures</a>, sharks, whales, dolphins, sea lions, and seals.</p>\n<p id=\"P1d2CV\">Another major threat to the ocean looms on the horizon: mining. Deep-sea mining is not yet occurring on an industrial scale, but it\u2019s a major issue of discussion in the marine space because of its implications for the global renewable energy transition. Firms are hoping to mine the ocean bed in search of <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/mining-critical-materials-sea-ocean-7d883d7e9238006a0faaab837d3d1240\">polymetallic nodules</a> containing cobalt and nickel for use in renewable car batteries. Last year, the International Seabed Authority, the body that regulates the ocean floor, postponed a decision on whether to start allowing mining, citing the <a href=\"https://www.conservation.org/blog/disaster-deferred-deep-sea-mining-talks-postponed\">need for more time to understand</a> what science-backed guidelines should be in place before moving forward. </p>\n<p id=\"tERjUS\">But many believe it\u2019s only a matter of time before companies are <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/mining-critical-materials-sea-ocean-7d883d7e9238006a0faaab837d3d1240\">granted licenses</a> to begin mining the ocean floor \u2014 unleashing a drilling bonanza that could have consequences we don\u2019t yet understand because the deep ocean has barely been explored. </p>\n<p id=\"r28iKq\">Arguably, the only thing we should be extracting from the ocean is knowledge. Indeed, the knowledge we have of the ocean pales in comparison to the knowledge we have of outer space, with <a href=\"https://www.americanprogress.org/article/rockets-top-submarines-space-exploration-dollars-dwarf-ocean-spending/\">funding for space exploration exceeding that of ocean exploration more than 150-fold</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"gPaKYx\">People have been debating for a long time whether greed will be the end of humanity, or whether financial incentives can be used to create protections. When it comes to the oceans, the stakes couldn\u2019t be higher. </p>\n<p id=\"9KYTme\">As Sylvia Earle said at the June UN conference, \u201cThe most important thing we take from the oceans is our existence. If you like to breathe, you\u2019ll listen up.\u201d </p>", "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/24047941/marine-protect-areas-united-nations-oceans-conservation-blue-economy-mining"}], "link": "https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/24047941/marine-protect-areas-united-nations-oceans-conservation-blue-economy-mining", "id": "https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/24047941/marine-protect-areas-united-nations-oceans-conservation-blue-economy-mining", "guidislink": false, "authors": [{"name": "Julieta Cardenas"}], "author_detail": {"name": "Julieta Cardenas"}, "author": "Julieta Cardenas"}, {"published": "2024-03-18T07:15:00-04:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 11, 15, 0, 0, 78, 0], "updated": "2024-03-18T07:15:00-04:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 18, 11, 15, 0, 0, 78, 0], "title": "Could a gambling \u201cerror\u201d cost you March Madness?", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "Could a gambling \u201cerror\u201d cost you March Madness?"}, "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"Houston Cougars guard Jamal Shead, wearing the number 1, drives the ball against Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Joe Toussaint, number 6, during the second half of a mens NCAA basketball game at the Fertitta Center on January 17.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ImOyBBYnVzsVOWLFwsaXqZdLguE=/0x0:4277x3208/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73214693/1944980305.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>March Madness is here. And that means the biggest mainstream sports betting event of the year is, too. | Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>Sports betting is about the odds, but sports books decide whether the odds are fair.</p> <p id=\"KgQ7b8\">The 2024 NCAA men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball tournaments are here. </p>\n<p id=\"mh5uoK\">That means it\u2019s time to fill out a bracket, to suddenly become the biggest fan of a school you\u2019d never heard of before this week, or to coat your body in team colors before every game (depending on your obsession level, of course). </p>\n<p id=\"Cabcvt\">For many Americans, it\u2019s also time to place some bets.</p>\n<p id=\"iibFUu\">This is \u201cthe most mainstream betting event of the year,\u201d says David Forman, vice president of research at the American Gaming Association (AGA). \u201cIt used to be office pools and squares contests.\u201d Now, with the explosion in <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/9/7/23835684/nfl-kickoff-2023-opening-day-sports-gambling-betting-odds-fantasy-football\">legalized gambling</a> across the US, he says, \u201cpeople in almost 40 states have the ability to bet on the tournament legally, and we think they\u2019re going to bet about $2.7 billion on the men\u2019s and women\u2019s tournaments.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"09fjwd\">If that estimate has you staggering, you obviously don\u2019t watch all that much live sports. Because if you did, you would have already heard from a slew of <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/celebrities\">celebrities</a>, like <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRTeR2kVikI\">Jamie Foxx</a> and <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eMEhyxc1UM\">Rob Gronkowski</a>, selling you on the virtues of major sports books like BetMGM, FanDuel, and DraftKings. You also must\u2019ve missed the headlines around the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/super-bowl\">Super Bowl</a> last month, when the <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/super-bowl-gambling-records-rcna137449\">AGA estimated</a> that 67.8 million Americans would bet roughly $23.1 billion. </p>\n<p id=\"XCKFmp\">Sports betting is bigger than ever, and 2023 was the <a href=\"https://www.americangaming.org/resources/aga-commercial-gaming-revenue-tracker/\">biggest year yet</a>. But as more states legalize gambling, effective regulation hasn\u2019t always kept pace. And it\u2019s left some bettors <a href=\"https://ftw.usatoday.com/2023/11/draftkings-pay-out-bets-october-third-party-system-error\">wondering</a> whether their bet <a href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@briandefranco/video/7264231116662508846\">will be honored</a>.</p>\n<h3 id=\"eA9dQ8\">Tournament betting is going to be wild</h3>\n<p id=\"wSuaVe\">One of the reasons March Madness is such a big-time event for sports betting is the number of games being played \u2014 sometimes at the same time. In just the first four days of the tournament, there will be 48 games. </p>\n<p id=\"3WiJe0\">\u201cThe thing that makes it very bettable is the structure of the tournament,\u201d says Jack Andrews, co-founder of Unabated Sports, a subscription service that purports to help sports bettors increase their chances of winning. \u201cOn the East Coast, the tournament starts at noon on Thursday [March 21]. And then you have game after game after game after game after game. It\u2019s basically a betting bonanza for sports bettors from noon to midnight.\u201d</p>\n<aside id=\"F2AF15\"><div></div></aside><p id=\"2L3rkj\">In-game betting and <a href=\"https://theathletic.com/2537514/2022/01/25/prop-bets-how-to-bet-a-prop-best-prop-bets/\">prop bets</a> are other forms of wagering that are very popular during the tournament, \u201cespecially betting the over/unders,\u201d says David Vinturella, an instructor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas who developed and taught the school\u2019s first ever semester-long course in sports betting this year and who previously worked for a major sports book. </p>\n<p id=\"DDzvtE\">He explains over/under bets like this: Betting the over is wagering that a team will score more than sports books\u2019 predicted figure. Betting the under is the opposite.</p>\n<p id=\"955zJ9\">Another well-liked prop bet Andrews describes is betting on the first team to score 15 points. \u201cThat is hugely popular in Vegas,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s not really betting on the game, you know \u2014 instead you\u2019re just betting on which team gets off to a hot start.\u201d </p>\n<h3 id=\"xNBjgV\">If you win, will your bet be honored? </h3>\n<p id=\"BoxPks\">With millions of people expected to place bets with sports books throughout the tournament, can bettors be sure they\u2019ll be paid out if their long-shot bet wins big? </p>\n<p id=\"tYUikh\">The answer to that question was a bit murky in the days before legal sports betting, when offshore sports books were the only game in town, says Andrews. \u201cThat\u2019s the difference between the US and offshore sports books. If you have a problem offshore, the offshore sports book says, \u2018I\u2019m judge, jury, and executioner, and you\u2019re out.\u2019 Whereas in the states with regulated sports betting, [regulators] are supposed to make sure it\u2019s a fair bet.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"sgfGdt\">Still, there have been stories recently about <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/01/17/sports-bets-errors-payouts/\">sports books</a> in the US <a href=\"https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/39274104/a-13-minute-error-erosion-bettor-bookie-relationship\">voiding bets</a> that would\u2019ve paid out big to bettors. The sports books use a clause in the fine print of their regulations saying that if there\u2019s an obvious error with the odds in the bet (a.k.a. \u201cpalpable error\u201d), they can cancel your bet. </p>\n<p id=\"UZqOGZ\">Critics say this is unfair because the sports books have multiple chances to prevent a soon-to-be-voided bet from ever happening. \u201cThe bet is offered by the sports book, the bettor offers a wager to the sports book, and then the sports book accepts the wager,\u201d says Andrews. \u201cThey had three chances to stop the bet from ever happening.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"I6rIpC\">Vinturella says that voided bets definitely happen, but that they are rare. \u201cThe process of getting a license and securing the license for a mobile sports betting company is not easy or cheap. So sports books don\u2019t want to do anything that would jeopardize that license.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"g9QFbA\">Andrews agrees that most bettors will never have an issue with a sports book over a palpable error. \u201cNinety-nine percent of the time, sports books just eat the loss,\u201d he says. But Andrews thinks regulators often have a \u201cpro-operator\u201d approach because \u201cthey\u2019re funded by the operators,\u201d and \u201cthey don\u2019t want DraftKings to lose $1 billion because of something that should have never been out there.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"vPsFya\">That\u2019s why regulators should have clear sets of rules for determining what is and isn\u2019t a clear mistake. </p>\n<p id=\"ILNW22\">A good example is New Jersey, where the Division of Gaming Enforcement has a two-step process for <a href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/fanduel-bet-new-jersey-82000-2018-9\">deciding whether the error was palpable</a>. Step one: Was the bet legal to begin with? If so, good. If not, the bet doesn\u2019t count. Step two: Was there a risk of losing? If so, the wager stands. If there\u2019s no risk, then the bet is voided because it must\u2019ve been a mistake. </p>\n<p id=\"aZ7Rg5\">It\u2019s that sort of easy-to-follow process that will let bettors trust regulators and confidently participate in the fast-growing billion-dollar industry \u2014 ultimately benefiting the sports books, too.</p>\n<p id=\"yH5b6A\"><em>This story appeared originally in </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast\"><em><strong>Today, Explained</strong></em></a><em>, Vox\u2019s flagship daily newsletter. </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/pages/today-explained-newsletter-signup\"><em><strong>Sign up here for future editions</strong></em></a><em>.</em></p>"}], "summary": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"Houston Cougars guard Jamal Shead, wearing the number 1, drives the ball against Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Joe Toussaint, number 6, during the second half of a mens NCAA basketball game at the Fertitta Center on January 17.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ImOyBBYnVzsVOWLFwsaXqZdLguE=/0x0:4277x3208/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73214693/1944980305.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>March Madness is here. And that means the biggest mainstream sports betting event of the year is, too. | Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>Sports betting is about the odds, but sports books decide whether the odds are fair.</p> <p id=\"KgQ7b8\">The 2024 NCAA men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball tournaments are here. </p>\n<p id=\"mh5uoK\">That means it\u2019s time to fill out a bracket, to suddenly become the biggest fan of a school you\u2019d never heard of before this week, or to coat your body in team colors before every game (depending on your obsession level, of course). </p>\n<p id=\"Cabcvt\">For many Americans, it\u2019s also time to place some bets.</p>\n<p id=\"iibFUu\">This is \u201cthe most mainstream betting event of the year,\u201d says David Forman, vice president of research at the American Gaming Association (AGA). \u201cIt used to be office pools and squares contests.\u201d Now, with the explosion in <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/9/7/23835684/nfl-kickoff-2023-opening-day-sports-gambling-betting-odds-fantasy-football\">legalized gambling</a> across the US, he says, \u201cpeople in almost 40 states have the ability to bet on the tournament legally, and we think they\u2019re going to bet about $2.7 billion on the men\u2019s and women\u2019s tournaments.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"09fjwd\">If that estimate has you staggering, you obviously don\u2019t watch all that much live sports. Because if you did, you would have already heard from a slew of <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/celebrities\">celebrities</a>, like <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRTeR2kVikI\">Jamie Foxx</a> and <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eMEhyxc1UM\">Rob Gronkowski</a>, selling you on the virtues of major sports books like BetMGM, FanDuel, and DraftKings. You also must\u2019ve missed the headlines around the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/super-bowl\">Super Bowl</a> last month, when the <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/super-bowl-gambling-records-rcna137449\">AGA estimated</a> that 67.8 million Americans would bet roughly $23.1 billion. </p>\n<p id=\"XCKFmp\">Sports betting is bigger than ever, and 2023 was the <a href=\"https://www.americangaming.org/resources/aga-commercial-gaming-revenue-tracker/\">biggest year yet</a>. But as more states legalize gambling, effective regulation hasn\u2019t always kept pace. And it\u2019s left some bettors <a href=\"https://ftw.usatoday.com/2023/11/draftkings-pay-out-bets-october-third-party-system-error\">wondering</a> whether their bet <a href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@briandefranco/video/7264231116662508846\">will be honored</a>.</p>\n<h3 id=\"eA9dQ8\">Tournament betting is going to be wild</h3>\n<p id=\"wSuaVe\">One of the reasons March Madness is such a big-time event for sports betting is the number of games being played \u2014 sometimes at the same time. In just the first four days of the tournament, there will be 48 games. </p>\n<p id=\"3WiJe0\">\u201cThe thing that makes it very bettable is the structure of the tournament,\u201d says Jack Andrews, co-founder of Unabated Sports, a subscription service that purports to help sports bettors increase their chances of winning. \u201cOn the East Coast, the tournament starts at noon on Thursday [March 21]. And then you have game after game after game after game after game. It\u2019s basically a betting bonanza for sports bettors from noon to midnight.\u201d</p>\n<aside id=\"F2AF15\"><div></div></aside><p id=\"2L3rkj\">In-game betting and <a href=\"https://theathletic.com/2537514/2022/01/25/prop-bets-how-to-bet-a-prop-best-prop-bets/\">prop bets</a> are other forms of wagering that are very popular during the tournament, \u201cespecially betting the over/unders,\u201d says David Vinturella, an instructor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas who developed and taught the school\u2019s first ever semester-long course in sports betting this year and who previously worked for a major sports book. </p>\n<p id=\"DDzvtE\">He explains over/under bets like this: Betting the over is wagering that a team will score more than sports books\u2019 predicted figure. Betting the under is the opposite.</p>\n<p id=\"955zJ9\">Another well-liked prop bet Andrews describes is betting on the first team to score 15 points. \u201cThat is hugely popular in Vegas,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s not really betting on the game, you know \u2014 instead you\u2019re just betting on which team gets off to a hot start.\u201d </p>\n<h3 id=\"xNBjgV\">If you win, will your bet be honored? </h3>\n<p id=\"BoxPks\">With millions of people expected to place bets with sports books throughout the tournament, can bettors be sure they\u2019ll be paid out if their long-shot bet wins big? </p>\n<p id=\"tYUikh\">The answer to that question was a bit murky in the days before legal sports betting, when offshore sports books were the only game in town, says Andrews. \u201cThat\u2019s the difference between the US and offshore sports books. If you have a problem offshore, the offshore sports book says, \u2018I\u2019m judge, jury, and executioner, and you\u2019re out.\u2019 Whereas in the states with regulated sports betting, [regulators] are supposed to make sure it\u2019s a fair bet.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"sgfGdt\">Still, there have been stories recently about <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/01/17/sports-bets-errors-payouts/\">sports books</a> in the US <a href=\"https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/39274104/a-13-minute-error-erosion-bettor-bookie-relationship\">voiding bets</a> that would\u2019ve paid out big to bettors. The sports books use a clause in the fine print of their regulations saying that if there\u2019s an obvious error with the odds in the bet (a.k.a. \u201cpalpable error\u201d), they can cancel your bet. </p>\n<p id=\"UZqOGZ\">Critics say this is unfair because the sports books have multiple chances to prevent a soon-to-be-voided bet from ever happening. \u201cThe bet is offered by the sports book, the bettor offers a wager to the sports book, and then the sports book accepts the wager,\u201d says Andrews. \u201cThey had three chances to stop the bet from ever happening.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"I6rIpC\">Vinturella says that voided bets definitely happen, but that they are rare. \u201cThe process of getting a license and securing the license for a mobile sports betting company is not easy or cheap. So sports books don\u2019t want to do anything that would jeopardize that license.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"g9QFbA\">Andrews agrees that most bettors will never have an issue with a sports book over a palpable error. \u201cNinety-nine percent of the time, sports books just eat the loss,\u201d he says. But Andrews thinks regulators often have a \u201cpro-operator\u201d approach because \u201cthey\u2019re funded by the operators,\u201d and \u201cthey don\u2019t want DraftKings to lose $1 billion because of something that should have never been out there.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"vPsFya\">That\u2019s why regulators should have clear sets of rules for determining what is and isn\u2019t a clear mistake. </p>\n<p id=\"ILNW22\">A good example is New Jersey, where the Division of Gaming Enforcement has a two-step process for <a href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/fanduel-bet-new-jersey-82000-2018-9\">deciding whether the error was palpable</a>. Step one: Was the bet legal to begin with? If so, good. If not, the bet doesn\u2019t count. Step two: Was there a risk of losing? If so, the wager stands. If there\u2019s no risk, then the bet is voided because it must\u2019ve been a mistake. </p>\n<p id=\"aZ7Rg5\">It\u2019s that sort of easy-to-follow process that will let bettors trust regulators and confidently participate in the fast-growing billion-dollar industry \u2014 ultimately benefiting the sports books, too.</p>\n<p id=\"yH5b6A\"><em>This story appeared originally in </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast\"><em><strong>Today, Explained</strong></em></a><em>, Vox\u2019s flagship daily newsletter. </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/pages/today-explained-newsletter-signup\"><em><strong>Sign up here for future editions</strong></em></a><em>.</em></p>", "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.vox.com/2024/3/18/24102300/march-madness-sports-betting"}], "link": "https://www.vox.com/2024/3/18/24102300/march-madness-sports-betting", "id": "https://www.vox.com/2024/3/18/24102300/march-madness-sports-betting", "guidislink": false, "authors": [{"name": "Hady Mawajdeh"}], "author_detail": {"name": "Hady Mawajdeh"}, "author": "Hady Mawajdeh"}, {"published": "2024-03-17T08:00:00-04:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 12, 0, 0, 6, 77, 0], "updated": "2024-03-17T08:00:00-04:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 12, 0, 0, 6, 77, 0], "title": "17 astounding scientific mysteries that researchers can\u2019t yet solve", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "17 astounding scientific mysteries that researchers can\u2019t yet solve"}, "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"Illustration of a person looking through binoculars, with a star field behind them.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/612TjEfWs-lPiqb2P-W8OzcRIcY=/422x0:2955x1900/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73212951/GettyImages_1530562630.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n\n  <p>What is the universe made out of? How should we define death? Where did dogs come from? And more!</p> <p id=\"4j5YMp\">Three years ago, Vox launched <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/\"><em>Unexplainable</em></a>, a podcast about unanswered questions and what we learn when we explore the unknown. There\u2019s a line I think about all the time from our very first episode.</p>\n<p id=\"zn7dMV\">\u201cWhatever we know is provisional,\u201d <a href=\"https://campuspress.yale.edu/priya/\">Priya Natarajan</a>, a Yale physicist, told us about research on dark matter. But the sentiment also applies to science overall. \u201cIt is apt to change. What motivates people like me to continue doing science is the fact that it keeps opening up more and more questions. Nothing is ultimately resolved.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"qtvTH4\"><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable\"><em>Unexplainable</em></a> isn\u2019t about how scientists don\u2019t know <em>anything</em>. Science is a process of narrowing a gap between the questions we have and the capabilities of our tools and know-how to answer them. In many cases, that gap appears closed. No one doubts, for instance, the existence of gravity. </p>\n<p id=\"faINu4\">But even then, it is a scientist\u2019s job to have<a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/1/4/17989224/intellectual-humility-explained-psychology-replication\"> intellectual humility,</a> or at least to be open to the idea that there\u2019s still a piece missing \u2014 as there is with <a href=\"https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/08/cern-confirms-hints-of-hypothetical-particle-have-disappeared/\">gravity</a> \u2014 knowing the results could just end up confirming what they thought in the first place. </p>\n<p id=\"b981vZ\">Really, science is about a big question: How do we know when we\u2019ve completely learned something? </p>\n<p id=\"PngHOE\">What this series has taught us is that answering the question is a journey. Sometimes the stories on that journey are exciting \u2014 like what happens<strong> </strong>when <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/space\">NASA</a> launches a<a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/22664709/james-webb-space-telescope-launch-date-december-science-hubble\"> staggeringly powerful observatory into space</a>. Sometimes they are frustrating, especially when answers to a question are held back by powerful forces like <a href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/hu/podcast/the-mysteries-of-endometriosis/id1554578197?i=1000532358838\">scientific funding</a>, <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/22360363/replication-crisis-psychological-science-accelerator\">perverse incentives</a>, or <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/24093231/leah-hazard-womb-today-explained-menstruation-menstrual-effluent-uterus-endometriosis-fibroids\">stigma</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"hF0m9q\">Most often, though, the stories are deeply human: We ask questions because we\u2019re trying to <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/22947671/the-five-senses-touch-hearing-taste-smell-podcast-explainers\">understand our imperfect bodies,</a> our <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/23329291/animals-extinction-lost-species\">beautiful but fragile world,</a> and <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science/24040534/jwst-galaxies-big-bright-mystery-black-holes-cosmology\">our place in the universe</a> just a bit better. </p>\n<p id=\"y1lleF\">We\u2019re drawn to questions because<strong> </strong>they are optimistic. They invite us to dream of a better world in which they are answered, where the gaps between questions and our capabilities to answer them are smaller. Scientific knowledge is a gift we can give the future. It\u2019s worth getting right.</p>\n<p id=\"Puf9oa\">Here are some of the questions that astounded us the most. </p>\n<h3 id=\"8IFTOC\">1) What is the universe made out of?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7SRIjoBUyBuccbewFiR1KUJyqYU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22053291/heic1506f.jpg\" />\n      <cite>NASA</cite>\n      <figcaption>Shown in blue on the image is a map of the dark matter found within a galaxy cluster.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"4TGBVq\">If you go outside on a dark night, in the darkest places on Earth, you can see as many as 9,000 <a href=\"https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/how-many-stars-night-sky-09172014/\">stars</a>. They present as tiny points of light, but in reality, they are massive infernos. And while these stars seem astonishingly numerous to our eyes, they represent just the tiniest fraction of all the stars in our galaxy, let alone the universe.</p>\n<p id=\"ws9TMb\">All the stars in all the galaxies in all the universe barely even begin to account for all the stuff out there. Most of the matter in the universe is unseeable, untouchable, and, to this day, undiscovered. </p>\n<p id=\"5s2ZSQ\">Scientists call this unexplained stuff \u201cdark matter,\u201d and they believe there\u2019s five times more of it in the universe than normal matter \u2014 the stuff that makes up you and me, stars, planets, black holes, and everything we can see in the night sky or touch here on Earth. It\u2019s strange even calling all that \u201cnormal\u201d matter because, in the grand scheme of the cosmos, normal matter is the rare stuff. But to this day, no one knows what dark matter is.</p>\n<p id=\"UK6L3C\">So, how might scientists actually \u201cdiscover\u201d it? </p>\n<div id=\"gY6cfC\"></div>\n<p id=\"7IBYRG\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><em> </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/21537034/dark-matter-unexplainable-podcast\">Dark matter holds our universe together. No one knows what it is.</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"O8Jst4\" />\n<h3 id=\"Aec0L3\">2) How did life start on Earth?<strong> </strong>\n</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"Drawing of a unicellular organism.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wJ9gbTnsB2kYpEQARS4_hZa1lnA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24467042/857129344.jpg\" />\n      <cite>DeAgostini/Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>Even single-celled organisms can be incredibly intricate. So how did the first one form?</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"GASTE3\">For decades, scientists have been trying to recreate in labs the conditions of early Earth. The thinking is, perhaps if they can mimic those conditions, they will eventually be able to create something similar to the first simple cells that formed here billions of years ago. From there, they could piece together a story about how life started on Earth.</p>\n<p id=\"AJR8HG\">This line of research has demonstrated some stunning successes. In the 1950s, scientists Harold Urey and Stanley Miller <a href=\"https://nature.berkeley.edu/garbelottoat/?p=582\">showed</a> that it\u2019s possible to synthesize the amino acid glycine \u2014 i.e., one of life\u2019s most basic building blocks \u2014 by mixing gases believed to have filled the atmosphere billions of years ago and adding heat and simulated lightning.</p>\n<p id=\"xlpvu0\">Since then, scientists have been able to make lipid blobs that look a lot like cell membranes. They\u2019ve gotten RNA molecules to form, which are like simplified DNA. But getting all these components of life to form in a lab and assemble into a simple cell \u2014 that hasn\u2019t happened.</p>\n<p id=\"GPQ8Si\">So what\u2019s standing in the way? What would it mean if scientists succeeded in creating life in a bottle? They could uncover not just the story of the origin of life on Earth, but come to a shocking conclusion about how common life must be in the universe.</p>\n<div id=\"RxhWeX\"></div>\n<p id=\"0hPcKr\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/23616700/unexplainable-mysteries-life-earth\">3 unexplainable mysteries of life on Earth</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"j4XWKh\" />\n<h3 id=\"By9nDy\">3) How did dogs evolve from wolves? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"A close-up on a wolf\u2019s face.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Y1L7Cr_UJZRnmltsiepMS-wAkVw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24822845/1531243236.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Christian Charisius/picture alliance via Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>A young wolf stands in its enclosure at Eekholt Zoo in Germany.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"u1qPwF\">Wolves and dogs are nearly genetically identical, sharing 99.9 percent of their DNA (and are more similar to each other than <a href=\"http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=5474\">we are to our close animal relatives, like chimps</a>), yet they behave differently. Wolves \u201cstill have all of their natural hunting behaviors which dogs don\u2019t have,\u201d Kathryn Lord, a scientist who studies the evolution of behavior, says. \u201cIn the wolves, everything you greatly fear seeing in a dog pup is totally normal.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"YhnxyS\">Scientists still don\u2019t know what precisely caused wolves and dogs to diverge from one another some 20,000 years ago. There are two main hypotheses. Either we humans domesticated wolves through a painstaking and dangerous process (possibly involving breastfeeding wolf pups!), or the wolves, essentially, domesticated themselves by venturing closer and closer to our trash (i.e., food).</p>\n<p id=\"dAgmXU\">The answer is more than just trivia. \u201cA better understanding of how this might have happened long ago might give us a better understanding also to how animals and plants and such today might be able to \u2014 or not able to \u2014 adapt to us,\u201d Lord says.</p>\n<p id=\"U35JXF\">And to find out, Lord has been playing with some puppies: </p>\n<div id=\"fW3RYZ\"></div>\n<p id=\"nI8zdt\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/22928965/gray-wolves-endangered-species-john-vucetich\">How gray wolves divided America</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"tfaZzd\" />\n<h3 id=\"EMw5Os\">4) Can animals feel grief? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"An orca swimming.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/D5iw7XiUGqPEA4jGbAo0RGXfyVw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24822850/1090587404.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Olivier Morin/AFP via Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>An orca chases herrings on January 14, 2019, in the Reisafjorden fjord region, near the Norwegian northern city of Tromso in the Arctic Circle.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"UH9dDM\">In 2018, <a href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/08/orca-family-grief/567470/\">a mother orca</a> carried the carcass of her dead calf for 17 days, covering thousands of miles of ocean. The journey inspired <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/12/us/orca-whale-not-carrying-dead-baby-trnd/index.html#:~:text=An%20apparently%20grieving%20female%20orca,days%20after%20the%20baby's%20birth.\">many media reports</a>, but also, one big question: Was this mother orca grieving?</p>\n<p id=\"uRhD3v\">Similar stories have popped up across the animal kingdom: of a dog refusing <a href=\"https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5643773/faithful-dog-capitan-cemetery-master-argentina/\">to leave its deceased owner\u2019s grave</a>, of elephants apparently convening in \u201c<a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/science/elephants-mourning-grief.html\">mourning</a>,\u201d of geese that <a href=\"https://birdsandwetlands.com/do-geese-mourn/\">appear to grieve the loss of a mate</a> and refuse to eat.</p>\n<p id=\"ynKuuy\">Though it\u2019s easy to look at these behaviors and assume these animals experience a human-like version of grief, the science of studying animal emotion and death behaviors is much trickier. Some scientists suggest it\u2019s not possible to know the interior life of an animal. Others say there\u2019s a lot to be learned about the evolutionary history of grief if we go with the assumption that this is grief.</p>\n<p id=\"YcbMHD\">\u201cThere\u2019s a principle in science of parsimony that was to say if something evolved in one species, it\u2019s very unlikely that, you know, it didn\u2019t also evolve in other species,\u201d says Jessica Pierce, a bioethicist.</p>\n<p id=\"oOQ9WB\">On <em>Unexplainable</em>, Pierce and two other researchers help us think through this thorny question: What can we learn from animal reactions to death?</p>\n<div id=\"FOswgg\"></div>\n<p id=\"4sdK5T\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/7/20/20700775/fish-pain-love-emotion-animal-cognition-study\">Breakups really suck, even if you\u2019re a fish</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"MKxfYC\" />\n<h3 id=\"M3C480\">5) What will animals look like in the future? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"An illustration of a dodo-like bird, a large praying mantis, and an aquatic rat.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jlEq3swrKTJ_Qy-t9SQseLQHDYU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22941782/zoofinal_lede.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Amanda Northrop/Vox</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"9QnIdl\">It\u2019s impossible to completely predict how evolution will play out in the future, but that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t try. Reporter Mandy Nguyen asked biologists and other experts to weigh in: What would animals look like a million years from now?</p>\n<p id=\"F6gWyk\">The experts took the question seriously. \u201cI do think it\u2019s a really useful and important exercise,\u201d Liz Alter, professor of evolutionary biology at California State University Monterey Bay, told Nguyen. In thinking about the forces that will shape the future of life on Earth, we need to think about how humans are changing environments right now.</p>\n<div id=\"cO0lq8\"></div>\n<p id=\"Ke4GCR\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><em> </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/22734772/future-animals-evolution-unexplainable\">The animals that may exist in a million years, imagined by biologists</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"eNxP9w\" />\n<h3 id=\"xMP776\">6) What\u2019s the secret to a great romantic relationship? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"An illustration of a chalkboard covered in formulas with a valentine heart superimposed in the middle.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zkcRf9Wdeb7sAaEdfHY6b4UJGFQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23226574/GettyImages_588495757.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Getty Images/Westend61</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"yy7jwF\">Scientists grapple with the same relationship questions matchmakers, <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/e/22675070\">romance authors</a>, poets, and anyone who has ever been single do. </p>\n<p id=\"Iu4naS\">\u201cThe big mystery is \u2014 do you really know who you want?\u201d says <a href=\"https://psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/daniel-conroy-beam\">Dan Conroy-Beam</a>, a University of California Santa Barbara psychologist who studies relationship formation. Single people often have an imagined perfect partner, but is this person really the one who will make them happy? </p>\n<p id=\"ihKF0C\">The question seems simple, but it\u2019s not trivial. A lot of time, energy, and heartache goes into finding solid relationships. \u201cIn a lot of senses, who you choose as a partner is the most important decision you\u2019ll ever make,\u201d Conroy-Beam says. \u201cThat\u2019s going to affect your happiness, your health, and your overall well-being.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"e9btR7\">Scientists don\u2019t have all the answers, and they often disagree on which answers are even possible. But I found that their hypotheses \u2014 along with some advice from matchmakers and relationship coaches \u2014 can help us think through how love starts and how to maintain it once it\u2019s found.</p>\n<div id=\"BCrVuY\"></div>\n<p id=\"24YE8b\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><em> </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2022/2/9/22914378/the-science-and-mystery-of-love\">What science still can\u2019t explain about love</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"LFOsIG\" />\n<h3 id=\"gpiKrD\">7) Where the heck does our moon come from?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TNMVfW8YW4JpCLWQ6yxsyWSgKSc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23630261/GettyImages_1354421254.jpg\" />\n      <cite>HUM Images/Universal Images Group</cite>\n      <figcaption>This view from the Apollo 11 spacecraft shows the Earth rising above the moon\u2019s horizon.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"MJuHfK\">Before the moon landings, scientists thought they knew how the moon came to be, assuming it formed a lot like other planets did: Debris and dust leftover from the formation of the sun essentially clumped together to form rocky worlds like Earth and the moon. </p>\n<p id=\"h9uk5L\">But then, Apollo astronauts brought samples back from the lunar surface, and those rocks told a totally different story.</p>\n<p id=\"Y2qXox\">\u201cGeologists had found that the moon was covered in a special kind of rock called anorthosite,\u201d <em>Unexplainable</em> producer Meradith Hoddinott explains on the show. \u201cGlittery, bright, and reflective, this is the rock that makes the moon shine white in the night sky. And at the time, it was thought, this rock can only be formed in a very specific way: magma.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"AtjJcA\">The indication there was magma means the moon must have formed in some sort of epic cataclysm: \u201cSomething that poured so much energy into the moon that it literally melted,\u201d Hoddinott says. Scientists aren\u2019t precisely sure how it all played out, but each scenario is a cinematic story of fiery apocalyptic proportions.</p>\n<div id=\"xFpdL3\"></div>\n<p id=\"MfS8fm\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em> <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/6/21/18677691/apollo-anniversary-moon-rock-lunar-sample-geology\">How Apollo moon rocks reveal the epic history of the cosmos</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"wasHa4\" />\n<h3 id=\"apNAuo\">8) How does sound become hearing?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"A man wearing headphones.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CkIGphn1OvfmjmVgtJJUilmn0Gg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25337565/GettyImages_1129342275.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Getty Images/iStockphoto</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"5kLfv4\">Sound enters our ears, light enters our eyes, chemicals splash up in our nose and mouth, and mechanical forces graze our skin. It\u2019s up to our brains to make sense of what it all means and create a seamless conscious experience of the world.</p>\n<p id=\"TV4E9j\">In the 1970s, psychologist <a href=\"https://deutsch.ucsd.edu/psychology/pages.php?i=101\">Diana Deutsch</a> discovered an audio illusion that made her feel like her brain was a little bit broken. \u201cIt seemed to me that I\u2019d entered another universe or I\u2019d gone crazy or something ... the world had just turned upside down!\u201d Deutsch recalls on <em>Unexplainable</em>.</p>\n<p id=\"0xAa4x\">Like the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/20978285/optical-illusion-science-humility-reality-polarization\">visual illusions that trick our eyes</a> into seeing impossible things, the audio illusion Deutsch discovered in the 1970s fooled her ears. Sometimes illusions make us feel like, as Deutsch says, something is off with our minds. But really, these misperceptions show how our brains work.</p>\n<p id=\"rZIVa8\">Illusions teach us that our reality isn\u2019t a direct real-time feed coming from our ears, eyes, skin, and the rest of our bodies. Instead, what we experience is our brain\u2019s best guess.</p>\n<p id=\"6pRI4a\">But how do our brains do this? And how can scientists use that information to help people, invent new tools, or understand ourselves better?</p>\n<div id=\"1ivpKz\"></div>\n<p id=\"7uQLfx\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/22947671/the-five-senses-touch-hearing-taste-smell-podcast-explainers\">What science still doesn\u2019t know about the five senses</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"lby7v0\" />\n<h3 id=\"U52lr1\">9) Why don\u2019t doctors know more about endometriosis?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"Durga Puja Preparations In Kolkata, India\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CQns9fHzVerrM5E5SccsTFBQC0A=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25337619/1701274698.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Sudipta Das/NurPhoto via Getty Images</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"PjuDZq\">Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to what grows inside the uterus grows elsewhere in the body. It\u2019s a chronic condition that can be debilitatingly painful. Yet doctors don\u2019t fully understand what causes it, and treatment options are limited.</p>\n<p id=\"QrweOt\">Worse, many people with endometriosis find that doctors can be dismissive of their concerns. It can take years to get an accurate diagnosis, and research into the condition has been poorly funded.</p>\n<p id=\"NGnJmB\">Vox reporter Byrd Pinkerton highlighted how frustrating it can be to suffer from an often-ignored, chronic condition. \u201cIt\u2019s just so, so, so soul-crushing to just live in this body day in and day out,\u201d one patient told Pinkerton.</p>\n<div id=\"0Rg2j3\"></div>\n<p id=\"LLHS43\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><strong> </strong><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/24093231/leah-hazard-womb-today-explained-menstruation-menstrual-effluent-uterus-endometriosis-fibroids\">Menstrual fluid\u2019s underexplored medical treasures</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"TYN35r\" />\n<h3 id=\"YDPRdH\">10) Is there anything alive in the human poop left on the moon? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TPTG3di_J_WlVee1dW3u3B04C4w=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23630269/21473328149_edd472022d_o.jpeg\" />\n      <cite>NASA</cite>\n      <figcaption>A bag of astronaut detritus left on the moon in 1969.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"T2JhXB\">During the Apollo moon missions, astronauts went to the moon and, to save weight for returning to Earth, they dumped their waste behind. Across all the Apollo missions, astronauts left 96 <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2015/3/8/8163259/moon-objects-weird\">bags</a> of <a href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/12/the-trash-weve-left-on-the-moon/266465/\">human waste</a> on the moon, and they pose a fascinating astrobiological question. </p>\n<p id=\"8AlgWS\">Human waste \u2014 and in particular, feces \u2014 is teeming with microbial life. With the Apollo moon landings, we took microbial life on Earth to the most extreme environment it has ever been in. Which means the waste on the moon represents a natural, though unintended, experiment.</p>\n<p id=\"NRQ3AI\">The question the experiment could answer: How resilient is life in the face of the moon\u2019s brutal environment? And for that matter, if microbes can survive on the moon, can they survive interplanetary or <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DrPhiltill/status/1098619425916362753?s=19\">interstellar travel</a>? If they can survive, then maybe it\u2019s possible that life can spread from planet to planet, riding on the backs of asteroids or other such space debris.</p>\n<div id=\"UTtpDh\"></div>\n<p id=\"hcD6mq\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/3/22/18236125/apollo-moon-poop-mars-science\">Apollo astronauts left their poop on the moon. We gotta go back for that shit.</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"iLJ47Z\" />\n<h3 id=\"EUe7U1\">11) Was there an advanced civilization on Earth before humans?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oeOlnkPLlMS1jDDI5mq2TUf7SuQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23630260/GettyImages_1316974877.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Science Photo Libra/Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>Illustration of the supercontinent Gondwana, a landmass that was fully formed by around 550 million years ago and began to break up about 180 million years ago.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"lgGJ1E\">Many scientists have long wondered: Is there intelligent life out in the deep reaches of space? Climate scientist Gavin Schmidt and astrophysicist Adam Frank have a different question: Was there intelligent life in the deep reaches of Earth\u2019s history? Could we find evidence of an advanced non-human civilization that lived perhaps hundreds of millions of years ago, buried in the Earth\u2019s crust?</p>\n<p id=\"SBUnRL\">This is not strictly a \u201csolar system\u201d mystery, but it is cosmic in scope. At the heart of it, Schmidt and Frank are asking: How likely is an intelligent life form on any planet \u2014 here or in the deepest reaches of space \u2014 to leave a mark, a sign that they existed? And for that matter: Hundreds of millions of years from now, will some alien explorers landing on Earth be able to find traces of humans if we\u2019re long, long gone?</p>\n<div id=\"mwNd90\"></div>\n<p id=\"5GCPem\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/silurian-hypothesis-would-it-be-possible-to-detect-an-industrial-civilization-in-the-geological-record/77818514AA6907750B8F4339F7C70EC6\">The Silurian hypothesis: Would it be possible to detect an industrial civilization in the geological record?</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"2geAwB\" />\n<h3 id=\"Cw4xU5\">12) What is the definition of \u201clife\u201d? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"A close-up photograph of the face of a fuzzy black bird of prey with a blobby orange growth over it\u2019s beak.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4OL6pe8LxoAscf4KveeV6235TC0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25337570/456761468.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>A king vulture, native to the jungles of Central and South America, on display at the Los Angeles Zoo on October 6, 2014. </figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"2rFo38\">We know life when we see it. Flying birds are clearly alive, as are microscopic creatures like tardigrades that scurry around in a single drop of water.</p>\n<p id=\"kufd34\">But do we, humans, know what life fundamentally is? No.</p>\n<p id=\"H4WSWE\">\u201cNo one has been able to define life, and some people will tell you it\u2019s not possible to,\u201d says New York Times columnist and science reporter Carl Zimmer. It\u2019s not for a lack of trying. \u201cThere are hundreds, hundreds of definitions of life that scientists themselves have published in the scientific literature,\u201d he says. </p>\n<p id=\"GA3DHh\">The problem is, for every definition of life, there\u2019s a creature or perplexing life-like entity that just sends us right back to the drawing board.</p>\n<div id=\"sBjO29\"></div>\n<p id=\"ynM0gw\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/23637531/what-is-life-scientists-dont-agree\">What is life? Scientists still can\u2019t agree.</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"E50LxQ\" />\n<h3 id=\"07SBKf\">13) How should we define death?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"A parking meter with a one-hour time limit and its red flag that reads \u201ctime expired.\u201d\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PSoSqDsbrvUjQEffwbLscXKIta8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25337647/GettyImages_a0028_000177.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Getty Images</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"kSwOk1\">Death used to be fairly self-evident. Someone stopped breathing, their heart stopped beating \u2014 they were dead. But new technologies have forced us to ask: When is someone actually dead? </p>\n<p id=\"ZPiRoR\">Now, new research is raising a further question: Might it even be possible, in some instances or for just a brief moment, to reverse death? It sounds outlandish, but researchers at Yale University describe how they were able to partially revive disembodied pigs\u2019 brains several hours after the pigs\u2019 death. </p>\n<p id=\"E9PfyQ\">If this technology progresses, could it redefine death? </p>\n<div id=\"FoosFn\"></div>\n<p id=\"PAIT13\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><strong> </strong><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2018/8/6/17635098/jahi-mcmath-2018-brain-death-definition\">There\u2019s a surprisingly rich debate about how to define death</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"85A7ph\" />\n<h3 id=\"RLQRCx\">14) What did dinosaurs sound like?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"The skeleton of a dinosaur.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XjJjKh_n5ar1atCZqXkIhy_o9DQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24760475/1258998202.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>A life-size dinosaur model is seen on display at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"vOwYCB\">What would it be like to be near a dinosaur? From fossil evidence, scientists can get a decent sense of what these ancient creatures looked like. But they still don\u2019t know what they would have sounded like. Whereas hard tissues like bone can fossilize and leave us information about dinosaur stature and shape millions of years later, soft tissues \u2014 like the muscle and cartilage that help generate sound \u2014 do not fossilize as readily.</p>\n<p id=\"OMyrTw\">Many Hollywood depictions of dinosaur roars are not based in scientific reality (the T-Rex roar in Jurassic Park is partially based on <a href=\"https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-animals-hiding-in-a-t-rexs-roar/\">an elephant</a>. A mammal! Dinosaurs were reptiles!). So where do scientists start in trying to imagine realistic dinosaur noises? They look to dinosaurs\u2019 closest relatives alive on Earth today.</p>\n<div id=\"NN41uX\"></div>\n<p id=\"bNR0Wq\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><em> </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/2022/8/24/23318134/dinosaur-roar-science-birds-crocodiles-paleontology\">What did dinosaurs actually sound like? Take a listen.</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"dJbCHY\" />\n<h3 id=\"mWwWzJ\">15) Is there such a thing as perfect internet encryption? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"Illustration of a computer chip in the shape of a padlock with glowing lines radiating from it in the four cardinal directions.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WNUQWofYKSiYrSLdXXaedvon2Kc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25337589/GettyImages_1457931898.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Getty Images</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"TQch2e\">Today\u2019s internet is built on a series of locks and keys that protect your private information as it travels through cyberspace. \u201cEncryption is basically like this cloak that wraps your private information,\u201d <em>Unexplainable</em>\u2019s Meradith Hoddinott says on the show. If someone intercepts your message as it travels around the web, \u201cit just looks like random static.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"KGQR2P\">But there\u2019s a fear: With increases in computing power, it\u2019s possible that one day all these locks can be broken. </p>\n<p id=\"ggVSEE\">So cryptographers are trying to probe deep, complicated mathematical theory. They want to know: Could a perfect, unbreakable \u201clock\u201d even exist? </p>\n<div id=\"WqJFas\"></div>\n<p id=\"x9XEbg\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/10/19/1081389/unbreakable-encryption-quantum-computers-cryptography-math-problems/\">Inside the quest for unbreakable encryption</a> at MIT Tech Review </p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"6zoboC\" />\n<h3 id=\"WxPxTM\">16) Is it safe to use weed during pregnancy? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"Illustration of a headless pregnant body whose hand is holding a lit cigarette.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nK0TZac1FAQB1BsF24yrfOhZFtU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24645103/GettyImages_1094956880.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Getty Images/fStop</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"QHp0dP\">There is really good research out there that shows that if a parent drinks too much alcohol during pregnancy, it can have clear <a href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/alcohol-use.html\"><strong>consequences for the child</strong></a>, affecting everything from their weight and size to their cognitive abilities, vision, and hearing. There is also good evidence that smoking cigarettes <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2019/3/12/18260001/smoking-pregnant-sids-suid\"><strong>can harm</strong></a> a fetus.</p>\n<p id=\"T1M6Eg\">As Vox reporter Keren Landman found in recent reporting, by contrast, the consequences of cannabis use are less obvious. The studies that have been done have had <a href=\"https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/can-marijuana-use-during-pregnancy-harm-baby\"><strong>mixed results</strong></a>. Researchers aren\u2019t entirely clear on whether cannabis use affects birth weights, and while there are some connections drawn between cannabis use in pregnancy and attention, hyperactivity, and aggression in kids, these results are also not clear-cut.</p>\n<p id=\"gauZkk\">In spite of these mixed results, Landman found that cannabis use in pregnancy is still heavily penalized in states across the US \u2014 even in states where the drug is legal. Pregnant parents sometimes use cannabis to help them cope with morning sickness or other pregnancy symptoms, but in many states, they can have their children taken away by child protective services, or even be <a href=\"https://www.thecut.com/2022/01/weed-cannabis-safety-pregnancy-breastfeeding.html\"><strong>arrested and jailed</strong></a>.</p>\n<p id=\"kiv6AS\">Why is there such a mismatch between the science and the policy? And how can we improve both, and make parents feel safe discussing cannabis use with their providers?</p>\n<div id=\"B1LUfw\"></div>\n<p id=\"k7Pack\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science/23732852/weed-pregnancy-prenatal-marijuana-cannabis-safety-state-policies\">Is weed safe in pregnancy?</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"i4hFta\" />\n<h3 id=\"FLXsjV\">17) How will <em>everything</em> end?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bywiBbQ0Shkc34FBAYqRPkBdCEI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24371303/STScI_01G8H1NK4W8CJYHF2DDFD1W0DQ.png\" />\n      <cite>NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO</cite>\n      <figcaption>The first image released from the Webb space telescope.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"r44iAA\">In the early 1900s, <a href=\"https://www.aavso.org/henrietta-leavitt-%E2%80%93-celebrating-forgotten-astronomer\"><strong>Henrietta Leavitt</strong></a>, a Massachusetts-born \u201ccomputer\u201d who worked at the Harvard College Observatory, <a href=\"http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1908AnHar..60...87L\"><strong>published a discovery that</strong></a><strong> </strong>may sound small but is one of the most important in the history of astronomy: She found a way to measure the distance to certain stars.</p>\n<p id=\"VrjbS4\">Over time, scientists kept building on Leavitt\u2019s ruler to measure the universe. As they used these measuring tools, their understanding of the universe evolved. They realized it is far bigger than previously thought, there are billions of galaxies, and it\u2019s expanding: Those galaxies are moving farther and farther away from one another.</p>\n<p id=\"s7mSQZ\">Astronomers also realized that the universe had a beginning. If galaxies are moving away from one another now, it means they were closer together in the past \u2014 which led scientists to the idea of the Big Bang.</p>\n<p id=\"iJgtm2\">It also led them to realize that the universe may, eventually, end. </p>\n<div id=\"9CmdCS\"></div>\n<p id=\"zEZpyn\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><em> </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/22547100/henrietta-leavitt-cosmic-ruler-podcast\">How scientists discovered the universe is really freaking huge</a></p>\n<h3 id=\"tqiHfy\">There are more than 100 episodes of the <em>Unexplainable</em> podcast. Find the complete archive <a href=\"https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/unexplainable?selected=VMP5390481926\">here</a>. </h3>"}], "summary": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"Illustration of a person looking through binoculars, with a star field behind them.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/612TjEfWs-lPiqb2P-W8OzcRIcY=/422x0:2955x1900/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73212951/GettyImages_1530562630.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n\n  <p>What is the universe made out of? How should we define death? Where did dogs come from? And more!</p> <p id=\"4j5YMp\">Three years ago, Vox launched <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/\"><em>Unexplainable</em></a>, a podcast about unanswered questions and what we learn when we explore the unknown. There\u2019s a line I think about all the time from our very first episode.</p>\n<p id=\"zn7dMV\">\u201cWhatever we know is provisional,\u201d <a href=\"https://campuspress.yale.edu/priya/\">Priya Natarajan</a>, a Yale physicist, told us about research on dark matter. But the sentiment also applies to science overall. \u201cIt is apt to change. What motivates people like me to continue doing science is the fact that it keeps opening up more and more questions. Nothing is ultimately resolved.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"qtvTH4\"><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable\"><em>Unexplainable</em></a> isn\u2019t about how scientists don\u2019t know <em>anything</em>. Science is a process of narrowing a gap between the questions we have and the capabilities of our tools and know-how to answer them. In many cases, that gap appears closed. No one doubts, for instance, the existence of gravity. </p>\n<p id=\"faINu4\">But even then, it is a scientist\u2019s job to have<a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/1/4/17989224/intellectual-humility-explained-psychology-replication\"> intellectual humility,</a> or at least to be open to the idea that there\u2019s still a piece missing \u2014 as there is with <a href=\"https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/08/cern-confirms-hints-of-hypothetical-particle-have-disappeared/\">gravity</a> \u2014 knowing the results could just end up confirming what they thought in the first place. </p>\n<p id=\"b981vZ\">Really, science is about a big question: How do we know when we\u2019ve completely learned something? </p>\n<p id=\"PngHOE\">What this series has taught us is that answering the question is a journey. Sometimes the stories on that journey are exciting \u2014 like what happens<strong> </strong>when <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/space\">NASA</a> launches a<a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/22664709/james-webb-space-telescope-launch-date-december-science-hubble\"> staggeringly powerful observatory into space</a>. Sometimes they are frustrating, especially when answers to a question are held back by powerful forces like <a href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/hu/podcast/the-mysteries-of-endometriosis/id1554578197?i=1000532358838\">scientific funding</a>, <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/22360363/replication-crisis-psychological-science-accelerator\">perverse incentives</a>, or <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/24093231/leah-hazard-womb-today-explained-menstruation-menstrual-effluent-uterus-endometriosis-fibroids\">stigma</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"hF0m9q\">Most often, though, the stories are deeply human: We ask questions because we\u2019re trying to <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/22947671/the-five-senses-touch-hearing-taste-smell-podcast-explainers\">understand our imperfect bodies,</a> our <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/23329291/animals-extinction-lost-species\">beautiful but fragile world,</a> and <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science/24040534/jwst-galaxies-big-bright-mystery-black-holes-cosmology\">our place in the universe</a> just a bit better. </p>\n<p id=\"y1lleF\">We\u2019re drawn to questions because<strong> </strong>they are optimistic. They invite us to dream of a better world in which they are answered, where the gaps between questions and our capabilities to answer them are smaller. Scientific knowledge is a gift we can give the future. It\u2019s worth getting right.</p>\n<p id=\"Puf9oa\">Here are some of the questions that astounded us the most. </p>\n<h3 id=\"8IFTOC\">1) What is the universe made out of?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7SRIjoBUyBuccbewFiR1KUJyqYU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22053291/heic1506f.jpg\" />\n      <cite>NASA</cite>\n      <figcaption>Shown in blue on the image is a map of the dark matter found within a galaxy cluster.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"4TGBVq\">If you go outside on a dark night, in the darkest places on Earth, you can see as many as 9,000 <a href=\"https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/how-many-stars-night-sky-09172014/\">stars</a>. They present as tiny points of light, but in reality, they are massive infernos. And while these stars seem astonishingly numerous to our eyes, they represent just the tiniest fraction of all the stars in our galaxy, let alone the universe.</p>\n<p id=\"ws9TMb\">All the stars in all the galaxies in all the universe barely even begin to account for all the stuff out there. Most of the matter in the universe is unseeable, untouchable, and, to this day, undiscovered. </p>\n<p id=\"5s2ZSQ\">Scientists call this unexplained stuff \u201cdark matter,\u201d and they believe there\u2019s five times more of it in the universe than normal matter \u2014 the stuff that makes up you and me, stars, planets, black holes, and everything we can see in the night sky or touch here on Earth. It\u2019s strange even calling all that \u201cnormal\u201d matter because, in the grand scheme of the cosmos, normal matter is the rare stuff. But to this day, no one knows what dark matter is.</p>\n<p id=\"UK6L3C\">So, how might scientists actually \u201cdiscover\u201d it? </p>\n<div id=\"gY6cfC\"></div>\n<p id=\"7IBYRG\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><em> </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/21537034/dark-matter-unexplainable-podcast\">Dark matter holds our universe together. No one knows what it is.</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"O8Jst4\" />\n<h3 id=\"Aec0L3\">2) How did life start on Earth?<strong> </strong>\n</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"Drawing of a unicellular organism.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wJ9gbTnsB2kYpEQARS4_hZa1lnA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24467042/857129344.jpg\" />\n      <cite>DeAgostini/Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>Even single-celled organisms can be incredibly intricate. So how did the first one form?</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"GASTE3\">For decades, scientists have been trying to recreate in labs the conditions of early Earth. The thinking is, perhaps if they can mimic those conditions, they will eventually be able to create something similar to the first simple cells that formed here billions of years ago. From there, they could piece together a story about how life started on Earth.</p>\n<p id=\"AJR8HG\">This line of research has demonstrated some stunning successes. In the 1950s, scientists Harold Urey and Stanley Miller <a href=\"https://nature.berkeley.edu/garbelottoat/?p=582\">showed</a> that it\u2019s possible to synthesize the amino acid glycine \u2014 i.e., one of life\u2019s most basic building blocks \u2014 by mixing gases believed to have filled the atmosphere billions of years ago and adding heat and simulated lightning.</p>\n<p id=\"xlpvu0\">Since then, scientists have been able to make lipid blobs that look a lot like cell membranes. They\u2019ve gotten RNA molecules to form, which are like simplified DNA. But getting all these components of life to form in a lab and assemble into a simple cell \u2014 that hasn\u2019t happened.</p>\n<p id=\"GPQ8Si\">So what\u2019s standing in the way? What would it mean if scientists succeeded in creating life in a bottle? They could uncover not just the story of the origin of life on Earth, but come to a shocking conclusion about how common life must be in the universe.</p>\n<div id=\"RxhWeX\"></div>\n<p id=\"0hPcKr\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/23616700/unexplainable-mysteries-life-earth\">3 unexplainable mysteries of life on Earth</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"j4XWKh\" />\n<h3 id=\"By9nDy\">3) How did dogs evolve from wolves? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"A close-up on a wolf\u2019s face.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Y1L7Cr_UJZRnmltsiepMS-wAkVw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24822845/1531243236.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Christian Charisius/picture alliance via Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>A young wolf stands in its enclosure at Eekholt Zoo in Germany.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"u1qPwF\">Wolves and dogs are nearly genetically identical, sharing 99.9 percent of their DNA (and are more similar to each other than <a href=\"http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=5474\">we are to our close animal relatives, like chimps</a>), yet they behave differently. Wolves \u201cstill have all of their natural hunting behaviors which dogs don\u2019t have,\u201d Kathryn Lord, a scientist who studies the evolution of behavior, says. \u201cIn the wolves, everything you greatly fear seeing in a dog pup is totally normal.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"YhnxyS\">Scientists still don\u2019t know what precisely caused wolves and dogs to diverge from one another some 20,000 years ago. There are two main hypotheses. Either we humans domesticated wolves through a painstaking and dangerous process (possibly involving breastfeeding wolf pups!), or the wolves, essentially, domesticated themselves by venturing closer and closer to our trash (i.e., food).</p>\n<p id=\"dAgmXU\">The answer is more than just trivia. \u201cA better understanding of how this might have happened long ago might give us a better understanding also to how animals and plants and such today might be able to \u2014 or not able to \u2014 adapt to us,\u201d Lord says.</p>\n<p id=\"U35JXF\">And to find out, Lord has been playing with some puppies: </p>\n<div id=\"fW3RYZ\"></div>\n<p id=\"nI8zdt\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/22928965/gray-wolves-endangered-species-john-vucetich\">How gray wolves divided America</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"tfaZzd\" />\n<h3 id=\"EMw5Os\">4) Can animals feel grief? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"An orca swimming.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/D5iw7XiUGqPEA4jGbAo0RGXfyVw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24822850/1090587404.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Olivier Morin/AFP via Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>An orca chases herrings on January 14, 2019, in the Reisafjorden fjord region, near the Norwegian northern city of Tromso in the Arctic Circle.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"UH9dDM\">In 2018, <a href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/08/orca-family-grief/567470/\">a mother orca</a> carried the carcass of her dead calf for 17 days, covering thousands of miles of ocean. The journey inspired <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/12/us/orca-whale-not-carrying-dead-baby-trnd/index.html#:~:text=An%20apparently%20grieving%20female%20orca,days%20after%20the%20baby's%20birth.\">many media reports</a>, but also, one big question: Was this mother orca grieving?</p>\n<p id=\"uRhD3v\">Similar stories have popped up across the animal kingdom: of a dog refusing <a href=\"https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5643773/faithful-dog-capitan-cemetery-master-argentina/\">to leave its deceased owner\u2019s grave</a>, of elephants apparently convening in \u201c<a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/science/elephants-mourning-grief.html\">mourning</a>,\u201d of geese that <a href=\"https://birdsandwetlands.com/do-geese-mourn/\">appear to grieve the loss of a mate</a> and refuse to eat.</p>\n<p id=\"ynKuuy\">Though it\u2019s easy to look at these behaviors and assume these animals experience a human-like version of grief, the science of studying animal emotion and death behaviors is much trickier. Some scientists suggest it\u2019s not possible to know the interior life of an animal. Others say there\u2019s a lot to be learned about the evolutionary history of grief if we go with the assumption that this is grief.</p>\n<p id=\"YcbMHD\">\u201cThere\u2019s a principle in science of parsimony that was to say if something evolved in one species, it\u2019s very unlikely that, you know, it didn\u2019t also evolve in other species,\u201d says Jessica Pierce, a bioethicist.</p>\n<p id=\"oOQ9WB\">On <em>Unexplainable</em>, Pierce and two other researchers help us think through this thorny question: What can we learn from animal reactions to death?</p>\n<div id=\"FOswgg\"></div>\n<p id=\"4sdK5T\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/7/20/20700775/fish-pain-love-emotion-animal-cognition-study\">Breakups really suck, even if you\u2019re a fish</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"MKxfYC\" />\n<h3 id=\"M3C480\">5) What will animals look like in the future? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"An illustration of a dodo-like bird, a large praying mantis, and an aquatic rat.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jlEq3swrKTJ_Qy-t9SQseLQHDYU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22941782/zoofinal_lede.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Amanda Northrop/Vox</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"9QnIdl\">It\u2019s impossible to completely predict how evolution will play out in the future, but that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t try. Reporter Mandy Nguyen asked biologists and other experts to weigh in: What would animals look like a million years from now?</p>\n<p id=\"F6gWyk\">The experts took the question seriously. \u201cI do think it\u2019s a really useful and important exercise,\u201d Liz Alter, professor of evolutionary biology at California State University Monterey Bay, told Nguyen. In thinking about the forces that will shape the future of life on Earth, we need to think about how humans are changing environments right now.</p>\n<div id=\"cO0lq8\"></div>\n<p id=\"Ke4GCR\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><em> </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/22734772/future-animals-evolution-unexplainable\">The animals that may exist in a million years, imagined by biologists</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"eNxP9w\" />\n<h3 id=\"xMP776\">6) What\u2019s the secret to a great romantic relationship? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"An illustration of a chalkboard covered in formulas with a valentine heart superimposed in the middle.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zkcRf9Wdeb7sAaEdfHY6b4UJGFQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23226574/GettyImages_588495757.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Getty Images/Westend61</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"yy7jwF\">Scientists grapple with the same relationship questions matchmakers, <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/e/22675070\">romance authors</a>, poets, and anyone who has ever been single do. </p>\n<p id=\"Iu4naS\">\u201cThe big mystery is \u2014 do you really know who you want?\u201d says <a href=\"https://psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/daniel-conroy-beam\">Dan Conroy-Beam</a>, a University of California Santa Barbara psychologist who studies relationship formation. Single people often have an imagined perfect partner, but is this person really the one who will make them happy? </p>\n<p id=\"ihKF0C\">The question seems simple, but it\u2019s not trivial. A lot of time, energy, and heartache goes into finding solid relationships. \u201cIn a lot of senses, who you choose as a partner is the most important decision you\u2019ll ever make,\u201d Conroy-Beam says. \u201cThat\u2019s going to affect your happiness, your health, and your overall well-being.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"e9btR7\">Scientists don\u2019t have all the answers, and they often disagree on which answers are even possible. But I found that their hypotheses \u2014 along with some advice from matchmakers and relationship coaches \u2014 can help us think through how love starts and how to maintain it once it\u2019s found.</p>\n<div id=\"BCrVuY\"></div>\n<p id=\"24YE8b\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><em> </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2022/2/9/22914378/the-science-and-mystery-of-love\">What science still can\u2019t explain about love</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"LFOsIG\" />\n<h3 id=\"gpiKrD\">7) Where the heck does our moon come from?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TNMVfW8YW4JpCLWQ6yxsyWSgKSc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23630261/GettyImages_1354421254.jpg\" />\n      <cite>HUM Images/Universal Images Group</cite>\n      <figcaption>This view from the Apollo 11 spacecraft shows the Earth rising above the moon\u2019s horizon.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"MJuHfK\">Before the moon landings, scientists thought they knew how the moon came to be, assuming it formed a lot like other planets did: Debris and dust leftover from the formation of the sun essentially clumped together to form rocky worlds like Earth and the moon. </p>\n<p id=\"h9uk5L\">But then, Apollo astronauts brought samples back from the lunar surface, and those rocks told a totally different story.</p>\n<p id=\"Y2qXox\">\u201cGeologists had found that the moon was covered in a special kind of rock called anorthosite,\u201d <em>Unexplainable</em> producer Meradith Hoddinott explains on the show. \u201cGlittery, bright, and reflective, this is the rock that makes the moon shine white in the night sky. And at the time, it was thought, this rock can only be formed in a very specific way: magma.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"AtjJcA\">The indication there was magma means the moon must have formed in some sort of epic cataclysm: \u201cSomething that poured so much energy into the moon that it literally melted,\u201d Hoddinott says. Scientists aren\u2019t precisely sure how it all played out, but each scenario is a cinematic story of fiery apocalyptic proportions.</p>\n<div id=\"xFpdL3\"></div>\n<p id=\"MfS8fm\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em> <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/6/21/18677691/apollo-anniversary-moon-rock-lunar-sample-geology\">How Apollo moon rocks reveal the epic history of the cosmos</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"wasHa4\" />\n<h3 id=\"apNAuo\">8) How does sound become hearing?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"A man wearing headphones.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CkIGphn1OvfmjmVgtJJUilmn0Gg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25337565/GettyImages_1129342275.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Getty Images/iStockphoto</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"5kLfv4\">Sound enters our ears, light enters our eyes, chemicals splash up in our nose and mouth, and mechanical forces graze our skin. It\u2019s up to our brains to make sense of what it all means and create a seamless conscious experience of the world.</p>\n<p id=\"TV4E9j\">In the 1970s, psychologist <a href=\"https://deutsch.ucsd.edu/psychology/pages.php?i=101\">Diana Deutsch</a> discovered an audio illusion that made her feel like her brain was a little bit broken. \u201cIt seemed to me that I\u2019d entered another universe or I\u2019d gone crazy or something ... the world had just turned upside down!\u201d Deutsch recalls on <em>Unexplainable</em>.</p>\n<p id=\"0xAa4x\">Like the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/20978285/optical-illusion-science-humility-reality-polarization\">visual illusions that trick our eyes</a> into seeing impossible things, the audio illusion Deutsch discovered in the 1970s fooled her ears. Sometimes illusions make us feel like, as Deutsch says, something is off with our minds. But really, these misperceptions show how our brains work.</p>\n<p id=\"rZIVa8\">Illusions teach us that our reality isn\u2019t a direct real-time feed coming from our ears, eyes, skin, and the rest of our bodies. Instead, what we experience is our brain\u2019s best guess.</p>\n<p id=\"6pRI4a\">But how do our brains do this? And how can scientists use that information to help people, invent new tools, or understand ourselves better?</p>\n<div id=\"1ivpKz\"></div>\n<p id=\"7uQLfx\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/22947671/the-five-senses-touch-hearing-taste-smell-podcast-explainers\">What science still doesn\u2019t know about the five senses</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"lby7v0\" />\n<h3 id=\"U52lr1\">9) Why don\u2019t doctors know more about endometriosis?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"Durga Puja Preparations In Kolkata, India\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CQns9fHzVerrM5E5SccsTFBQC0A=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25337619/1701274698.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Sudipta Das/NurPhoto via Getty Images</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"PjuDZq\">Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to what grows inside the uterus grows elsewhere in the body. It\u2019s a chronic condition that can be debilitatingly painful. Yet doctors don\u2019t fully understand what causes it, and treatment options are limited.</p>\n<p id=\"QrweOt\">Worse, many people with endometriosis find that doctors can be dismissive of their concerns. It can take years to get an accurate diagnosis, and research into the condition has been poorly funded.</p>\n<p id=\"NGnJmB\">Vox reporter Byrd Pinkerton highlighted how frustrating it can be to suffer from an often-ignored, chronic condition. \u201cIt\u2019s just so, so, so soul-crushing to just live in this body day in and day out,\u201d one patient told Pinkerton.</p>\n<div id=\"0Rg2j3\"></div>\n<p id=\"LLHS43\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><strong> </strong><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/24093231/leah-hazard-womb-today-explained-menstruation-menstrual-effluent-uterus-endometriosis-fibroids\">Menstrual fluid\u2019s underexplored medical treasures</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"TYN35r\" />\n<h3 id=\"YDPRdH\">10) Is there anything alive in the human poop left on the moon? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TPTG3di_J_WlVee1dW3u3B04C4w=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23630269/21473328149_edd472022d_o.jpeg\" />\n      <cite>NASA</cite>\n      <figcaption>A bag of astronaut detritus left on the moon in 1969.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"T2JhXB\">During the Apollo moon missions, astronauts went to the moon and, to save weight for returning to Earth, they dumped their waste behind. Across all the Apollo missions, astronauts left 96 <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2015/3/8/8163259/moon-objects-weird\">bags</a> of <a href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/12/the-trash-weve-left-on-the-moon/266465/\">human waste</a> on the moon, and they pose a fascinating astrobiological question. </p>\n<p id=\"8AlgWS\">Human waste \u2014 and in particular, feces \u2014 is teeming with microbial life. With the Apollo moon landings, we took microbial life on Earth to the most extreme environment it has ever been in. Which means the waste on the moon represents a natural, though unintended, experiment.</p>\n<p id=\"NRQ3AI\">The question the experiment could answer: How resilient is life in the face of the moon\u2019s brutal environment? And for that matter, if microbes can survive on the moon, can they survive interplanetary or <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DrPhiltill/status/1098619425916362753?s=19\">interstellar travel</a>? If they can survive, then maybe it\u2019s possible that life can spread from planet to planet, riding on the backs of asteroids or other such space debris.</p>\n<div id=\"UTtpDh\"></div>\n<p id=\"hcD6mq\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/3/22/18236125/apollo-moon-poop-mars-science\">Apollo astronauts left their poop on the moon. We gotta go back for that shit.</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"iLJ47Z\" />\n<h3 id=\"EUe7U1\">11) Was there an advanced civilization on Earth before humans?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oeOlnkPLlMS1jDDI5mq2TUf7SuQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23630260/GettyImages_1316974877.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Science Photo Libra/Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>Illustration of the supercontinent Gondwana, a landmass that was fully formed by around 550 million years ago and began to break up about 180 million years ago.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"lgGJ1E\">Many scientists have long wondered: Is there intelligent life out in the deep reaches of space? Climate scientist Gavin Schmidt and astrophysicist Adam Frank have a different question: Was there intelligent life in the deep reaches of Earth\u2019s history? Could we find evidence of an advanced non-human civilization that lived perhaps hundreds of millions of years ago, buried in the Earth\u2019s crust?</p>\n<p id=\"SBUnRL\">This is not strictly a \u201csolar system\u201d mystery, but it is cosmic in scope. At the heart of it, Schmidt and Frank are asking: How likely is an intelligent life form on any planet \u2014 here or in the deepest reaches of space \u2014 to leave a mark, a sign that they existed? And for that matter: Hundreds of millions of years from now, will some alien explorers landing on Earth be able to find traces of humans if we\u2019re long, long gone?</p>\n<div id=\"mwNd90\"></div>\n<p id=\"5GCPem\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/silurian-hypothesis-would-it-be-possible-to-detect-an-industrial-civilization-in-the-geological-record/77818514AA6907750B8F4339F7C70EC6\">The Silurian hypothesis: Would it be possible to detect an industrial civilization in the geological record?</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"2geAwB\" />\n<h3 id=\"Cw4xU5\">12) What is the definition of \u201clife\u201d? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"A close-up photograph of the face of a fuzzy black bird of prey with a blobby orange growth over it\u2019s beak.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4OL6pe8LxoAscf4KveeV6235TC0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25337570/456761468.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>A king vulture, native to the jungles of Central and South America, on display at the Los Angeles Zoo on October 6, 2014. </figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"2rFo38\">We know life when we see it. Flying birds are clearly alive, as are microscopic creatures like tardigrades that scurry around in a single drop of water.</p>\n<p id=\"kufd34\">But do we, humans, know what life fundamentally is? No.</p>\n<p id=\"H4WSWE\">\u201cNo one has been able to define life, and some people will tell you it\u2019s not possible to,\u201d says New York Times columnist and science reporter Carl Zimmer. It\u2019s not for a lack of trying. \u201cThere are hundreds, hundreds of definitions of life that scientists themselves have published in the scientific literature,\u201d he says. </p>\n<p id=\"GA3DHh\">The problem is, for every definition of life, there\u2019s a creature or perplexing life-like entity that just sends us right back to the drawing board.</p>\n<div id=\"sBjO29\"></div>\n<p id=\"ynM0gw\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/23637531/what-is-life-scientists-dont-agree\">What is life? Scientists still can\u2019t agree.</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"E50LxQ\" />\n<h3 id=\"07SBKf\">13) How should we define death?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"A parking meter with a one-hour time limit and its red flag that reads \u201ctime expired.\u201d\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PSoSqDsbrvUjQEffwbLscXKIta8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25337647/GettyImages_a0028_000177.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Getty Images</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"kSwOk1\">Death used to be fairly self-evident. Someone stopped breathing, their heart stopped beating \u2014 they were dead. But new technologies have forced us to ask: When is someone actually dead? </p>\n<p id=\"ZPiRoR\">Now, new research is raising a further question: Might it even be possible, in some instances or for just a brief moment, to reverse death? It sounds outlandish, but researchers at Yale University describe how they were able to partially revive disembodied pigs\u2019 brains several hours after the pigs\u2019 death. </p>\n<p id=\"E9PfyQ\">If this technology progresses, could it redefine death? </p>\n<div id=\"FoosFn\"></div>\n<p id=\"PAIT13\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><strong> </strong><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2018/8/6/17635098/jahi-mcmath-2018-brain-death-definition\">There\u2019s a surprisingly rich debate about how to define death</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"85A7ph\" />\n<h3 id=\"RLQRCx\">14) What did dinosaurs sound like?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"The skeleton of a dinosaur.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XjJjKh_n5ar1atCZqXkIhy_o9DQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24760475/1258998202.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>A life-size dinosaur model is seen on display at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"vOwYCB\">What would it be like to be near a dinosaur? From fossil evidence, scientists can get a decent sense of what these ancient creatures looked like. But they still don\u2019t know what they would have sounded like. Whereas hard tissues like bone can fossilize and leave us information about dinosaur stature and shape millions of years later, soft tissues \u2014 like the muscle and cartilage that help generate sound \u2014 do not fossilize as readily.</p>\n<p id=\"OMyrTw\">Many Hollywood depictions of dinosaur roars are not based in scientific reality (the T-Rex roar in Jurassic Park is partially based on <a href=\"https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-animals-hiding-in-a-t-rexs-roar/\">an elephant</a>. A mammal! Dinosaurs were reptiles!). So where do scientists start in trying to imagine realistic dinosaur noises? They look to dinosaurs\u2019 closest relatives alive on Earth today.</p>\n<div id=\"NN41uX\"></div>\n<p id=\"bNR0Wq\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><em> </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/2022/8/24/23318134/dinosaur-roar-science-birds-crocodiles-paleontology\">What did dinosaurs actually sound like? Take a listen.</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"dJbCHY\" />\n<h3 id=\"mWwWzJ\">15) Is there such a thing as perfect internet encryption? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"Illustration of a computer chip in the shape of a padlock with glowing lines radiating from it in the four cardinal directions.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WNUQWofYKSiYrSLdXXaedvon2Kc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25337589/GettyImages_1457931898.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Getty Images</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"TQch2e\">Today\u2019s internet is built on a series of locks and keys that protect your private information as it travels through cyberspace. \u201cEncryption is basically like this cloak that wraps your private information,\u201d <em>Unexplainable</em>\u2019s Meradith Hoddinott says on the show. If someone intercepts your message as it travels around the web, \u201cit just looks like random static.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"KGQR2P\">But there\u2019s a fear: With increases in computing power, it\u2019s possible that one day all these locks can be broken. </p>\n<p id=\"ggVSEE\">So cryptographers are trying to probe deep, complicated mathematical theory. They want to know: Could a perfect, unbreakable \u201clock\u201d even exist? </p>\n<div id=\"WqJFas\"></div>\n<p id=\"x9XEbg\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/10/19/1081389/unbreakable-encryption-quantum-computers-cryptography-math-problems/\">Inside the quest for unbreakable encryption</a> at MIT Tech Review </p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"6zoboC\" />\n<h3 id=\"WxPxTM\">16) Is it safe to use weed during pregnancy? </h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"Illustration of a headless pregnant body whose hand is holding a lit cigarette.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nK0TZac1FAQB1BsF24yrfOhZFtU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24645103/GettyImages_1094956880.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Getty Images/fStop</cite>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"QHp0dP\">There is really good research out there that shows that if a parent drinks too much alcohol during pregnancy, it can have clear <a href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/alcohol-use.html\"><strong>consequences for the child</strong></a>, affecting everything from their weight and size to their cognitive abilities, vision, and hearing. There is also good evidence that smoking cigarettes <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2019/3/12/18260001/smoking-pregnant-sids-suid\"><strong>can harm</strong></a> a fetus.</p>\n<p id=\"T1M6Eg\">As Vox reporter Keren Landman found in recent reporting, by contrast, the consequences of cannabis use are less obvious. The studies that have been done have had <a href=\"https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/can-marijuana-use-during-pregnancy-harm-baby\"><strong>mixed results</strong></a>. Researchers aren\u2019t entirely clear on whether cannabis use affects birth weights, and while there are some connections drawn between cannabis use in pregnancy and attention, hyperactivity, and aggression in kids, these results are also not clear-cut.</p>\n<p id=\"gauZkk\">In spite of these mixed results, Landman found that cannabis use in pregnancy is still heavily penalized in states across the US \u2014 even in states where the drug is legal. Pregnant parents sometimes use cannabis to help them cope with morning sickness or other pregnancy symptoms, but in many states, they can have their children taken away by child protective services, or even be <a href=\"https://www.thecut.com/2022/01/weed-cannabis-safety-pregnancy-breastfeeding.html\"><strong>arrested and jailed</strong></a>.</p>\n<p id=\"kiv6AS\">Why is there such a mismatch between the science and the policy? And how can we improve both, and make parents feel safe discussing cannabis use with their providers?</p>\n<div id=\"B1LUfw\"></div>\n<p id=\"k7Pack\"><em><strong>Further reading: </strong></em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/science/23732852/weed-pregnancy-prenatal-marijuana-cannabis-safety-state-policies\">Is weed safe in pregnancy?</a></p>\n<hr class=\"p-entry-hr\" id=\"i4hFta\" />\n<h3 id=\"FLXsjV\">17) How will <em>everything</em> end?</h3>\n<div class=\"c-float-left\">  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bywiBbQ0Shkc34FBAYqRPkBdCEI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24371303/STScI_01G8H1NK4W8CJYHF2DDFD1W0DQ.png\" />\n      <cite>NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO</cite>\n      <figcaption>The first image released from the Webb space telescope.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n</div>\n<p id=\"r44iAA\">In the early 1900s, <a href=\"https://www.aavso.org/henrietta-leavitt-%E2%80%93-celebrating-forgotten-astronomer\"><strong>Henrietta Leavitt</strong></a>, a Massachusetts-born \u201ccomputer\u201d who worked at the Harvard College Observatory, <a href=\"http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1908AnHar..60...87L\"><strong>published a discovery that</strong></a><strong> </strong>may sound small but is one of the most important in the history of astronomy: She found a way to measure the distance to certain stars.</p>\n<p id=\"VrjbS4\">Over time, scientists kept building on Leavitt\u2019s ruler to measure the universe. As they used these measuring tools, their understanding of the universe evolved. They realized it is far bigger than previously thought, there are billions of galaxies, and it\u2019s expanding: Those galaxies are moving farther and farther away from one another.</p>\n<p id=\"s7mSQZ\">Astronomers also realized that the universe had a beginning. If galaxies are moving away from one another now, it means they were closer together in the past \u2014 which led scientists to the idea of the Big Bang.</p>\n<p id=\"iJgtm2\">It also led them to realize that the universe may, eventually, end. </p>\n<div id=\"9CmdCS\"></div>\n<p id=\"zEZpyn\"><em><strong>Further reading:</strong></em><em> </em><a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/22547100/henrietta-leavitt-cosmic-ruler-podcast\">How scientists discovered the universe is really freaking huge</a></p>\n<h3 id=\"tqiHfy\">There are more than 100 episodes of the <em>Unexplainable</em> podcast. Find the complete archive <a href=\"https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/unexplainable?selected=VMP5390481926\">here</a>. </h3>", "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/24094267/17-scientific-mysteries-unsolved-dark-matter-life"}], "link": "https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/24094267/17-scientific-mysteries-unsolved-dark-matter-life", "id": "https://www.vox.com/unexplainable/24094267/17-scientific-mysteries-unsolved-dark-matter-life", "guidislink": false, "authors": [{"name": "Brian Resnick"}], "author_detail": {"name": "Brian Resnick"}, "author": "Brian Resnick"}, {"published": "2024-03-17T07:00:00-04:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 11, 0, 0, 6, 77, 0], "updated": "2024-03-17T07:00:00-04:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 11, 0, 0, 6, 77, 0], "title": "The messy legal drama impacting the Bravo universe, explained", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "The messy legal drama impacting the Bravo universe, explained"}, "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"A blond woman wearing a black, spaghetti-strap mini dress and a black choker necklace, sits on an armchair with her legs crossed and her hands clasped over one knee.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fLmwR9MsGx8_nqJdd7istQJn3k8=/0x0:2667x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73212866/GettyImages_1239938060.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Leah McSweeney on <em>Watch What Happens Live</em> on April 5, 2022. | Charles Sykes/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>Reality stars are suing Bravo (and each other) while wrestling with their own reality. </p> <p id=\"dkKlbI\"><em>Suits</em> may be having a moment, but when it comes to compelling legal drama, Bravo has had the TV genre on lock. The past few years have been rife with court cases: <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/1/6/23542202/jen-shah-real-housewife-sentencing-78-months\">Jen Shah\u2019s fraud case</a> and subsequent <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/prison-sentencing\">prison sentencing</a> made <em>Real Housewives of Salt Lake City</em> appointment TV, while Erika Jayne\u2019s ex-husband\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2021/8/12/22620854/rhobh-erika-jayne-lawsuit-true-crime\">embezzlement case</a> \u2014 the disbarred attorney stands accused of stealing from the relatives of airplane crash victims \u2014 gave <em>Real Housewives of Beverly Hills</em> one of its buzziest storylines in years. </p>\n<p id=\"ejFZky\">However, the same court drama viewers have become accustomed to watching on Bravo is currently affecting the network off-screen, as several ex-Bravolebrities are laying out behind-the-scenes grievances with producers through legal means. </p>\n<p id=\"BJsgan\">A <a href=\"https://deadline.com/2024/01/brandi-glanville-sexual-assaulted-accusation-caroline-manzo-lawsuit-real-housewives-girls-trip-1235806304/\">sexual harassment lawsuit</a> against Bravo filed by former <em>Real Housewives of New Jersey</em> star Caroline Manzo appears to be stalling a season of the Peacock spinoff <em>Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip</em>. Meanwhile, former <em>RHOBH</em> star Brandi Glanville, Manzo\u2019s alleged assailant, is threatening to sue Bravo for its treatment of her following the controversy. Additionally, ex-<em>Real Housewives of New York</em> cast member Leah McSweeney is suing Bravo and <em>Real Housewives</em> executive producer Andy Cohen for discrimination and retaliation. (She\u2019s also accused Cohen of doing cocaine with Real Housewives, <a href=\"https://people.com/andy-cohen-demands-leah-mcsweeney-retract-false-offensive-claims-lawsuit-8606157\">which could become a war of its own</a>.) Shortly after McSweeney\u2019s filing, Cohen\u2019s attorney, Orin Snyder, responded with a letter, claiming her complaint was \u201clittered with false, offensive, and defamatory statements.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"HBYBfV\">There\u2019s also former <em>Vanderpump Rules</em> star Rachel Leviss, who\u2019s surprisingly not attempting to sue Bravo <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/6/2/23745691/scandoval-vanderpump-rules-reunion-episode-2-ariana-madix\">post-Scandoval</a>. Rather, she\u2019s brought a <a href=\"https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/scandoval-lawsuit-rachel-leviss-suing-tom-ariana-revenge-porn-1235926660/\">lawsuit</a> alleging eavesdropping and revenge porn against her co-stars Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix, regarding an explicit FaceTime call Sandoval recorded, which exposed the affair. </p>\n<p id=\"tfwxmO\">This isn\u2019t the first time Bravo has been legally confronted over the way shows are made. In 2022, <em>Real Housewives of Atlanta</em> OG NeNe Leakes <a href=\"https://deadline.com/2022/08/rhoa-nene-leakes-lawsuit-bravo-andy-cohen-racist-show-environment-1235097973/\">sued Bravo for racial discrimination</a> (she later dropped it). And last year, former <em>RHONY</em> star Bethenny Frankel made somewhat inconsistent and confusing efforts toward a \u201creality reckoning,\u201d which mostly manifested in a podcast series. However, her outspokenness about pay disparity, unsafe working conditions, and the general power dynamic between reality stars and producers has clearly had a ripple effect in the Bravo community. </p>\n<p id=\"Gv6DUO\">But as the Real Housewives universe continues to expand and grow in popularity, stars of these programs are finally wondering who\u2019s responsible for their own reality.</p>\n<h3 id=\"zGPJWA\">Which reality stars are suing Bravo right now? </h3>\n<p id=\"pU3qlR\">During last year\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/11/9/23953723/sag-aftra-strike-end\">SAG-AFTRA</a> and <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/9/24/23888673/wga-strike-end-sag-aftra-contract\">WGA</a> strikes, Frankel announced her efforts toward a reality-TV <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unions\">union</a> in a <a href=\"https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/bethenny-frankel-reality-union-strike-1235674531/\">Variety<em> </em></a>interview. In August, defense lawyers Mark Geragos and Bryan Freedman, reportedly representing Frankel and other reality stars, sent NBCUniversal (which owns Bravo and Peacock) <a href=\"https://deadline.com/2023/08/porn-violentce-claims-bethenny-frankel-lawsuit-reality-tv-nbcuniveral-bravo-1235454964/\">a formal request</a> to preserve documents potentially relevant to a lawsuit. In it, they accused the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/media\">media</a> company of \u201cgrotesque and depraved mistreatment\u201d and covering up \u201cacts of sexual violence.\u201d (An NBCUniversal spokesperson responded that the company is \u201ccommitted to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace\u201d and takes \u201ctimely, appropriate action\u201d toward complaints.) Since then, Frankel\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/bethenny-frankel-says-shes-not-suing-bravo-but-wants-network-changes/\">claimed</a> she\u2019s \u201cnot hiring lawyers\u201d nor suing Bravo but helping other aggrieved reality stars seek justice. While not the first to confront reality producers over working conditions, she seems to have provided fellow Bravolebs a framework for addressing the power dynamics in their workplaces. </p>\n<p id=\"7bzVgg\">On January 26, <a href=\"https://deadline.com/2024/01/brandi-glanville-sexual-assaulted-accusation-caroline-manzo-lawsuit-real-housewives-girls-trip-1235806304/\">Deadline</a> reported that Manzo was suing Bravo and its affiliated companies \u2014 NBCUniversal, Shed Media, Forest Productions, Warner Bros. Entertainment, and Peacock TV \u2014 for \u201cencouraging\u201d and \u201callowing\u201d Glanville to sexually harass her during the filming of the Morocco-set season of <em>Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip</em>. In the <a href=\"https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/brandi-glanville-nbcu-bravo-rh-suit.pdf\">complaint</a>, Manzo\u2019s attorneys detail that Glanville allegedly \u201c[held] MANZO down with her body\u201d and \u201cthrust her tongue in MANZO\u2019s mouth\u201d during a party. When Manzo got up to go to the bathroom, she claims that Glanville followed her and continued to assault her. </p>\n<p id=\"sJgCpu\">Strikingly, Manzo is not suing Glanville for <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/sexual-harassment\">sexual harassment</a> or assault. Instead, her lawsuit seeks to hold Bravo responsible for hiring Glanville despite her \u201cprior deviant sexual proclivities and sexually harassing conduct\u201d as well as \u201cply[ing] GLANVILLE with copious amounts of alcohol so that she would act outrageous.\u201d She\u2019s seeking unspecified damages. </p>\n  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"Caroline Manzo poses for a photo in-front of a blue backdrop bearing the words BravoCon 2022 at the Manhattan Center in New York City on October 14, 2022. She has short gray hair, and wears large emerald and gold jewelry, statement eyeglasses with maroon frames, and a silk blouse with a bold orange, pink, turquoise, and yellow floral print.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0Ib_jfBJGZJDVkeDsqHADYeeNks=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25338257/GettyImages_1435948799.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Santiago Felipe/Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>Former <em>Real Housewives of New Jersey</em> cast member Caroline Manzo at BravoCon 2022 in New York City.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n<p id=\"yUahpI\">Alcohol is also relevant in McSweeney\u2019s complaint, which is already proving to be a larger point of contention among fans. Before she filed court documents, the streetwear founder had spoken publicly about producers\u2019 alleged disregard for her and other cast members\u2019 sobriety on <em>RHONY </em>and season three of <em>RHUGT</em> in a <a href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/10/real-housewives-bravo-reckoning\">Vanity Fair expos\u00e9</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"4GBcVR\">In her lawsuit, McSweeney accuses Bravo and its third-party producers of \u201cengaging in guerrilla-type psychological warfare intended to pressurize [her] into a psychological break and cause [her] to relapse.\u201d Most of her accusations focus on producers\u2019 alleged failure to accommodate her \u201cbipolar, depression, and anxiety disorders,\u201d in addition to her alcohol addiction. In her complaint, she references an incident where she was allegedly prohibited from leaving filming to visit her dying grandmother or else be terminated.</p>\n<p id=\"sHfxuA\">Critical commenters on social media have argued that it is McSweeney\u2019s personal responsibility to maintain her own sobriety. But Dan Braverman, an employment law attorney at Romano Law, says her addiction to alcohol can be deemed \u201ca disability under federal, state, and local discrimination laws.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"bXM9UF\">\u201cThis would necessitate that McSweeney be provided reasonable accommodations and not be discriminated against or fired for that reason,\u201d he told Vox. While Braverman notes that McSweeney\u2019s status as a contract worker would typically complicate this situation, in New York, where McSweeney has filed her complaint, the <a href=\"https://www.nyc.gov/assets/cchr/downloads/pdf/materials/Independent_Contractor_One_Pager.pdf\">City Human Rights Law</a> says that all independent contractors \u201chave the right to receive reasonable accommodations for needs related to disabilities.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"vDnMvh\">Still, some viewers say that McSweeney\u2019s claims are undermined by her past behavior on the franchise. In her first season of <em>RHONY</em>, she says she started drinking again six months prior to filming. A clip of McSweeney encouraging her <em>RHUGT </em>cast members to drink because they were boring her has <a href=\"https://x.com/nosmokenomore/status/1764521237693472780?s=20\">since resurfaced</a>. Naysayers also <a href=\"https://x.com/writergal_06/status/1764023659306303635?s=20\">point</a> <a href=\"https://x.com/dramabananna/status/1762692862288724198?s=20\">out</a> that she chose to return to Bravo following her negative experiences on <em>RHONY</em>. While this doesn\u2019t automatically disprove her claims \u2014 people return to unpleasant job situations out of necessity \u2014 it could be used against her in court, according to Braverman. </p>\n<p id=\"C99vt6\">\u201cIf McSweeney voluntarily chose to enter this environment again by rejoining the show and encouraging the behavior she is now alleging was discriminatory, the defense could argue that she contributed to some or all of her damages,\u201d he said.  </p>\n<h3 id=\"WPJDrn\">Who\u2019s to blame for reality? </h3>\n<p id=\"nG9gMK\">Still, the overwhelmingly critical response to McSweeney\u2019s claims reflects a moral quandary that\u2019s always undermined the pleasure of viewing <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/reality-tv\">reality TV</a> \u2014  especially in the Bravo universe.</p>\n<p id=\"5B6BQP\">That dilemma has become more pronounced as high-stakes, \u201cearth-shattering\u201d drama  has increasingly become the norm and desired outcome on Bravo. But after an explosive cheating scandal that incites cyberbullying or a storyline that culminates in <a href=\"https://www.tmz.com/2023/11/02/rhoc-star-shannon-beador-sentenced-dui-case-3-years-probation/\">a DUI</a>, who\u2019s responsible for the devastation that\u2019s left behind? </p>\n<p id=\"pHBEKK\">As demonstrated by Manzo, McSweeney, Leakes, and Frankel, that question of accountability is partially a legal matter regarding what reality performers are owed. As Braverman noted, most reality stars are independent contractors \u2014 not employees, who are more thoroughly protected under federal laws. Nevertheless, legality doesn\u2019t always overlap with <em>morality.</em> Nor do the current state of employment laws negate the ethical problem of reality performers being overworked, underpaid, mistreated, or placed in harmful work environments. </p>\n<p id=\"WG0Xzm\">Still, the point at which producers are expected to intervene when, say, a Real Housewife has too much to drink remains murky. At the very least, it should probably happen when someone, as Manzo\u2019s alleging, is committing a crime against another person. But what about when someone is destroying their own life? How does production proceed when, unlike McSweeney, a reality star isn\u2019t even aware that they could potentially be an addict and can also continue their alcohol consumption off-camera? </p>\n<p id=\"eGMWLh\">The issue has presented itself with <em>Real Housewives of Orange County</em> cast member Shannon Beador, who <a href=\"https://www.tmz.com/2023/11/02/rhoc-star-shannon-beador-sentenced-dui-case-3-years-probation/\">received a DUI</a> last year following a hit-and-run and was sentenced to three years of probation. For several seasons now, including the latest season 17, Beador\u2019s drunken behavior has been a point of concern amongst her castmates, and she\u2019s repeatedly denied having a problem. </p>\n<p id=\"LOQVzQ\">This type of personal wreckage makes for \u201cgood\u201d TV, which is ultimately good for Bravo. Likewise, producers and editors have seemingly played into Beador\u2019s drinking storyline, drawing comedy from her habit of making inebriated phone calls to her fellow Housewives and forgetting them the next day. Shortly after her DUI arrest, she was also permitted to attend Bravo\u2019s annual convention, BravoCon \u2014 her presence being somewhat of a draw for the event. There, she <a href=\"https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/shannon-beador-dui-arrest-sentence-bravocon-1235779725/\">announced</a> that she completed \u201c28 days of behavioral wellness\u201d with an alcohol specialist. </p>\n<p id=\"KhLnKY\">Beador has been a thoroughly compelling and enjoyable person to watch outside her troubling drinking habits. However, her story arc represents the risk and subsequent discomfort of capturing someone\u2019s life over a long period of time, which can often illuminate a pattern of dangerous habits and poor decision-making. It\u2019s different from watching a competition show like<em> The Bachelor</em> and <em>Love Island</em> where cast members are placed in a temporary, more controlled setting. On more loosely structured, slice-of-life shows like <em>Real Housewives </em>or <em>Vanderpump Rules, </em>there is an understanding that the cast is partially narrativizing their own lives. </p>\n<p id=\"CGjOk8\">It\u2019s common knowledge that these plots are produced and edited to varying degrees. But in the case of having a seven-month-long affair with your close friend\u2019s life partner, for example, those facts can\u2019t really be manipulated. This reality makes Leviss\u2019s lawsuit post-Scandoval a little harder to swallow.</p>\n  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"Four people, two men and two women, stand arm and arm, smiling and posing for a photograph. Tom Sandoval wears a satin rose-pink suit and black shirt; Rachel Leviss wears a black mini dress with knee high boots; Ariana Madix wears a form-fitting beige mini dress; Tom Schwartz wears a baseball cap and t-shirt.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/R4qxpDwK3CO2ORz1mYmlYwpAsRY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25338270/GettyImages_1353347066.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Araya Doheny/Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>\n<em>Vanderpump Rules</em> stars Ariana Madix, Tom Sandoval, Rachel Leviss, and Tom Schwartz at Hotel Cafe in 2021 in Los Angeles, California.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n<p id=\"tit007\">Following the scandal, Leviss decided to forgo filming the subsequent season 11. Instead, she launched a podcast called <a href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/rachel-goes-rogue/id1719155638\"><em>Rachel Goes Rogue</em></a>, detailing her side of the controversy. She also appeared on<em> </em><a href=\"https://open.spotify.com/episode/5FdtiZzNGHcMEExEi3YQfl\"><em>Just B with Bethenny Frankel</em></a>, where she discussed the machinations behind her so-called \u201cvillain edit.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"YKb01q\">Without downplaying the potential harm Madix and Sandoval may have caused in this dirty FaceTime debacle, it\u2019s hard not to view her lawsuit as an attempt to regain control of a narrative where she inarguably cast herself as a villain. Plenty of Bravolebrities are already doing this <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/24048539/housewives-slc-finale-reality-von-tease-monica-social-media\">by way of podcasts and tell-all interviews</a>. But Leviss\u2019s lawsuit represents a new method in which Bravolebs may be handling the dissatisfaction and humiliation they experience on their shows in the future and are already presently doing. </p>\n<p id=\"qMz0sX\">For now, it\u2019s unclear whether Madix actually distributed the video, and if she did, whether it was with an intent to harm Leviss. What\u2019s more firmly laid out in the complaint, though, is a power dynamic where Bravo and other <em>Vanderpump Rules</em> cast members benefited from her bad decisions. Overall, it seems like reality stars and fans are still reconciling whether this is an ethical issue or just the inherent bargain of doing reality TV. Maybe it\u2019s both.</p>\n<p id=\"fqNloo\"></p>\n<p id=\"7GqIi5\"></p>"}], "summary": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"A blond woman wearing a black, spaghetti-strap mini dress and a black choker necklace, sits on an armchair with her legs crossed and her hands clasped over one knee.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fLmwR9MsGx8_nqJdd7istQJn3k8=/0x0:2667x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73212866/GettyImages_1239938060.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Leah McSweeney on <em>Watch What Happens Live</em> on April 5, 2022. | Charles Sykes/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>Reality stars are suing Bravo (and each other) while wrestling with their own reality. </p> <p id=\"dkKlbI\"><em>Suits</em> may be having a moment, but when it comes to compelling legal drama, Bravo has had the TV genre on lock. The past few years have been rife with court cases: <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/1/6/23542202/jen-shah-real-housewife-sentencing-78-months\">Jen Shah\u2019s fraud case</a> and subsequent <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/prison-sentencing\">prison sentencing</a> made <em>Real Housewives of Salt Lake City</em> appointment TV, while Erika Jayne\u2019s ex-husband\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2021/8/12/22620854/rhobh-erika-jayne-lawsuit-true-crime\">embezzlement case</a> \u2014 the disbarred attorney stands accused of stealing from the relatives of airplane crash victims \u2014 gave <em>Real Housewives of Beverly Hills</em> one of its buzziest storylines in years. </p>\n<p id=\"ejFZky\">However, the same court drama viewers have become accustomed to watching on Bravo is currently affecting the network off-screen, as several ex-Bravolebrities are laying out behind-the-scenes grievances with producers through legal means. </p>\n<p id=\"BJsgan\">A <a href=\"https://deadline.com/2024/01/brandi-glanville-sexual-assaulted-accusation-caroline-manzo-lawsuit-real-housewives-girls-trip-1235806304/\">sexual harassment lawsuit</a> against Bravo filed by former <em>Real Housewives of New Jersey</em> star Caroline Manzo appears to be stalling a season of the Peacock spinoff <em>Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip</em>. Meanwhile, former <em>RHOBH</em> star Brandi Glanville, Manzo\u2019s alleged assailant, is threatening to sue Bravo for its treatment of her following the controversy. Additionally, ex-<em>Real Housewives of New York</em> cast member Leah McSweeney is suing Bravo and <em>Real Housewives</em> executive producer Andy Cohen for discrimination and retaliation. (She\u2019s also accused Cohen of doing cocaine with Real Housewives, <a href=\"https://people.com/andy-cohen-demands-leah-mcsweeney-retract-false-offensive-claims-lawsuit-8606157\">which could become a war of its own</a>.) Shortly after McSweeney\u2019s filing, Cohen\u2019s attorney, Orin Snyder, responded with a letter, claiming her complaint was \u201clittered with false, offensive, and defamatory statements.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"HBYBfV\">There\u2019s also former <em>Vanderpump Rules</em> star Rachel Leviss, who\u2019s surprisingly not attempting to sue Bravo <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/6/2/23745691/scandoval-vanderpump-rules-reunion-episode-2-ariana-madix\">post-Scandoval</a>. Rather, she\u2019s brought a <a href=\"https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/scandoval-lawsuit-rachel-leviss-suing-tom-ariana-revenge-porn-1235926660/\">lawsuit</a> alleging eavesdropping and revenge porn against her co-stars Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix, regarding an explicit FaceTime call Sandoval recorded, which exposed the affair. </p>\n<p id=\"tfwxmO\">This isn\u2019t the first time Bravo has been legally confronted over the way shows are made. In 2022, <em>Real Housewives of Atlanta</em> OG NeNe Leakes <a href=\"https://deadline.com/2022/08/rhoa-nene-leakes-lawsuit-bravo-andy-cohen-racist-show-environment-1235097973/\">sued Bravo for racial discrimination</a> (she later dropped it). And last year, former <em>RHONY</em> star Bethenny Frankel made somewhat inconsistent and confusing efforts toward a \u201creality reckoning,\u201d which mostly manifested in a podcast series. However, her outspokenness about pay disparity, unsafe working conditions, and the general power dynamic between reality stars and producers has clearly had a ripple effect in the Bravo community. </p>\n<p id=\"Gv6DUO\">But as the Real Housewives universe continues to expand and grow in popularity, stars of these programs are finally wondering who\u2019s responsible for their own reality.</p>\n<h3 id=\"zGPJWA\">Which reality stars are suing Bravo right now? </h3>\n<p id=\"pU3qlR\">During last year\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/11/9/23953723/sag-aftra-strike-end\">SAG-AFTRA</a> and <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/9/24/23888673/wga-strike-end-sag-aftra-contract\">WGA</a> strikes, Frankel announced her efforts toward a reality-TV <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/unions\">union</a> in a <a href=\"https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/bethenny-frankel-reality-union-strike-1235674531/\">Variety<em> </em></a>interview. In August, defense lawyers Mark Geragos and Bryan Freedman, reportedly representing Frankel and other reality stars, sent NBCUniversal (which owns Bravo and Peacock) <a href=\"https://deadline.com/2023/08/porn-violentce-claims-bethenny-frankel-lawsuit-reality-tv-nbcuniveral-bravo-1235454964/\">a formal request</a> to preserve documents potentially relevant to a lawsuit. In it, they accused the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/media\">media</a> company of \u201cgrotesque and depraved mistreatment\u201d and covering up \u201cacts of sexual violence.\u201d (An NBCUniversal spokesperson responded that the company is \u201ccommitted to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace\u201d and takes \u201ctimely, appropriate action\u201d toward complaints.) Since then, Frankel\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/bethenny-frankel-says-shes-not-suing-bravo-but-wants-network-changes/\">claimed</a> she\u2019s \u201cnot hiring lawyers\u201d nor suing Bravo but helping other aggrieved reality stars seek justice. While not the first to confront reality producers over working conditions, she seems to have provided fellow Bravolebs a framework for addressing the power dynamics in their workplaces. </p>\n<p id=\"7bzVgg\">On January 26, <a href=\"https://deadline.com/2024/01/brandi-glanville-sexual-assaulted-accusation-caroline-manzo-lawsuit-real-housewives-girls-trip-1235806304/\">Deadline</a> reported that Manzo was suing Bravo and its affiliated companies \u2014 NBCUniversal, Shed Media, Forest Productions, Warner Bros. Entertainment, and Peacock TV \u2014 for \u201cencouraging\u201d and \u201callowing\u201d Glanville to sexually harass her during the filming of the Morocco-set season of <em>Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip</em>. In the <a href=\"https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/brandi-glanville-nbcu-bravo-rh-suit.pdf\">complaint</a>, Manzo\u2019s attorneys detail that Glanville allegedly \u201c[held] MANZO down with her body\u201d and \u201cthrust her tongue in MANZO\u2019s mouth\u201d during a party. When Manzo got up to go to the bathroom, she claims that Glanville followed her and continued to assault her. </p>\n<p id=\"sJgCpu\">Strikingly, Manzo is not suing Glanville for <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/sexual-harassment\">sexual harassment</a> or assault. Instead, her lawsuit seeks to hold Bravo responsible for hiring Glanville despite her \u201cprior deviant sexual proclivities and sexually harassing conduct\u201d as well as \u201cply[ing] GLANVILLE with copious amounts of alcohol so that she would act outrageous.\u201d She\u2019s seeking unspecified damages. </p>\n  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"Caroline Manzo poses for a photo in-front of a blue backdrop bearing the words BravoCon 2022 at the Manhattan Center in New York City on October 14, 2022. She has short gray hair, and wears large emerald and gold jewelry, statement eyeglasses with maroon frames, and a silk blouse with a bold orange, pink, turquoise, and yellow floral print.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0Ib_jfBJGZJDVkeDsqHADYeeNks=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25338257/GettyImages_1435948799.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Santiago Felipe/Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>Former <em>Real Housewives of New Jersey</em> cast member Caroline Manzo at BravoCon 2022 in New York City.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n<p id=\"yUahpI\">Alcohol is also relevant in McSweeney\u2019s complaint, which is already proving to be a larger point of contention among fans. Before she filed court documents, the streetwear founder had spoken publicly about producers\u2019 alleged disregard for her and other cast members\u2019 sobriety on <em>RHONY </em>and season three of <em>RHUGT</em> in a <a href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/10/real-housewives-bravo-reckoning\">Vanity Fair expos\u00e9</a>.</p>\n<p id=\"4GBcVR\">In her lawsuit, McSweeney accuses Bravo and its third-party producers of \u201cengaging in guerrilla-type psychological warfare intended to pressurize [her] into a psychological break and cause [her] to relapse.\u201d Most of her accusations focus on producers\u2019 alleged failure to accommodate her \u201cbipolar, depression, and anxiety disorders,\u201d in addition to her alcohol addiction. In her complaint, she references an incident where she was allegedly prohibited from leaving filming to visit her dying grandmother or else be terminated.</p>\n<p id=\"sHfxuA\">Critical commenters on social media have argued that it is McSweeney\u2019s personal responsibility to maintain her own sobriety. But Dan Braverman, an employment law attorney at Romano Law, says her addiction to alcohol can be deemed \u201ca disability under federal, state, and local discrimination laws.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"bXM9UF\">\u201cThis would necessitate that McSweeney be provided reasonable accommodations and not be discriminated against or fired for that reason,\u201d he told Vox. While Braverman notes that McSweeney\u2019s status as a contract worker would typically complicate this situation, in New York, where McSweeney has filed her complaint, the <a href=\"https://www.nyc.gov/assets/cchr/downloads/pdf/materials/Independent_Contractor_One_Pager.pdf\">City Human Rights Law</a> says that all independent contractors \u201chave the right to receive reasonable accommodations for needs related to disabilities.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"vDnMvh\">Still, some viewers say that McSweeney\u2019s claims are undermined by her past behavior on the franchise. In her first season of <em>RHONY</em>, she says she started drinking again six months prior to filming. A clip of McSweeney encouraging her <em>RHUGT </em>cast members to drink because they were boring her has <a href=\"https://x.com/nosmokenomore/status/1764521237693472780?s=20\">since resurfaced</a>. Naysayers also <a href=\"https://x.com/writergal_06/status/1764023659306303635?s=20\">point</a> <a href=\"https://x.com/dramabananna/status/1762692862288724198?s=20\">out</a> that she chose to return to Bravo following her negative experiences on <em>RHONY</em>. While this doesn\u2019t automatically disprove her claims \u2014 people return to unpleasant job situations out of necessity \u2014 it could be used against her in court, according to Braverman. </p>\n<p id=\"C99vt6\">\u201cIf McSweeney voluntarily chose to enter this environment again by rejoining the show and encouraging the behavior she is now alleging was discriminatory, the defense could argue that she contributed to some or all of her damages,\u201d he said.  </p>\n<h3 id=\"WPJDrn\">Who\u2019s to blame for reality? </h3>\n<p id=\"nG9gMK\">Still, the overwhelmingly critical response to McSweeney\u2019s claims reflects a moral quandary that\u2019s always undermined the pleasure of viewing <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/reality-tv\">reality TV</a> \u2014  especially in the Bravo universe.</p>\n<p id=\"5B6BQP\">That dilemma has become more pronounced as high-stakes, \u201cearth-shattering\u201d drama  has increasingly become the norm and desired outcome on Bravo. But after an explosive cheating scandal that incites cyberbullying or a storyline that culminates in <a href=\"https://www.tmz.com/2023/11/02/rhoc-star-shannon-beador-sentenced-dui-case-3-years-probation/\">a DUI</a>, who\u2019s responsible for the devastation that\u2019s left behind? </p>\n<p id=\"pHBEKK\">As demonstrated by Manzo, McSweeney, Leakes, and Frankel, that question of accountability is partially a legal matter regarding what reality performers are owed. As Braverman noted, most reality stars are independent contractors \u2014 not employees, who are more thoroughly protected under federal laws. Nevertheless, legality doesn\u2019t always overlap with <em>morality.</em> Nor do the current state of employment laws negate the ethical problem of reality performers being overworked, underpaid, mistreated, or placed in harmful work environments. </p>\n<p id=\"WG0Xzm\">Still, the point at which producers are expected to intervene when, say, a Real Housewife has too much to drink remains murky. At the very least, it should probably happen when someone, as Manzo\u2019s alleging, is committing a crime against another person. But what about when someone is destroying their own life? How does production proceed when, unlike McSweeney, a reality star isn\u2019t even aware that they could potentially be an addict and can also continue their alcohol consumption off-camera? </p>\n<p id=\"eGMWLh\">The issue has presented itself with <em>Real Housewives of Orange County</em> cast member Shannon Beador, who <a href=\"https://www.tmz.com/2023/11/02/rhoc-star-shannon-beador-sentenced-dui-case-3-years-probation/\">received a DUI</a> last year following a hit-and-run and was sentenced to three years of probation. For several seasons now, including the latest season 17, Beador\u2019s drunken behavior has been a point of concern amongst her castmates, and she\u2019s repeatedly denied having a problem. </p>\n<p id=\"LOQVzQ\">This type of personal wreckage makes for \u201cgood\u201d TV, which is ultimately good for Bravo. Likewise, producers and editors have seemingly played into Beador\u2019s drinking storyline, drawing comedy from her habit of making inebriated phone calls to her fellow Housewives and forgetting them the next day. Shortly after her DUI arrest, she was also permitted to attend Bravo\u2019s annual convention, BravoCon \u2014 her presence being somewhat of a draw for the event. There, she <a href=\"https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/shannon-beador-dui-arrest-sentence-bravocon-1235779725/\">announced</a> that she completed \u201c28 days of behavioral wellness\u201d with an alcohol specialist. </p>\n<p id=\"KhLnKY\">Beador has been a thoroughly compelling and enjoyable person to watch outside her troubling drinking habits. However, her story arc represents the risk and subsequent discomfort of capturing someone\u2019s life over a long period of time, which can often illuminate a pattern of dangerous habits and poor decision-making. It\u2019s different from watching a competition show like<em> The Bachelor</em> and <em>Love Island</em> where cast members are placed in a temporary, more controlled setting. On more loosely structured, slice-of-life shows like <em>Real Housewives </em>or <em>Vanderpump Rules, </em>there is an understanding that the cast is partially narrativizing their own lives. </p>\n<p id=\"CGjOk8\">It\u2019s common knowledge that these plots are produced and edited to varying degrees. But in the case of having a seven-month-long affair with your close friend\u2019s life partner, for example, those facts can\u2019t really be manipulated. This reality makes Leviss\u2019s lawsuit post-Scandoval a little harder to swallow.</p>\n  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\"Four people, two men and two women, stand arm and arm, smiling and posing for a photograph. Tom Sandoval wears a satin rose-pink suit and black shirt; Rachel Leviss wears a black mini dress with knee high boots; Ariana Madix wears a form-fitting beige mini dress; Tom Schwartz wears a baseball cap and t-shirt.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/R4qxpDwK3CO2ORz1mYmlYwpAsRY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25338270/GettyImages_1353347066.jpg\" />\n      <cite>Araya Doheny/Getty Images</cite>\n      <figcaption>\n<em>Vanderpump Rules</em> stars Ariana Madix, Tom Sandoval, Rachel Leviss, and Tom Schwartz at Hotel Cafe in 2021 in Los Angeles, California.</figcaption>\n  </figure>\n<p id=\"tit007\">Following the scandal, Leviss decided to forgo filming the subsequent season 11. Instead, she launched a podcast called <a href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/rachel-goes-rogue/id1719155638\"><em>Rachel Goes Rogue</em></a>, detailing her side of the controversy. She also appeared on<em> </em><a href=\"https://open.spotify.com/episode/5FdtiZzNGHcMEExEi3YQfl\"><em>Just B with Bethenny Frankel</em></a>, where she discussed the machinations behind her so-called \u201cvillain edit.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"YKb01q\">Without downplaying the potential harm Madix and Sandoval may have caused in this dirty FaceTime debacle, it\u2019s hard not to view her lawsuit as an attempt to regain control of a narrative where she inarguably cast herself as a villain. Plenty of Bravolebrities are already doing this <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/culture/24048539/housewives-slc-finale-reality-von-tease-monica-social-media\">by way of podcasts and tell-all interviews</a>. But Leviss\u2019s lawsuit represents a new method in which Bravolebs may be handling the dissatisfaction and humiliation they experience on their shows in the future and are already presently doing. </p>\n<p id=\"qMz0sX\">For now, it\u2019s unclear whether Madix actually distributed the video, and if she did, whether it was with an intent to harm Leviss. What\u2019s more firmly laid out in the complaint, though, is a power dynamic where Bravo and other <em>Vanderpump Rules</em> cast members benefited from her bad decisions. Overall, it seems like reality stars and fans are still reconciling whether this is an ethical issue or just the inherent bargain of doing reality TV. Maybe it\u2019s both.</p>\n<p id=\"fqNloo\"></p>\n<p id=\"7GqIi5\"></p>", "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.vox.com/culture/2024/3/17/24101977/messy-legal-drama-bravo-explained-rachel-leviss-leah-mcsweeney"}], "link": "https://www.vox.com/culture/2024/3/17/24101977/messy-legal-drama-bravo-explained-rachel-leviss-leah-mcsweeney", "id": "https://www.vox.com/culture/2024/3/17/24101977/messy-legal-drama-bravo-explained-rachel-leviss-leah-mcsweeney", "guidislink": false, "authors": [{"name": "Kyndall Cunningham"}], "author_detail": {"name": "Kyndall Cunningham"}, "author": "Kyndall Cunningham"}, {"published": "2024-03-17T06:00:00-04:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 10, 0, 0, 6, 77, 0], "updated": "2024-03-17T06:00:00-04:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 17, 10, 0, 0, 6, 77, 0], "title": "The couples\u2019 guide to moving in together", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "The couples\u2019 guide to moving in together"}, "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"A man with gray hair stirs a salad bowl while putting his arm around another man with gray hair. They are smiling and cooking in a kitchen.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7IlT77haD90Yqn-SE1BW8UspdL8=/159x0:2692x1900/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73212836/GettyImages_1615047038.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Annika McFarlane via Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n\n  <p>Don\u2019t move in with your significant other without discussing these things first.</p> <p id=\"IWPMUj\">When it comes to major relationship milestones, moving in together is one of the most consequential. Cohabitation forces couples of any age to integrate their lives in perhaps more ways than marriage does. How will you navigate each other\u2019s habits and routines? Who pays for which bill? How can you take time for yourself in an 800-square-foot apartment? </p>\n<p id=\"F2nnFO\">More people than ever before are living with a romantic partner. Over half of adults ages 18 to 44 <a href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/11/06/key-findings-on-marriage-and-cohabitation-in-the-u-s/\">have lived with a partner without being married</a>. Among all age cohorts, those aged 25 to 34 were more likely to cohabitate, with <a href=\"https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/julian-decade-change-shares-single-cohabiting-married-2012-2022-fp-23-07.html\">17 percent</a> of those in that age group living with their partner. In 2022, <a href=\"https://cdn.nar.realtor//sites/default/files/documents/2022-highlights-from-the-profile-of-home-buyers-and-sellers-report-11-03-2022_0.pdf?_gl=1*ag85vu*_gcl_au*MTU4Nzg1MDIyNy4xNjkyOTc3Njgy\">18 percent of first-time homebuyers</a> were unmarried couples. </p>\n<p id=\"ZsdIXo\">There are two paths to cohabitation, says <a href=\"https://liberalarts.du.edu/about/people/galena-rhoades\">Galena Rhoades</a>, a research professor and director of the Family Research Center at the University of Denver: <a href=\"https://www.jstor.org/stable/40005344\">sliding and deciding</a>. Couples who decide to move in have made a conscious commitment to spend their lives together. Those who slide into cohabitation do so based on external factors: your lease is ending, it\u2019s cheaper to live together, they live closer to your job, you want to figure out if you want to be with this person long-term. </p>\n<p id=\"Kv9Zqp\">As a result, Rhoades says, there are some people who end up married simply because they already shared a home, not because they considered it deeply. This bears out in her research: Those who moved in together before getting engaged or married were <a href=\"https://ifstudies.org/reports/whats-the-plan-cohabitation/2023/executive-summary\">more likely to be dissatisfied in their marriages or divorced</a>. For this reason, Rhoades says, it\u2019s crucial for couples to have a clear reason why they\u2019re moving in and a plan for how a conjoined life will look, regardless of whether you want to get married. </p>\n<p id=\"RiC2zo\">Without a roadmap, couples contend with problems typical of dating \u2014 how much time you\u2019ll spend together, dealing with each other\u2019s families \u2014 in addition to the conflicts of marriage, like division of chores and finances. Whether or not marriage is important to you, this should be a considered decision. \u201cYou\u2019re facing a number of potential areas of conflict,\u201d Rhoades says, \u201cand at a time when you\u2019re not necessarily feeling more committed to this person.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"KZTT2Y\">To ensure you\u2019re firmly in the \u201cdeciding\u201d camp of cohabitation, there are a number of conversations worth having with your partner about living together. From finances to housework, experts outline what you should consider before pooling your belongings.</p>\n<h3 id=\"khxmsG\">The emotional realities of living with a significant other</h3>\n<p id=\"7HocHH\">If you ask couples how they came to live together, many people respond with \u201cIt just happened,\u201d Rhoades says. However, this life change shouldn\u2019t be taken quite so casually. When broaching the conversation about moving in, make sure you\u2019re both on the same page about what it means, she continues. One partner might see cohabitation as a matter of convenience while the other considers it a step toward a committed life together. Have a conversation about your plans for the future, what significance moving in holds, and why living together seems like the natural next step in your relationship, Rhoades says. </p>\n<p id=\"2YuDiB\">Once you\u2019ve both decided moving in together is what\u2019s best for your relationship, you might feel overwhelmed with emotion: excited, nervous, stressed. Experiencing anxiety about this life change is common, says psychotherapist <a href=\"https://www.israanasir.com/\">Israa Nasir</a>. \u201cWe are meant to feel anxious when things are changing,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause change is uncertain.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"F16jfC\">Nerves aren\u2019t a sign from the universe that you\u2019re making a bad decision. But you should get to the root of why you\u2019re feeling skittish, Nasir says. Are you embarrassed about using the bathroom in front of your partner? Are you worried about living with your significant other\u2019s children? Bring up any concerns with your partner so you don\u2019t construct stories in your head based on what you think <em>might</em> happen. </p>\n<p id=\"uPudh0\">Other emotional considerations worth discussing center around conflict. Once you\u2019re living with someone, there may be more opportunities for arguments \u2014 and fewer places to go to cool off. Lay ground rules for how you\u2019ll let your partner know you\u2019re upset with them, says psychotherapist <a href=\"https://alexiamcleod.com/\">Alexia McLeod</a>, and how you hope to communicate during the inevitable fight. How long will you step away from an argument before communicating with a clearer perspective? Neither one of you may perfectly adhere to these boundaries when emotions are high, but at least you have an ideal to strive toward.</p>\n<h3 id=\"NfJlZk\">Logistical considerations to keep in mind before moving in</h3>\n<p id=\"LuBUa3\">Aside from determining your \u201cwhy\u201d for cohabitating, you\u2019ll need to answer some logistical questions like \u201cwhere?\u201d and \u201chow?\u201d Ideally, you\u2019ll want to move into a place neither of you have previously lived in; it\u2019s neutral ground. For many people, that may not be feasible due to established homeownership or a volatile rental market that makes moving into someone\u2019s space preferable. Whether your significant other is moving into your home or vice versa, think of it as creating new space together, Nasir says. \u201cIt\u2019s really unfair to say yeah, let\u2019s move in together,\u201d she says, \u201cbut you can\u2019t keep this here and you can\u2019t do that here.\u201d Move the furniture around to best suit your combined belongings and to refresh the space.</p>\n<p id=\"Hw42Xg\">If your late spouse previously lived in the home, make a plan with your current partner for how much of your spouse\u2019s belongings or pictures will be in the house, says relationship coach <a href=\"https://www.abelkeogh.com/\">Abel Keogh</a>. \u201cI have some clients that are okay with maybe a few photos being out,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I have some clients that don\u2019t want any photos. They don\u2019t want any traces of the person.\u201d Similarly, be clear with how much of an ex\u2019s belongings or presence you\u2019re comfortable with. Don\u2019t be afraid to bring up how you\u2019re bothered by your partner holding on to some of their ex\u2019s clothing. It shows you\u2019re serious about making the living arrangement comfortable for everyone.</p>\n<p id=\"OCHZeo\">Aside from the physical space, how you spend time within it is worth discussing. If you\u2019ve spent many years living alone or with another partner, moving in with a new person (and potentially their children) \u2014 with unique routines and quirks \u2014 may take some getting used to, Keogh says. In addition to talking about finances and chores (more on that later), have a conversation about adjusting to one another\u2019s habits, including how much alone time you expect. What does time spent alone look like for you? Is it recharging in a room by yourself for a few hours or are you satisfied by spending time in silence next to your partner? By setting an expectation of how (and how often) you like to be alone, Nasir says, your partner won\u2019t assume you\u2019re mad at them if you don\u2019t want to hang out all the time.</p>\n<h3 id=\"OqB6R6\">Financial discussions are necessary when moving in with a significant other</h3>\n<p id=\"HRKOUy\">Whether you plan on opening a joint bank account or not, sharing a home with someone requires frank conversations about money \u2014 something couples don\u2019t often do, says financial therapist <a href=\"https://www.financialtherapytexas.com/\">Stephanie Zepeda</a>. You\u2019ll want to make sure you and your partner are on the same page with money. What is each of your relationships with money? Maybe you have a \u201clive for today\u201d mindset and your partner prefers to squirrel their money away. Maybe your significant other makes much more than you. Maybe you have a lot of credit card debt. </p>\n<p id=\"luRtIz\">Based on these considerations, discuss what the financial expectations in your shared home will be. Will you split the rent evenly or will the person who makes more take on a larger share? Who will pay for which utilities? Whatever breakdown you come to should be realistic for the person making less money, Nasir says. \u201cIf you at $250,000 [salary] can afford a $5,000 apartment,\u201d she says, \u201cand me at $60,000 can only afford a $900 apartment, you can\u2019t force me to upgrade and pay most of my salary towards rent.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"B1lxva\">To ensure the household doesn\u2019t fall into financial precarity, Zepeda suggests making a planned budget. At the start of the lease or year, make a list of all of your planned expenses and create a system for tracking. Apps like <a href=\"https://www.ynab.com/\">YNAB</a> and <a href=\"https://www.honeydue.com/\">Honeydue</a> can help you set a budget and track your spending.</p>\n<p id=\"6okzJs\">It\u2019s also helpful to talk about your future financial goals with one another, Zepeda says. Just like partners enter into a fitness routine together, you both might discuss your financial goals, too \u2014 and how you\u2019ll help each other reach them. If your dream is to pay down your debt (yes, you should be telling your live-in partner about any debt you owe, Zepeda says), how can you both make adjustments to your living expenses to allow you to put extra money to put toward the debt? \u201cTalking about your hopes and dreams and what you want to do in life and what you think the purpose of life is,\u201d Zepeda says, \u201cis a beautiful way to inspire the budget.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"FTZifG\">When it comes to combining assets, Zepeda suggests holding off until you\u2019ve had a discussion with your partner about long-term commitment (engagement, marriage, or staying with each other for the long haul). \u201cEven then, I know some folks who, for either practical reasons or emotional reasons, still don\u2019t merge bank accounts,\u201d she says. </p>\n<p id=\"kFOVE6\">Have a plan for whatever assets you do bring into the relationship. If you\u2019re intending to move into your partner\u2019s home and you\u2019re a homeowner yourself, will you rent your property or sell it? Where will the money from the sale go? If you\u2019re living in someone else\u2019s home, are you comfortable putting equity into a house you don\u2019t own? \u201cI had one couple who each owned a home and they were dating,\u201d Zepeda says. \u201cShe sold her home and moved in with him. But then she put that money from the sale of the home into an interest-accruing account.\u201d Both parties felt sufficiently supported, she says.</p>\n<p id=\"j4fdTH\">But if you do, say, purchase a home together or open a joint bank account, be sure to <a href=\"https://www.financialtherapytexas.com/financialtherapytexasblog/financial-management-roles-sharing-money-decision-making-within-the-household\">clearly define each of your financial roles</a>, Zepeda says. Who will be the person responsible for paying bills or setting up autopay? Who will handle tax preparation? Who will track joint spending? \u201cDeciding what brand of ketchup to buy is also a financial role,\u201d she says. \u201cAm I going to buy the store brand or am I going to buy the name brand of ketchup?\u201d Be clear with the split of financial duties so it doesn\u2019t all become one person\u2019s responsibility.</p>\n<h3 id=\"CUp5cn\">Division of labor in the household is always negotiable</h3>\n<p id=\"jG4StU\">Heterosexual couples easily fall into established gender roles with <a href=\"https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/atus.pdf\">women spending more time on housework than men</a>. Just like with financial roles, clearly define what <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/even-better/23161444/splitting-home-chores-unfair-equitable\">chores you each will be responsible for</a>. First, discuss each of your cleanliness expectations: We won\u2019t go to bed with dishes in the sink, we\u2019ll deep clean the house once a week. Then, assign the daily, weekly, and monthly chores based on each person\u2019s \u2014 including children \u2014 interest and bandwidth. For people with busy daily schedules, perhaps they can handle the weekly maintenance and the person who works fewer hours manages day-to-day responsibilities. </p>\n<p id=\"kFAfC3\">If your schedule changes and, say, going food shopping is no longer easy to accommodate, you can (and should) always renegotiate household tasks. </p>\n<h3 id=\"X80QLx\">Make plans for the worst</h3>\n<p id=\"NCyQqL\">While it may seem counterintuitive to think about breaking up during an exciting period of your relationship, making plans for worst-case scenarios ensures you won\u2019t be left in the lurch if it does. You don\u2019t need to have a concrete exit strategy, Nasir says, but you may want to keep a savings account only you have access to. </p>\n<p id=\"LNHlhd\">If you don\u2019t have plans to get married, McLeod suggests drafting a \u201ccontract\u201d of how you\u2019ll divide furniture, pets, and any other shared item in the event of a split. For those who will marry, experts say a prenuptial agreement is worth considering. \u201cI don\u2019t think many people go into a relationship or living situation hoping that it deteriorates,\u201d McLeod says, \u201cbut it\u2019s good to have a plan set aside and maybe even discussed, so that there\u2019s this clarity.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"IWQSEE\">In the event one of you may need to act as caretaker for the other, as in the case of illness or aging, you\u2019ll want to clearly outline what you are and aren\u2019t comfortable with, Keogh says. \u201cMy older clients, maybe some of them have lost a spouse to cancer,\u201d he says. \u201cDo you want to go through this again?\u201d Communicate what level of caretaking you can reasonably give should your partner get sick. Be clear with what you expect of them if the roles are reversed.</p>\n<p id=\"RqO21q\">Moving in with a significant other is so much more than a change of address. While conflict is inevitable in any relationship, if you take time to align on crucial realities before crossing the threshold, you\u2019ll increase your chances of residential bliss.</p>"}], "summary": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"A man with gray hair stirs a salad bowl while putting his arm around another man with gray hair. They are smiling and cooking in a kitchen.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7IlT77haD90Yqn-SE1BW8UspdL8=/159x0:2692x1900/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73212836/GettyImages_1615047038.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Annika McFarlane via Getty Images</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n\n  <p>Don\u2019t move in with your significant other without discussing these things first.</p> <p id=\"IWPMUj\">When it comes to major relationship milestones, moving in together is one of the most consequential. Cohabitation forces couples of any age to integrate their lives in perhaps more ways than marriage does. How will you navigate each other\u2019s habits and routines? Who pays for which bill? How can you take time for yourself in an 800-square-foot apartment? </p>\n<p id=\"F2nnFO\">More people than ever before are living with a romantic partner. Over half of adults ages 18 to 44 <a href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/11/06/key-findings-on-marriage-and-cohabitation-in-the-u-s/\">have lived with a partner without being married</a>. Among all age cohorts, those aged 25 to 34 were more likely to cohabitate, with <a href=\"https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/julian-decade-change-shares-single-cohabiting-married-2012-2022-fp-23-07.html\">17 percent</a> of those in that age group living with their partner. In 2022, <a href=\"https://cdn.nar.realtor//sites/default/files/documents/2022-highlights-from-the-profile-of-home-buyers-and-sellers-report-11-03-2022_0.pdf?_gl=1*ag85vu*_gcl_au*MTU4Nzg1MDIyNy4xNjkyOTc3Njgy\">18 percent of first-time homebuyers</a> were unmarried couples. </p>\n<p id=\"ZsdIXo\">There are two paths to cohabitation, says <a href=\"https://liberalarts.du.edu/about/people/galena-rhoades\">Galena Rhoades</a>, a research professor and director of the Family Research Center at the University of Denver: <a href=\"https://www.jstor.org/stable/40005344\">sliding and deciding</a>. Couples who decide to move in have made a conscious commitment to spend their lives together. Those who slide into cohabitation do so based on external factors: your lease is ending, it\u2019s cheaper to live together, they live closer to your job, you want to figure out if you want to be with this person long-term. </p>\n<p id=\"Kv9Zqp\">As a result, Rhoades says, there are some people who end up married simply because they already shared a home, not because they considered it deeply. This bears out in her research: Those who moved in together before getting engaged or married were <a href=\"https://ifstudies.org/reports/whats-the-plan-cohabitation/2023/executive-summary\">more likely to be dissatisfied in their marriages or divorced</a>. For this reason, Rhoades says, it\u2019s crucial for couples to have a clear reason why they\u2019re moving in and a plan for how a conjoined life will look, regardless of whether you want to get married. </p>\n<p id=\"RiC2zo\">Without a roadmap, couples contend with problems typical of dating \u2014 how much time you\u2019ll spend together, dealing with each other\u2019s families \u2014 in addition to the conflicts of marriage, like division of chores and finances. Whether or not marriage is important to you, this should be a considered decision. \u201cYou\u2019re facing a number of potential areas of conflict,\u201d Rhoades says, \u201cand at a time when you\u2019re not necessarily feeling more committed to this person.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"KZTT2Y\">To ensure you\u2019re firmly in the \u201cdeciding\u201d camp of cohabitation, there are a number of conversations worth having with your partner about living together. From finances to housework, experts outline what you should consider before pooling your belongings.</p>\n<h3 id=\"khxmsG\">The emotional realities of living with a significant other</h3>\n<p id=\"7HocHH\">If you ask couples how they came to live together, many people respond with \u201cIt just happened,\u201d Rhoades says. However, this life change shouldn\u2019t be taken quite so casually. When broaching the conversation about moving in, make sure you\u2019re both on the same page about what it means, she continues. One partner might see cohabitation as a matter of convenience while the other considers it a step toward a committed life together. Have a conversation about your plans for the future, what significance moving in holds, and why living together seems like the natural next step in your relationship, Rhoades says. </p>\n<p id=\"2YuDiB\">Once you\u2019ve both decided moving in together is what\u2019s best for your relationship, you might feel overwhelmed with emotion: excited, nervous, stressed. Experiencing anxiety about this life change is common, says psychotherapist <a href=\"https://www.israanasir.com/\">Israa Nasir</a>. \u201cWe are meant to feel anxious when things are changing,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause change is uncertain.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"F16jfC\">Nerves aren\u2019t a sign from the universe that you\u2019re making a bad decision. But you should get to the root of why you\u2019re feeling skittish, Nasir says. Are you embarrassed about using the bathroom in front of your partner? Are you worried about living with your significant other\u2019s children? Bring up any concerns with your partner so you don\u2019t construct stories in your head based on what you think <em>might</em> happen. </p>\n<p id=\"uPudh0\">Other emotional considerations worth discussing center around conflict. Once you\u2019re living with someone, there may be more opportunities for arguments \u2014 and fewer places to go to cool off. Lay ground rules for how you\u2019ll let your partner know you\u2019re upset with them, says psychotherapist <a href=\"https://alexiamcleod.com/\">Alexia McLeod</a>, and how you hope to communicate during the inevitable fight. How long will you step away from an argument before communicating with a clearer perspective? Neither one of you may perfectly adhere to these boundaries when emotions are high, but at least you have an ideal to strive toward.</p>\n<h3 id=\"NfJlZk\">Logistical considerations to keep in mind before moving in</h3>\n<p id=\"LuBUa3\">Aside from determining your \u201cwhy\u201d for cohabitating, you\u2019ll need to answer some logistical questions like \u201cwhere?\u201d and \u201chow?\u201d Ideally, you\u2019ll want to move into a place neither of you have previously lived in; it\u2019s neutral ground. For many people, that may not be feasible due to established homeownership or a volatile rental market that makes moving into someone\u2019s space preferable. Whether your significant other is moving into your home or vice versa, think of it as creating new space together, Nasir says. \u201cIt\u2019s really unfair to say yeah, let\u2019s move in together,\u201d she says, \u201cbut you can\u2019t keep this here and you can\u2019t do that here.\u201d Move the furniture around to best suit your combined belongings and to refresh the space.</p>\n<p id=\"Hw42Xg\">If your late spouse previously lived in the home, make a plan with your current partner for how much of your spouse\u2019s belongings or pictures will be in the house, says relationship coach <a href=\"https://www.abelkeogh.com/\">Abel Keogh</a>. \u201cI have some clients that are okay with maybe a few photos being out,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I have some clients that don\u2019t want any photos. They don\u2019t want any traces of the person.\u201d Similarly, be clear with how much of an ex\u2019s belongings or presence you\u2019re comfortable with. Don\u2019t be afraid to bring up how you\u2019re bothered by your partner holding on to some of their ex\u2019s clothing. It shows you\u2019re serious about making the living arrangement comfortable for everyone.</p>\n<p id=\"OCHZeo\">Aside from the physical space, how you spend time within it is worth discussing. If you\u2019ve spent many years living alone or with another partner, moving in with a new person (and potentially their children) \u2014 with unique routines and quirks \u2014 may take some getting used to, Keogh says. In addition to talking about finances and chores (more on that later), have a conversation about adjusting to one another\u2019s habits, including how much alone time you expect. What does time spent alone look like for you? Is it recharging in a room by yourself for a few hours or are you satisfied by spending time in silence next to your partner? By setting an expectation of how (and how often) you like to be alone, Nasir says, your partner won\u2019t assume you\u2019re mad at them if you don\u2019t want to hang out all the time.</p>\n<h3 id=\"OqB6R6\">Financial discussions are necessary when moving in with a significant other</h3>\n<p id=\"HRKOUy\">Whether you plan on opening a joint bank account or not, sharing a home with someone requires frank conversations about money \u2014 something couples don\u2019t often do, says financial therapist <a href=\"https://www.financialtherapytexas.com/\">Stephanie Zepeda</a>. You\u2019ll want to make sure you and your partner are on the same page with money. What is each of your relationships with money? Maybe you have a \u201clive for today\u201d mindset and your partner prefers to squirrel their money away. Maybe your significant other makes much more than you. Maybe you have a lot of credit card debt. </p>\n<p id=\"luRtIz\">Based on these considerations, discuss what the financial expectations in your shared home will be. Will you split the rent evenly or will the person who makes more take on a larger share? Who will pay for which utilities? Whatever breakdown you come to should be realistic for the person making less money, Nasir says. \u201cIf you at $250,000 [salary] can afford a $5,000 apartment,\u201d she says, \u201cand me at $60,000 can only afford a $900 apartment, you can\u2019t force me to upgrade and pay most of my salary towards rent.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"B1lxva\">To ensure the household doesn\u2019t fall into financial precarity, Zepeda suggests making a planned budget. At the start of the lease or year, make a list of all of your planned expenses and create a system for tracking. Apps like <a href=\"https://www.ynab.com/\">YNAB</a> and <a href=\"https://www.honeydue.com/\">Honeydue</a> can help you set a budget and track your spending.</p>\n<p id=\"6okzJs\">It\u2019s also helpful to talk about your future financial goals with one another, Zepeda says. Just like partners enter into a fitness routine together, you both might discuss your financial goals, too \u2014 and how you\u2019ll help each other reach them. If your dream is to pay down your debt (yes, you should be telling your live-in partner about any debt you owe, Zepeda says), how can you both make adjustments to your living expenses to allow you to put extra money to put toward the debt? \u201cTalking about your hopes and dreams and what you want to do in life and what you think the purpose of life is,\u201d Zepeda says, \u201cis a beautiful way to inspire the budget.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"FTZifG\">When it comes to combining assets, Zepeda suggests holding off until you\u2019ve had a discussion with your partner about long-term commitment (engagement, marriage, or staying with each other for the long haul). \u201cEven then, I know some folks who, for either practical reasons or emotional reasons, still don\u2019t merge bank accounts,\u201d she says. </p>\n<p id=\"kFOVE6\">Have a plan for whatever assets you do bring into the relationship. If you\u2019re intending to move into your partner\u2019s home and you\u2019re a homeowner yourself, will you rent your property or sell it? Where will the money from the sale go? If you\u2019re living in someone else\u2019s home, are you comfortable putting equity into a house you don\u2019t own? \u201cI had one couple who each owned a home and they were dating,\u201d Zepeda says. \u201cShe sold her home and moved in with him. But then she put that money from the sale of the home into an interest-accruing account.\u201d Both parties felt sufficiently supported, she says.</p>\n<p id=\"j4fdTH\">But if you do, say, purchase a home together or open a joint bank account, be sure to <a href=\"https://www.financialtherapytexas.com/financialtherapytexasblog/financial-management-roles-sharing-money-decision-making-within-the-household\">clearly define each of your financial roles</a>, Zepeda says. Who will be the person responsible for paying bills or setting up autopay? Who will handle tax preparation? Who will track joint spending? \u201cDeciding what brand of ketchup to buy is also a financial role,\u201d she says. \u201cAm I going to buy the store brand or am I going to buy the name brand of ketchup?\u201d Be clear with the split of financial duties so it doesn\u2019t all become one person\u2019s responsibility.</p>\n<h3 id=\"CUp5cn\">Division of labor in the household is always negotiable</h3>\n<p id=\"jG4StU\">Heterosexual couples easily fall into established gender roles with <a href=\"https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/atus.pdf\">women spending more time on housework than men</a>. Just like with financial roles, clearly define what <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/even-better/23161444/splitting-home-chores-unfair-equitable\">chores you each will be responsible for</a>. First, discuss each of your cleanliness expectations: We won\u2019t go to bed with dishes in the sink, we\u2019ll deep clean the house once a week. Then, assign the daily, weekly, and monthly chores based on each person\u2019s \u2014 including children \u2014 interest and bandwidth. For people with busy daily schedules, perhaps they can handle the weekly maintenance and the person who works fewer hours manages day-to-day responsibilities. </p>\n<p id=\"kFAfC3\">If your schedule changes and, say, going food shopping is no longer easy to accommodate, you can (and should) always renegotiate household tasks. </p>\n<h3 id=\"X80QLx\">Make plans for the worst</h3>\n<p id=\"NCyQqL\">While it may seem counterintuitive to think about breaking up during an exciting period of your relationship, making plans for worst-case scenarios ensures you won\u2019t be left in the lurch if it does. You don\u2019t need to have a concrete exit strategy, Nasir says, but you may want to keep a savings account only you have access to. </p>\n<p id=\"LNHlhd\">If you don\u2019t have plans to get married, McLeod suggests drafting a \u201ccontract\u201d of how you\u2019ll divide furniture, pets, and any other shared item in the event of a split. For those who will marry, experts say a prenuptial agreement is worth considering. \u201cI don\u2019t think many people go into a relationship or living situation hoping that it deteriorates,\u201d McLeod says, \u201cbut it\u2019s good to have a plan set aside and maybe even discussed, so that there\u2019s this clarity.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"IWQSEE\">In the event one of you may need to act as caretaker for the other, as in the case of illness or aging, you\u2019ll want to clearly outline what you are and aren\u2019t comfortable with, Keogh says. \u201cMy older clients, maybe some of them have lost a spouse to cancer,\u201d he says. \u201cDo you want to go through this again?\u201d Communicate what level of caretaking you can reasonably give should your partner get sick. Be clear with what you expect of them if the roles are reversed.</p>\n<p id=\"RqO21q\">Moving in with a significant other is so much more than a change of address. While conflict is inevitable in any relationship, if you take time to align on crucial realities before crossing the threshold, you\u2019ll increase your chances of residential bliss.</p>", "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.vox.com/even-better/24093470/couples-guide-moving-in-together-cohabitation-finances-emotions-chores"}], "link": "https://www.vox.com/even-better/24093470/couples-guide-moving-in-together-cohabitation-finances-emotions-chores", "id": "https://www.vox.com/even-better/24093470/couples-guide-moving-in-together-cohabitation-finances-emotions-chores", "guidislink": false, "authors": [{"name": "Allie Volpe"}], "author_detail": {"name": "Allie Volpe"}, "author": "Allie Volpe"}, {"published": "2024-03-16T08:00:00-04:00", "published_parsed": [2024, 3, 16, 12, 0, 0, 5, 76, 0], "updated": "2024-03-16T08:00:00-04:00", "updated_parsed": [2024, 3, 16, 12, 0, 0, 5, 76, 0], "title": "Psychedelics are about to become a casualty of Oregon\u2019s opioid crisis", "title_detail": {"type": "text/plain", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "Psychedelics are about to become a casualty of Oregon\u2019s opioid crisis"}, "content": [{"type": "text/html", "language": "en", "base": "https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml", "value": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"Oregon Governor Tina Kotek speaks from behind a podium during a signing ceremony in Washington, February 23, 2024.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Y_IkxQqb7D63mA3GS05M9AXNSTQ=/61x0:6540x4859/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73211361/AP24062114153683.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek speaks during a signing ceremony for HB 4002, recriminalizing personal possession of controlled substances, including psychedelics. | Susan Walsh/AP</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>Four years ago, the state decriminalized all drugs. Now it\u2019s trying to course-correct \u2014 and might make a mistake in the process.</p> <p id=\"jGpT4O\">In 2020, it looked as though the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/drug-war\">war on drugs</a> would begin to end in Oregon. </p>\n<p id=\"zneDb6\">After <a href=\"https://www.courts.oregon.gov/about/Documents/BM110Statistics.pdf\">Measure 110</a> was passed that year, Oregon became the first state in the US to decriminalize personal possession of all drugs that had been outlawed by the <a href=\"https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/csa#:~:text=The%20Controlled%20Substances%20Act%20(CSA,and%20safety%20or%20dependence%20liability.\">Controlled Substances Act</a> in 1970, ranging from heroin and cocaine to LSD and psychedelic mushrooms. When it went into effect in early 2021, the move was <a href=\"https://drugpolicy.org/news/drug-decriminalization-oregon-one-year-later-thousands-lives-not-ruined/\">celebrated</a> by drug reform advocates who had long been calling for decriminalization in the wake of President Nixon\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/06/17/1006495476/after-50-years-of-the-war-on-drugs-what-good-is-it-doing-for-us\">failed war on drugs.</a> </p>\n<p id=\"B8QfAS\">Now, amid a spike in <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/health/portland-oregon-drugs.html\">public</a> drug use and <a href=\"https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/fentanyl-deaths-highest-increase-in-country/\">overdoses</a>, Oregon is in the process of reeling back its progressive drug laws, with a <a href=\"https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2024R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB4002\">new bill</a> that aims to reinstate lighter criminal penalties for personal drug possession. And while the target is deadly drugs like fentanyl, the law would also result in banning non-clinical use of psychedelics like MDMA, DMT, or psilocybin \u2014 drugs that are unconnected to the current overdose epidemic and the public displays of drug use. </p>\n<p id=\"eH5Evt\">By treating all drugs as an undifferentiated category, Oregon is set to deliver a major blow to advocates of psychedelic use who don\u2019t want to see expensive clinics and tightly controlled environments be the only legal point of access. While regulated and supervised models for using psychedelics are showing growing promise for <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9553847/\">treating mental illness</a>, decriminalized use allows for a much wider spectrum of user motivations \u2014 many of which have occurred <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8412860/\">for millennia</a> \u2014 no less deserving of legal protection, from recreational and spiritual to the simple pleasure of spicing up a museum visit with a small handful of mushrooms. </p>\n<p id=\"FHPZZT\">\u201cThe biggest threat to psychedelics is from people who would claim to be for them in extremely limited contexts and against them in all others,\u201d said Jon Dennis, a lawyer at the Portland-based firm Sagebrush Law specializing in psychedelics. </p>\n<p id=\"Tt4omq\">It would be one thing if arguments against the decriminalization of psychedelics were being made. But that\u2019s not the case. Instead, the lumping together of psychedelics and opioids seems to have gone largely unnoticed, setting up personal use of psychedelics to become an unintended casualty of Oregon\u2019s opioid crisis.</p>\n<h3 id=\"Kvrtbh\">How Oregon decriminalized drugs</h3>\n<p id=\"MDrbud\">The idea behind drug decriminalization was that investing in health services and harm reduction are more effective and humane responses to substance abuse than incarceration. The hope was for Oregon to serve as inspiration for other states, and eventually the nation, to follow suit.</p>\n<p id=\"H8chQW\">But in the years that followed, Oregon fell deeper into an opioid and drug overdose crisis that has been <a href=\"https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02252-2/abstract\">surging across the nation</a>. In 2021, the US had <a href=\"https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates\">over 80,000</a> opioid-related overdose deaths. Beyond the death toll, critics \u2014 <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/05/opinion/oregon-decriminalization-drugs-reversal.html\">fairly or unfairly</a> \u2014 connected decriminalization to the rising <a href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/with-oregon-facing-rampant-public-drug-use-lawmakers-backpedal-on-pioneering-decriminalization-law\">visibility of drug use</a> and <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/12/oregon-has-highest-rate-of-homeless-families-in-the-country.html#:~:text=The%20state's%20homeless%20population%20increased,the%20worst%20of%20it%20yet.\">homelessness in Oregon towns and cities,</a> including open-air fentanyl markets <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/04/alarming-spate-of-overdoses-draws-scrutiny-to-open-air-fentanyl-market-in-downtown-portland.html\">popping up</a> in downtown Portland. That put increasing pressure on Oregon legislators to do something to change the state\u2019s drug policy.</p>\n<p id=\"dEZZGt\">The new solution crafted by state Sen. Kate Lieber and state Rep. Jason Kropf \u2014 <a href=\"https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2024R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB4002\">House Bill 4002</a> \u2014 is intended as a compromise between the full decriminalization of Measure 110 and the previous status quo that leaned heavily on incarceration for drug possession. While improving access to substance abuse treatments \u2014 like reducing barriers to receiving medication and encouraging counties to direct offenders to treatment programs rather than court \u2014 the bill recriminalizes personal possession of all controlled substances (except for cannabis), bringing back the possibility of jail time for possession of even relatively small amounts.</p>\n<p id=\"AwStLG\">Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek last week <a href=\"https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/pages/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=215409\">announced</a> that she intends to sign the bill within 30 days of it clearing both state legislatures with bipartisan support. It\u2019s been <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/08/politics/oregon-drug-laws-recriminalization/index.html\">widely</a> described as \u201cthis very precise <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2024/03/08/oregon-governor-tina-kotek-bill-ending-drug-decriminalization-expand-treatment/\">amendment</a> that\u2019s only going to address the problems with Measure 110, which were thought to be opioids and meth,\u201d said Dennis. </p>\n<p id=\"wcgxpY\">But the bill turns out to be much larger in scope than advertised. Instead of specifically targeting the opioids and methamphetamine that have been behind most overdose deaths, HB 4002 also recriminalizes personal possession of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin mushrooms, MDMA, and LSD. Unlike the concern around <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/opinion/oregon-drug-failure.html\">opioids</a> (including synthetic ones like fentanyl, which are responsible for the <a href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/deaths/index.html#:~:text=Drug%20Overdose%20Deaths%20Remained%20High%20in%202021&amp;text=Opioids%E2%80%94mainly%20synthetic%20opioids%20(other,of%20all%20drug%20overdose%20deaths).\">majority of overdoses</a>) or meth, neither the public nor experts have reported significant negative effects from the decriminalization of psychedelics. </p>\n<p id=\"Dc5fF9\">\u201cAll of the conversations around the legislature didn\u2019t think to distinguish between these different classes of drugs,\u201d Dennis said. \u201cI think this was just a broad oversight on their part, rather than nuanced policy discussions.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"RfRXVB\">There are no op-eds being written about tripping hippies filling public spaces in grand displays of love and cosmic beatitude. The streets are not littered with acid blotter paper or mushroom caps. Psychonauts aren\u2019t seeking out <a href=\"https://newrepublic.com/article/169525/psychonauts-training-psychedelics-dmt-extended-state\">encounters with DMT entities</a> in public parks. No argument for recriminalizing psychedelics has been made, and yet, they\u2019re being swept into a recriminalization bill by the debate around opioids.</p>\n<p id=\"wlqEu8\">Psychedelics have <a href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032723000915?via%3Dihub\">uncommon</a> but potentially serious <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23954347/psychedelics-bad-trips-ketamine-mdma-psilocybin-lsd-risks\">risks of their own</a>, including short-term encounters with intense anxiety and <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10597511/\">long-term battles</a> with destabilizing <a href=\"https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/a-theological-reckoning-with-bad-trips/\">experiences</a>. Access to safety information and <a href=\"https://challengingpsychedelicexperiences.com/help-for-difficult-trips\">support</a> is crucial for their use. On the whole, psychedelics are <a href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/43gey3/mushrooms-are-the-safest-drug-you-can-take\">far safer</a> than many other legally accessible substances, and the list of therapeutic, spiritual, and creative benefits seems to grow each month, from alleviating <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/10/9/21506664/psychedelics-mental-health-depression-ptsd-psilocybin-mdma\">depression</a> and addiction to combating <a href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02455-9\">eating disorders</a> and helping <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23972716/psychedelics-meaning-science-psychedelic-mushrooms-ketamine-psilocybin-mysticism\">find meaning in life</a>. Expanding access through decriminalization (together with public education and clinical resources for those in need) could help make the most of these benefits.</p>\n<h3 id=\"dfny1D\">What HB 4002 will do</h3>\n<p id=\"0B5LSh\">Before Measure 110, possession of a controlled substance like LSD or heroin in Oregon could be charged as a Class A misdemeanor, carrying a maximum of one year in jail and fines up to <a href=\"https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_161.635\">$6,250</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"Kz0cAm\">Measure 110, which passed November 2020 with <a href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Oregon_Measure_110,_Drug_Decriminalization_and_Addiction_Treatment_Initiative_(2020)\">58 percent</a> of the vote, was intended to treat substance abuse as a <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/public-health\">public health</a> issue, rather than a criminal one. It created a new category for possession of small amounts of controlled substances \u2014 Class E violations \u2014 that came with no jail time and a maximum of a $100 fine that could be waived if the individual chose to complete a health assessment. Effectively, it meant that getting caught with illegal drugs could, at worst, get you the equivalent of a traffic ticket.</p>\n<p id=\"jMERkq\">The new bill, HB 4002, scraps the Class E category altogether. If it goes into effect on September 1, possession of small amounts of controlled substances will once again be punishable with criminal offenses, though less severe than the way things worked prior to Measure 110.</p>\n<p id=\"v4DnKB\">Instead of Class E violations, personal possession of controlled substances will be considered a \u201cdrug enforcement misdemeanor,\u201d which carries a maximum of 180 days in jail, though with a series of intervening steps designed to \u201cdeflect\u201d individuals toward treatment rather than incarceration.</p>\n<p id=\"6NpOId\">Even after HB 4002 goes into effect, \u201cOregon will be in a better position than it was prior to Measure 110,\u201d said <a href=\"https://drugpolicy.org/person/kellen-russoniello/\">Kellen Russoniello</a>, senior policy counsel at the <a href=\"https://drugpolicy.org/\">Drug Policy Alliance</a>. The new criminal penalties are designed to try to get people into treatment, rather than prison. \u201cBut it\u2019s still a step backward from decriminalization.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"U2gChU\">Sen. Lieber\u2019s office provided me with a diagram Thursday to show all the steps meant to reduce the odds that someone charged with a drug enforcement misdemeanor will wind up in jail:</p>\n  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Zq_zJ5ZFucC18Itp2O1s3yHxFUY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25338553/Oregon_Drug_Intervention_Plan_PCS_U_Flow_Chart.png\" />\n      <cite>Courtesy of Sen. Kate Lieber\u2019s office</cite>\n  </figure>\n<p id=\"8E79A7\">The bill does not affect <a href=\"https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors475A.html\">Measure 109</a>, which implemented Oregon\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/health/psychedelic-drugs-mushrooms-oregon.html\">regulated access to psilocybin mushrooms</a>. Under that model, adults can sign up for a supervised psilocybin session at a licensed facility, which can cost anywhere from about $1,000 to $3,000. Regulated <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/01/30/1227630630/ketamine-infusion-clinic-mental-health-depression-anxiety-fda-off-label\">ketamine clinics</a>, where people can receive ketamine under supervision to treat conditions like depression or anxiety, are also unaffected.</p>\n<p id=\"P368lj\">But it does ensure that regulated access is the only way to legally use psychedelics, walking back the decriminalization that allowed for more affordable and unconstrained personal consumption on one\u2019s own terms. </p>\n<h3 id=\"ggl6QB\">The opioid crisis created support for quickly passing HB 4002</h3>\n<p id=\"HwMaPg\">While decriminalization has become a focal point in the debate over drugs, Oregon\u2019s opioid crisis was escalating before 2020. From 2019 to 2020, unintentional opioid deaths in Oregon rose by <a href=\"https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PREVENTIONWELLNESS/SUBSTANCEUSE/OPIOIDS/Documents/quarterly_opioid_overdose_related_data_report.pdf\">about 70 percent</a>. After Measure 110 took effect in February 2021, the surge continued. In 2021, deaths rose another 56 percent, and another 30 percent in 2022.</p>\n<p id=\"BJtHaN\">Despite the trends predating decriminalization, critics <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/opinion/oregon-drug-failure.html\">felt</a> that the rise in overdose deaths, public displays of drug use, and crime were attributable to Measure 110. That provided a strong base of support for HB 4002. An <a href=\"https://www.dhmresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/DHM-Panel-Oregon_Measure110_May-2023.pdf\">April 2023 survey</a> of 500 Oregon voters found that 63 percent supported bringing back criminal penalties for drug possession while continuing to use cannabis tax revenue for drug treatment programs. The bill was sold as a compromise that would stem the chaos that Measure 110 had allegedly unleashed.</p>\n<p id=\"rXlQPX\">But during the post-decriminalization years that saw Oregon\u2019s opioid crisis continue to worsen, the same trends were taking place <a href=\"https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates\">across the country</a>, including in <a href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cfsecosystem.com/m110/Presentations/Panel1_Kral_Final.pdf\">neighboring states</a> that hadn\u2019t decriminalized opioids, like California and Nevada. A <a href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2809867\">study</a> led by the New York University Grossman School of Medicine and published in <em>JAMA Psychiatry</em> found that in Oregon and Washington, both states that had drug decriminalization policies in 2021, there was no evidence for an association between decriminalization and drug overdose rates.</p>\n<p id=\"QBXksl\">A <a href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cfsecosystem.com/m110/Presentations/Panel+1_Del+Pozo.pdf\">second study</a>, led by public health researcher <a href=\"https://vivo.brown.edu/display/bdelpozo\">Brandon del Pozo</a> of Brown University and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, replicated the findings for Oregon: no link between decriminalization and drug overdoses. Instead, most of the spike was attributed to the introduction of fentanyl into the general drug supply. Fentanyl is up to <a href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/stopoverdose/fentanyl/index.html\">50 times stronger</a> than heroin, and is often laced into unregulated drugs like heroin or cocaine, making it far more likely than other drugs to lead to fatal overdoses. <strong> </strong></p>\n<p id=\"QnzTQm\">Much of the public sentiment\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.dhmresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/DHM-Panel-Oregon_Measure110_May-2023.pdf\">swing</a> against decriminalization centers around the visibility of drug use, rather than the numerical impact on overdose deaths. So it\u2019s worth noting that the same year that decriminalization was passed, Covid-era eviction protections also expired. After plummeting in 2020 and 2021, the eviction rate shot back up in 2022 <a href=\"https://drugpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DPA-WhatReallyHappenedM110.pdf\">by nearly 25 percent</a>. Between 2022 and 2023, the state\u2019s homeless population rose by 12 percent.</p>\n<p id=\"FnEgcC\">None of this is to definitively say that Oregon\u2019s decriminalization did nothing to worsen the opioid crisis, but their <a href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/oregon-leaders-hampered-drug-decriminalization-effort#:~:text=This%20is%20the%20day%2Dto,for%20law%20enforcement%20in%20Oregon.\">less-than-ideal</a> implementation certainly seemed to amplify the visibility and social disorder associated with it. By failing to fund programs that would have trained law enforcement (who were <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/oregon-drug-war-decriminalization-1234982783/\">generally skeptical of decriminalization</a> to begin with) on how to direct drug users toward rehabilitation or designing a ticketing system that emphasized treatment information, even advocates of Measure 110 were dismayed with the form it took through implementation.</p>\n<p id=\"arIXMY\">\u201cCertainly, there\u2019s a sense among Oregon voters that what\u2019s going on isn\u2019t working,\u201d said Russoniello. But blaming Measure 110 has been called political <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/05/opinion/oregon-decriminalization-drugs-reversal.html\">fearmongering</a>, rather than evidence-based policy. \u201cThe opposition was able to take the frustration with all of these social issues that Oregonians are facing and direct people\u2019s frustration and anger at the big red herring of Measure 110, even though it isn\u2019t backed by any sort of evidence.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"IuLZMr\">And wherever the debate falls on what\u2019s fueling the opioid crisis, psychedelics are another matter entirely.</p>\n<h3 id=\"pEAf3T\">Why are we punishing psychedelics for an ongoing debate about opioids?</h3>\n<p id=\"CZAkAP\">There\u2019s reasonable and urgent debate to be had over the best way to regulate opioids and support users. <a href=\"https://drugpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DPA-WhatReallyHappenedM110.pdf\">Advocates maintain</a> that a well-implemented decriminalization approach is both more effective and equitable (minority groups are <a href=\"https://www.oregon.gov/cjc/CJC%20Document%20Library/AdultCJSystemRacialandEthnicStatementBackground.pdf\">significantly overrepresented</a> in Oregon\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/criminal-justice\">criminal justice</a> system) than returning to criminal penalties, even if recriminalization comes with \u201c<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2024/02/multnomah-county-signs-on-to-measure-110-diversion-approach-seeks-25-million-for-deflection-center.html\">deflection</a>\u201d programs in place designed to make incarceration the sanction of last resort. </p>\n<p id=\"FM5s4O\">And yet, when it comes to psychedelics, the same questions, concerns, and sense of urgency present in the opioid crisis are notably absent. </p>\n<p id=\"IeNosT\">The therapeutic value of psychedelics in regulated settings is well on its way to federal recognition, with the FDA <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2022/07/26/mdma-psilocybin-fda-ptsd/\">expected</a> to approve MDMA for treating PTSD as soon as <a href=\"https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/fda-accepts-grants-priority-review-of-nda-for-mdma-assisted-therapy-for-ptsd\">this August</a>, and psilocybin for depression to follow suit. But decriminalization can serve as a <a href=\"https://eujournalfuturesresearch.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40309-022-00199-2\">complement to the shortcomings</a> of <a href=\"https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2054/4/1/article-p34.xml\">medicalized psychedelics</a>, helping to mitigate concerns around access, affordability, and preserving the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23721486/ketamine-dmt-lsd-psychedelics-magic-mushrooms-legalization-recreation-psilocybin\">diversity of purposes</a> for which psychedelics have long been used.</p>\n<p id=\"RudEj4\">Critics of what has been called \u201c<a href=\"https://psychedelicstoday.com/2020/02/18/psychedelic-exceptionalism-and-reframing-drug-narratives-an-interview-with-dr-carl-hart/\">psychedelic exceptionalism</a>\u201d argue that the law should not encode moral judgments that label some drugs as better or worse than others. The logic of decriminalization applies to all drugs, not only those that are more politically or culturally palatable. In fact, \u201cThe impact of decriminalization of heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine will be greater than for psychedelics,\u201d said Russoniello, \u201cbecause more people are incarcerated for those drugs than for psychedelics.\u201d Even so, that shouldn\u2019t mean that progress on decriminalizing psychedelics should get stymied by the ongoing debate over opioids. </p>\n<p id=\"YkPRx9\">So far, experts I spoke with who were concerned about criminalizing psychedelics despite the lack of evidence or argument for it could point to no public efforts to change the bill or clarify its effects. \u201cI don\u2019t think most legislators even really knew that this [HB 4002] was recriminalizing all drugs,\u201d said Dennis. HB 4002 now awaits Gov. Kotek\u2019s signature.</p>"}], "summary": "<figure>\n      <img alt=\"Oregon Governor Tina Kotek speaks from behind a podium during a signing ceremony in Washington, February 23, 2024.\" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Y_IkxQqb7D63mA3GS05M9AXNSTQ=/61x0:6540x4859/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73211361/AP24062114153683.0.jpg\" />\n        <figcaption>Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek speaks during a signing ceremony for HB 4002, recriminalizing personal possession of controlled substances, including psychedelics. | Susan Walsh/AP</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n\n  <p>Four years ago, the state decriminalized all drugs. Now it\u2019s trying to course-correct \u2014 and might make a mistake in the process.</p> <p id=\"jGpT4O\">In 2020, it looked as though the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/drug-war\">war on drugs</a> would begin to end in Oregon. </p>\n<p id=\"zneDb6\">After <a href=\"https://www.courts.oregon.gov/about/Documents/BM110Statistics.pdf\">Measure 110</a> was passed that year, Oregon became the first state in the US to decriminalize personal possession of all drugs that had been outlawed by the <a href=\"https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/csa#:~:text=The%20Controlled%20Substances%20Act%20(CSA,and%20safety%20or%20dependence%20liability.\">Controlled Substances Act</a> in 1970, ranging from heroin and cocaine to LSD and psychedelic mushrooms. When it went into effect in early 2021, the move was <a href=\"https://drugpolicy.org/news/drug-decriminalization-oregon-one-year-later-thousands-lives-not-ruined/\">celebrated</a> by drug reform advocates who had long been calling for decriminalization in the wake of President Nixon\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/06/17/1006495476/after-50-years-of-the-war-on-drugs-what-good-is-it-doing-for-us\">failed war on drugs.</a> </p>\n<p id=\"B8QfAS\">Now, amid a spike in <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/health/portland-oregon-drugs.html\">public</a> drug use and <a href=\"https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/fentanyl-deaths-highest-increase-in-country/\">overdoses</a>, Oregon is in the process of reeling back its progressive drug laws, with a <a href=\"https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2024R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB4002\">new bill</a> that aims to reinstate lighter criminal penalties for personal drug possession. And while the target is deadly drugs like fentanyl, the law would also result in banning non-clinical use of psychedelics like MDMA, DMT, or psilocybin \u2014 drugs that are unconnected to the current overdose epidemic and the public displays of drug use. </p>\n<p id=\"eH5Evt\">By treating all drugs as an undifferentiated category, Oregon is set to deliver a major blow to advocates of psychedelic use who don\u2019t want to see expensive clinics and tightly controlled environments be the only legal point of access. While regulated and supervised models for using psychedelics are showing growing promise for <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9553847/\">treating mental illness</a>, decriminalized use allows for a much wider spectrum of user motivations \u2014 many of which have occurred <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8412860/\">for millennia</a> \u2014 no less deserving of legal protection, from recreational and spiritual to the simple pleasure of spicing up a museum visit with a small handful of mushrooms. </p>\n<p id=\"FHPZZT\">\u201cThe biggest threat to psychedelics is from people who would claim to be for them in extremely limited contexts and against them in all others,\u201d said Jon Dennis, a lawyer at the Portland-based firm Sagebrush Law specializing in psychedelics. </p>\n<p id=\"Tt4omq\">It would be one thing if arguments against the decriminalization of psychedelics were being made. But that\u2019s not the case. Instead, the lumping together of psychedelics and opioids seems to have gone largely unnoticed, setting up personal use of psychedelics to become an unintended casualty of Oregon\u2019s opioid crisis.</p>\n<h3 id=\"Kvrtbh\">How Oregon decriminalized drugs</h3>\n<p id=\"MDrbud\">The idea behind drug decriminalization was that investing in health services and harm reduction are more effective and humane responses to substance abuse than incarceration. The hope was for Oregon to serve as inspiration for other states, and eventually the nation, to follow suit.</p>\n<p id=\"H8chQW\">But in the years that followed, Oregon fell deeper into an opioid and drug overdose crisis that has been <a href=\"https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02252-2/abstract\">surging across the nation</a>. In 2021, the US had <a href=\"https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates\">over 80,000</a> opioid-related overdose deaths. Beyond the death toll, critics \u2014 <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/05/opinion/oregon-decriminalization-drugs-reversal.html\">fairly or unfairly</a> \u2014 connected decriminalization to the rising <a href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/with-oregon-facing-rampant-public-drug-use-lawmakers-backpedal-on-pioneering-decriminalization-law\">visibility of drug use</a> and <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/12/oregon-has-highest-rate-of-homeless-families-in-the-country.html#:~:text=The%20state's%20homeless%20population%20increased,the%20worst%20of%20it%20yet.\">homelessness in Oregon towns and cities,</a> including open-air fentanyl markets <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/04/alarming-spate-of-overdoses-draws-scrutiny-to-open-air-fentanyl-market-in-downtown-portland.html\">popping up</a> in downtown Portland. That put increasing pressure on Oregon legislators to do something to change the state\u2019s drug policy.</p>\n<p id=\"dEZZGt\">The new solution crafted by state Sen. Kate Lieber and state Rep. Jason Kropf \u2014 <a href=\"https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2024R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB4002\">House Bill 4002</a> \u2014 is intended as a compromise between the full decriminalization of Measure 110 and the previous status quo that leaned heavily on incarceration for drug possession. While improving access to substance abuse treatments \u2014 like reducing barriers to receiving medication and encouraging counties to direct offenders to treatment programs rather than court \u2014 the bill recriminalizes personal possession of all controlled substances (except for cannabis), bringing back the possibility of jail time for possession of even relatively small amounts.</p>\n<p id=\"AwStLG\">Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek last week <a href=\"https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/pages/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=215409\">announced</a> that she intends to sign the bill within 30 days of it clearing both state legislatures with bipartisan support. It\u2019s been <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/08/politics/oregon-drug-laws-recriminalization/index.html\">widely</a> described as \u201cthis very precise <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2024/03/08/oregon-governor-tina-kotek-bill-ending-drug-decriminalization-expand-treatment/\">amendment</a> that\u2019s only going to address the problems with Measure 110, which were thought to be opioids and meth,\u201d said Dennis. </p>\n<p id=\"wcgxpY\">But the bill turns out to be much larger in scope than advertised. Instead of specifically targeting the opioids and methamphetamine that have been behind most overdose deaths, HB 4002 also recriminalizes personal possession of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin mushrooms, MDMA, and LSD. Unlike the concern around <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/opinion/oregon-drug-failure.html\">opioids</a> (including synthetic ones like fentanyl, which are responsible for the <a href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/deaths/index.html#:~:text=Drug%20Overdose%20Deaths%20Remained%20High%20in%202021&amp;text=Opioids%E2%80%94mainly%20synthetic%20opioids%20(other,of%20all%20drug%20overdose%20deaths).\">majority of overdoses</a>) or meth, neither the public nor experts have reported significant negative effects from the decriminalization of psychedelics. </p>\n<p id=\"Dc5fF9\">\u201cAll of the conversations around the legislature didn\u2019t think to distinguish between these different classes of drugs,\u201d Dennis said. \u201cI think this was just a broad oversight on their part, rather than nuanced policy discussions.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"RfRXVB\">There are no op-eds being written about tripping hippies filling public spaces in grand displays of love and cosmic beatitude. The streets are not littered with acid blotter paper or mushroom caps. Psychonauts aren\u2019t seeking out <a href=\"https://newrepublic.com/article/169525/psychonauts-training-psychedelics-dmt-extended-state\">encounters with DMT entities</a> in public parks. No argument for recriminalizing psychedelics has been made, and yet, they\u2019re being swept into a recriminalization bill by the debate around opioids.</p>\n<p id=\"wlqEu8\">Psychedelics have <a href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032723000915?via%3Dihub\">uncommon</a> but potentially serious <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23954347/psychedelics-bad-trips-ketamine-mdma-psilocybin-lsd-risks\">risks of their own</a>, including short-term encounters with intense anxiety and <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10597511/\">long-term battles</a> with destabilizing <a href=\"https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/a-theological-reckoning-with-bad-trips/\">experiences</a>. Access to safety information and <a href=\"https://challengingpsychedelicexperiences.com/help-for-difficult-trips\">support</a> is crucial for their use. On the whole, psychedelics are <a href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/43gey3/mushrooms-are-the-safest-drug-you-can-take\">far safer</a> than many other legally accessible substances, and the list of therapeutic, spiritual, and creative benefits seems to grow each month, from alleviating <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/10/9/21506664/psychedelics-mental-health-depression-ptsd-psilocybin-mdma\">depression</a> and addiction to combating <a href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02455-9\">eating disorders</a> and helping <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23972716/psychedelics-meaning-science-psychedelic-mushrooms-ketamine-psilocybin-mysticism\">find meaning in life</a>. Expanding access through decriminalization (together with public education and clinical resources for those in need) could help make the most of these benefits.</p>\n<h3 id=\"dfny1D\">What HB 4002 will do</h3>\n<p id=\"0B5LSh\">Before Measure 110, possession of a controlled substance like LSD or heroin in Oregon could be charged as a Class A misdemeanor, carrying a maximum of one year in jail and fines up to <a href=\"https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_161.635\">$6,250</a>. </p>\n<p id=\"Kz0cAm\">Measure 110, which passed November 2020 with <a href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Oregon_Measure_110,_Drug_Decriminalization_and_Addiction_Treatment_Initiative_(2020)\">58 percent</a> of the vote, was intended to treat substance abuse as a <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/public-health\">public health</a> issue, rather than a criminal one. It created a new category for possession of small amounts of controlled substances \u2014 Class E violations \u2014 that came with no jail time and a maximum of a $100 fine that could be waived if the individual chose to complete a health assessment. Effectively, it meant that getting caught with illegal drugs could, at worst, get you the equivalent of a traffic ticket.</p>\n<p id=\"jMERkq\">The new bill, HB 4002, scraps the Class E category altogether. If it goes into effect on September 1, possession of small amounts of controlled substances will once again be punishable with criminal offenses, though less severe than the way things worked prior to Measure 110.</p>\n<p id=\"v4DnKB\">Instead of Class E violations, personal possession of controlled substances will be considered a \u201cdrug enforcement misdemeanor,\u201d which carries a maximum of 180 days in jail, though with a series of intervening steps designed to \u201cdeflect\u201d individuals toward treatment rather than incarceration.</p>\n<p id=\"6NpOId\">Even after HB 4002 goes into effect, \u201cOregon will be in a better position than it was prior to Measure 110,\u201d said <a href=\"https://drugpolicy.org/person/kellen-russoniello/\">Kellen Russoniello</a>, senior policy counsel at the <a href=\"https://drugpolicy.org/\">Drug Policy Alliance</a>. The new criminal penalties are designed to try to get people into treatment, rather than prison. \u201cBut it\u2019s still a step backward from decriminalization.\u201d </p>\n<p id=\"U2gChU\">Sen. Lieber\u2019s office provided me with a diagram Thursday to show all the steps meant to reduce the odds that someone charged with a drug enforcement misdemeanor will wind up in jail:</p>\n  <figure class=\"e-image\">\n        <img alt=\" \" src=\"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Zq_zJ5ZFucC18Itp2O1s3yHxFUY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25338553/Oregon_Drug_Intervention_Plan_PCS_U_Flow_Chart.png\" />\n      <cite>Courtesy of Sen. Kate Lieber\u2019s office</cite>\n  </figure>\n<p id=\"8E79A7\">The bill does not affect <a href=\"https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors475A.html\">Measure 109</a>, which implemented Oregon\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/health/psychedelic-drugs-mushrooms-oregon.html\">regulated access to psilocybin mushrooms</a>. Under that model, adults can sign up for a supervised psilocybin session at a licensed facility, which can cost anywhere from about $1,000 to $3,000. Regulated <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/01/30/1227630630/ketamine-infusion-clinic-mental-health-depression-anxiety-fda-off-label\">ketamine clinics</a>, where people can receive ketamine under supervision to treat conditions like depression or anxiety, are also unaffected.</p>\n<p id=\"P368lj\">But it does ensure that regulated access is the only way to legally use psychedelics, walking back the decriminalization that allowed for more affordable and unconstrained personal consumption on one\u2019s own terms. </p>\n<h3 id=\"ggl6QB\">The opioid crisis created support for quickly passing HB 4002</h3>\n<p id=\"HwMaPg\">While decriminalization has become a focal point in the debate over drugs, Oregon\u2019s opioid crisis was escalating before 2020. From 2019 to 2020, unintentional opioid deaths in Oregon rose by <a href=\"https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PREVENTIONWELLNESS/SUBSTANCEUSE/OPIOIDS/Documents/quarterly_opioid_overdose_related_data_report.pdf\">about 70 percent</a>. After Measure 110 took effect in February 2021, the surge continued. In 2021, deaths rose another 56 percent, and another 30 percent in 2022.</p>\n<p id=\"BJtHaN\">Despite the trends predating decriminalization, critics <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/opinion/oregon-drug-failure.html\">felt</a> that the rise in overdose deaths, public displays of drug use, and crime were attributable to Measure 110. That provided a strong base of support for HB 4002. An <a href=\"https://www.dhmresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/DHM-Panel-Oregon_Measure110_May-2023.pdf\">April 2023 survey</a> of 500 Oregon voters found that 63 percent supported bringing back criminal penalties for drug possession while continuing to use cannabis tax revenue for drug treatment programs. The bill was sold as a compromise that would stem the chaos that Measure 110 had allegedly unleashed.</p>\n<p id=\"rXlQPX\">But during the post-decriminalization years that saw Oregon\u2019s opioid crisis continue to worsen, the same trends were taking place <a href=\"https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates\">across the country</a>, including in <a href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cfsecosystem.com/m110/Presentations/Panel1_Kral_Final.pdf\">neighboring states</a> that hadn\u2019t decriminalized opioids, like California and Nevada. A <a href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2809867\">study</a> led by the New York University Grossman School of Medicine and published in <em>JAMA Psychiatry</em> found that in Oregon and Washington, both states that had drug decriminalization policies in 2021, there was no evidence for an association between decriminalization and drug overdose rates.</p>\n<p id=\"QBXksl\">A <a href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cfsecosystem.com/m110/Presentations/Panel+1_Del+Pozo.pdf\">second study</a>, led by public health researcher <a href=\"https://vivo.brown.edu/display/bdelpozo\">Brandon del Pozo</a> of Brown University and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, replicated the findings for Oregon: no link between decriminalization and drug overdoses. Instead, most of the spike was attributed to the introduction of fentanyl into the general drug supply. Fentanyl is up to <a href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/stopoverdose/fentanyl/index.html\">50 times stronger</a> than heroin, and is often laced into unregulated drugs like heroin or cocaine, making it far more likely than other drugs to lead to fatal overdoses. <strong> </strong></p>\n<p id=\"QnzTQm\">Much of the public sentiment\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.dhmresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/DHM-Panel-Oregon_Measure110_May-2023.pdf\">swing</a> against decriminalization centers around the visibility of drug use, rather than the numerical impact on overdose deaths. So it\u2019s worth noting that the same year that decriminalization was passed, Covid-era eviction protections also expired. After plummeting in 2020 and 2021, the eviction rate shot back up in 2022 <a href=\"https://drugpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DPA-WhatReallyHappenedM110.pdf\">by nearly 25 percent</a>. Between 2022 and 2023, the state\u2019s homeless population rose by 12 percent.</p>\n<p id=\"FnEgcC\">None of this is to definitively say that Oregon\u2019s decriminalization did nothing to worsen the opioid crisis, but their <a href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/oregon-leaders-hampered-drug-decriminalization-effort#:~:text=This%20is%20the%20day%2Dto,for%20law%20enforcement%20in%20Oregon.\">less-than-ideal</a> implementation certainly seemed to amplify the visibility and social disorder associated with it. By failing to fund programs that would have trained law enforcement (who were <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/oregon-drug-war-decriminalization-1234982783/\">generally skeptical of decriminalization</a> to begin with) on how to direct drug users toward rehabilitation or designing a ticketing system that emphasized treatment information, even advocates of Measure 110 were dismayed with the form it took through implementation.</p>\n<p id=\"arIXMY\">\u201cCertainly, there\u2019s a sense among Oregon voters that what\u2019s going on isn\u2019t working,\u201d said Russoniello. But blaming Measure 110 has been called political <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/05/opinion/oregon-decriminalization-drugs-reversal.html\">fearmongering</a>, rather than evidence-based policy. \u201cThe opposition was able to take the frustration with all of these social issues that Oregonians are facing and direct people\u2019s frustration and anger at the big red herring of Measure 110, even though it isn\u2019t backed by any sort of evidence.\u201d</p>\n<p id=\"IuLZMr\">And wherever the debate falls on what\u2019s fueling the opioid crisis, psychedelics are another matter entirely.</p>\n<h3 id=\"pEAf3T\">Why are we punishing psychedelics for an ongoing debate about opioids?</h3>\n<p id=\"CZAkAP\">There\u2019s reasonable and urgent debate to be had over the best way to regulate opioids and support users. <a href=\"https://drugpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DPA-WhatReallyHappenedM110.pdf\">Advocates maintain</a> that a well-implemented decriminalization approach is both more effective and equitable (minority groups are <a href=\"https://www.oregon.gov/cjc/CJC%20Document%20Library/AdultCJSystemRacialandEthnicStatementBackground.pdf\">significantly overrepresented</a> in Oregon\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/criminal-justice\">criminal justice</a> system) than returning to criminal penalties, even if recriminalization comes with \u201c<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2024/02/multnomah-county-signs-on-to-measure-110-diversion-approach-seeks-25-million-for-deflection-center.html\">deflection</a>\u201d programs in place designed to make incarceration the sanction of last resort. </p>\n<p id=\"FM5s4O\">And yet, when it comes to psychedelics, the same questions, concerns, and sense of urgency present in the opioid crisis are notably absent. </p>\n<p id=\"IeNosT\">The therapeutic value of psychedelics in regulated settings is well on its way to federal recognition, with the FDA <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2022/07/26/mdma-psilocybin-fda-ptsd/\">expected</a> to approve MDMA for treating PTSD as soon as <a href=\"https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/fda-accepts-grants-priority-review-of-nda-for-mdma-assisted-therapy-for-ptsd\">this August</a>, and psilocybin for depression to follow suit. But decriminalization can serve as a <a href=\"https://eujournalfuturesresearch.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40309-022-00199-2\">complement to the shortcomings</a> of <a href=\"https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2054/4/1/article-p34.xml\">medicalized psychedelics</a>, helping to mitigate concerns around access, affordability, and preserving the <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23721486/ketamine-dmt-lsd-psychedelics-magic-mushrooms-legalization-recreation-psilocybin\">diversity of purposes</a> for which psychedelics have long been used.</p>\n<p id=\"RudEj4\">Critics of what has been called \u201c<a href=\"https://psychedelicstoday.com/2020/02/18/psychedelic-exceptionalism-and-reframing-drug-narratives-an-interview-with-dr-carl-hart/\">psychedelic exceptionalism</a>\u201d argue that the law should not encode moral judgments that label some drugs as better or worse than others. The logic of decriminalization applies to all drugs, not only those that are more politically or culturally palatable. In fact, \u201cThe impact of decriminalization of heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine will be greater than for psychedelics,\u201d said Russoniello, \u201cbecause more people are incarcerated for those drugs than for psychedelics.\u201d Even so, that shouldn\u2019t mean that progress on decriminalizing psychedelics should get stymied by the ongoing debate over opioids. </p>\n<p id=\"YkPRx9\">So far, experts I spoke with who were concerned about criminalizing psychedelics despite the lack of evidence or argument for it could point to no public efforts to change the bill or clarify its effects. \u201cI don\u2019t think most legislators even really knew that this [HB 4002] was recriminalizing all drugs,\u201d said Dennis. HB 4002 now awaits Gov. Kotek\u2019s signature.</p>", "links": [{"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "href": "https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24102102/psychedelics-oregon-opioid-crisis-decriminalization-war-drugs-fentanyl-house-bill-4002"}], "link": "https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24102102/psychedelics-oregon-opioid-crisis-decriminalization-war-drugs-fentanyl-house-bill-4002", "id": "https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24102102/psychedelics-oregon-opioid-crisis-decriminalization-war-drugs-fentanyl-house-bill-4002", "guidislink": false, "authors": [{"name": "Oshan Jarow"}], "author_detail": {"name": "Oshan Jarow"}, "author": "Oshan Jarow"}]}


