Author: Connor Simpson

Is Julian Assange Pretending to Help Snowden for Publicity?

AP

The two most high-profile, hiding-in-plain sight figures at Wikileaks now claim to be helping the high-profile, on-the-lam NSA leaker on his apparent quest to seek asylum in Iceland. But Glenn Greenwald, Snowden's defacto spokesperson, denies that Wikileaks is involved at all. Assange, it appears, might just be trying to make leakers cool again.

By Connor Simpson

May 1, 2013

The Koch Is Hitting the Fan at the L.A. Times

The Times staff is in open revolt against Charles and David Koch's potential purchase of papers from Tribune Co. And the city council is apparently so petrified of the Kochs's lack of objectivity that it's threatening to pull funding for those staffers' retirement accounts. If you thought Rupert Murdoch was bad, the Kochs may already be contributing to what one local politician called "the end of journalism" — and they haven't even made an offer yet. 

Comments | 2,371 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 30, 2013

It's Getting Harder and Harder to Rent an Apartment on Airbnb

Amidst increasing pressure from the law and creepy renters, the world's best urban vacation rental startup is forcing users to fork over government-issued photo I.D. so they can crosscheck your identity against your social media account... all to rent a cheap apartment. Yes, Airbnb is now more strict than most bars. 

Comments | 4,336 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 30, 2013

This Is Jeff Zucker's CNN Morning Show, but What About His New Primetime?

Now that the morning show guru turned network executive has CNN's fresh-faced morning show ready for launch, Zucker can turn his attention to reviving his primetime lineup. The big question for the months ahead: Will he take CNN in reverse to pass ahead? And what does Crossfire have to do with any of this?

Comments | 788 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 29, 2013

The NFL Gets Mike Wallace and Its Teams Ready for the Jason Collins Effect

As the sports world continues to react to news of America's first openly gay major pro athlete, the NFL has reinforced its discrimination policy in an internal memo, and an NFL official tells The Atlantic Wire that one outspoken player's social media response to the Collins announcement has already drawn an inquiry.

Comments | 8,061 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 29, 2013

Is the Sports World Ready to Accept the New Reality of Jason Collins?

Perhaps the biggest worry about the future of gay rights on the biggest of stages for American role models was not if or when a gay pro athlete would come out. It was how the acceptance (or lack thereof) might follow. And based on the early reaction to the historic coming-out party of Jason Collins today, the NBA is ready for out sports, and so is (almost) everybody else.

Comments | 1,965 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 29, 2013

Jason Collins Is the First Openly Gay Major Professional Athlete

Before today, Jason Collins was known as a 34-year-old center on the NBA's Washington Wizards. But after an historic public admission sure to redefine sexuality in sports, Collins has now become the first openly gay athlete playing in one of the four major sports in North America. As Collins writes in his cover story for this week's Sports Illustrated: "Things can change in an instant, so why not live truthfully?"

Comments | 7,269 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 29, 2013

Tim Tebow's Tabloid Dreams Are Over

Perhaps fittingly for the city and the man, Tebow's time with the New York Jets will be remembered more for the unending media hype than anything he actually did under center. And it was a local tabloid story turned national, with seemingly every outlet from TMZ to the Newark Star-Ledger going full-on New York Post at one point or another.

Comments | 1,179 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 28, 2013

This Is Not Where You're Supposed to Wear Your Google Glass

Did you expect to see someone wearing Google Glass in a box? Did you expect to see someone wearing Google Glass with a fox? Did you expect to see someone wearing Google Glass with a mouse? How about a mouse? You probably didn't expect to see them in the shower, that's for sure.

Comments | 5,299 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 28, 2013

The NFL Passed on Its Chance to Draft an Openly Gay Player

As the clock wound down during the final rounds of the NFL draft on Saturday, only two kickers were chosen — and 23-year-old openly gay former Middle Tennessee State placekicker Alan Gendreau was not one of them. 

Comments | 13,934 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 28, 2013

Box Office Report

Michael Bay and The Rock 'Gain' Just Enough to Win the Weekend

Welcome to the Box Office Report, where we're reluctant to live in a world where The Rock is a real movie star. 

Comments | 1,374 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 28, 2013

The Sunday Grind

Joe Manchin Wants to Bring Gun Reform Back to the Senate

Sen. Joe Manchin wants to bring that ol' background check bill back to the Senate floor, he revealed on Fox News Sunday.

Comments | 981 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 28, 2013

The Rolling Stones Played the Best Show You Didn't See Last Night

Last night the Rolling Stones played the ideal show that everyone wants but no one ever gets to see. They played a short set of their best hits and favorite covers at a small, "surprise" gig at the Echoplex, a 700-person Los Angeles club. Be jealous, because you weren't there.

Comments | 11,370 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 28, 2013

Is This Why Russian Intelligence Asked the F.B.I. About Tamerlan Tsarnaev?

A new report from the Associated Press sheds new light on everything we thought we knew about the Boston bombers parents and the Russian intelligence that tipped off the FBI. 

Comments | 5,688 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 28, 2013

The Best of the White House Correspondents' Dinner After Party Gossip

So everyone in D.C. is likely still in bed, or throwing back two Tylenol and heading out for brunch right now. Our main concern is what happened at the White House Correspondents' Dinner after parties, where the drinks flowed and some of the most and least powerful people in the world rubbed shoulders (among other things) late into the night.

Comments | 3,924 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 27, 2013

Zach Braff Will Get His Dirty Kickstarter Money

The very rich Zach Braff's Kickstarter-funded Garden State sequel will see the light of a movie projector. His project reached its fundraising goal Saturday afternoon and has another 24 days to rack up as much money as possible. 

Comments | 15,693 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 27, 2013

Politico's Leaked Celebrity Tip Sheet Is as Bad as You Expect

Everyone knows that Poltico's coverage of the White House Corespondents' Dinner is sickening in its shallowness and shamelessness, but you wouldn't believe how lazy their tip sheets for reporters are. Seriously, they are this bad. 

Comments | 6,078 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 27, 2013

Great News! Only Two More Days of Terrible Flight Delays

This really is spectacular news, because airports are the worst be design, but the Federal Aviation Administration isn't waiting for the President's signature on that bill to fix the sequester-caused furloughs that were making everything so much worse. Your airport experience will go back to its normal levels of awful starting on Sunday evening. 

Comments | 980 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 27, 2013

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Instagram May Not Tell Us Anything

The already flushed out social media profile of 19-year-old bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev expanded on Saturday morning when former friends revealed Dzhokhar's since-deleted Instagram account to CNN. 

Comments | 30,090 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 27, 2013

They Arrested the Other Weird Guy in the Already Too Weird Ricin Story

J. Everett Dutschke, the 41-year-old former bluesman and taekwondo instructor who feuded with the Elvis impersonating initial suspect, has been arrested for sending letter laced with ricin to the President and two other Mississippi politicians. 

Comments | 2,548 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 27, 2013

How the Trial of the American Citizen in North Korea May End

An American citizen will be put on trial for crimes against the state in North Korea in what surely isn't a facade in the ongoing bargaining between North Korea and the U.S. and what will surely be a fair and balanced trial based on real facts. 

Comments | 15,091 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 24, 2013

It Could've Been This Easy for Boston's Bombers to Use a Cellphone Detonator

We see cellphone detonators all the time in the movies and on television, which sometimes seem to stretch the limits of even fictional terrorist technology. But could two brothers living in Massachusetts have learned to make one — and make it work?

Comments | 1,366 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 24, 2013

Human Skulls Have a Habit of Popping Up at Florida Airports

Two women may be in hot water with authorities after TSA officials discovered pieces of human skull in their carry-on luggage. The question separating these voodoo ladies from some very serious charges is whether or not they knew the skulls were in their onboard pottery. And, no, this is not a precedent.

Comments | 1,554 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 24, 2013

A Few Tattoos Sasha and Malia Could Get to Spite Their Father

The First Dad told the Today show Wednesday that he can stop the First Daughters from getting tattoos... by getting his own, and taking it viral. But if history has taught us anything, kids are always going to find a way to screw over their folks. Like so, perhaps.

Comments | 2,525 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 24, 2013

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, College Weed Dealer

We knew that 19-year-old Boston Marathon suspect smoked pot — he seemed to admit as much on his much-parsed Twitter account. But according to a new report, Tsarnaev was also a go-to source for marijuana at UMass Dartmouth. Because, you know, he was a kid in college.

Comments | 17,210 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 24, 2013

The Bird Flu Has Spread Beyond China, and It's 'One of the Most Lethal' Ever

The first reported case of a human infection outside mainland China arrived Wednesday, and that's got the world's top scientists pretty worried about this H7N9 strain — even if it's not being transmitted from person to person.

Comments | 9,746 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 22, 2013

Only Michael Bay Can Stop the Michael Baymageddon

For some reason — probably to get attention to the new Michael Bay movie — Michael Bay has been on an apology tour of late, and for some of the best work of a previously unabashed blockbuster film career. This needs to stop, Michael Bay.

Comments | 2,719 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 22, 2013

Everything You Need to Know About the Al Qaeda Linked Canadian Terrorist Plot

Another Monday, another terror plot: Who woulda thunk this Monday would yield a thwarted attack in Canada to bomb a Niagra Falls railway passage from Toronto to New York, links to Al Qaeda and all?

Comments | 3,106 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 22, 2013

Will the Pressure Cooker-as-WMD Case Hold Up Against the Boston Bomber?

The new WMD charge against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev could result in the death penalty, raising a strange question in a case sure to be full of precedents in how America prosecutes terrorism: Do bombs made in kitchen pressure cookers now count as weapons of mass destruction?

Comments | 4,276 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 22, 2013

What Did the Boston Bombers' Parents Know?

As Dzhokhar Tsarnaev continues to answer questions from his hospital bed, where he reportedly was charged on Monday as the White House said he will not be as a so-called "enemy combatant," his parents are planning to come to America and answer for him. Already, they have started providing more details than last week — ominous phone calls, elaborate setups, the role of Islam — as the Tsarnaev family's big picture begins to flesh out a portrait.

Comments | 26,858 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 22, 2013

Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Plant Has a Serious Rat Problem

A cooling fuel pool was shut down Monday at the embattled power plant so workers could remove two dead rats. It was the third time in a little over a month that cooling equipment had to be shut down for rat related issues — and right now there are more radioactive rodent recurrences than answers.

Comments | 1,552 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 21, 2013

Reese Witherspoon Asked Her Arresting Officer, "Do You Know My Name?"

Because, yes, that Reese Witherspoon was arrested and spent a night in jail this weekend for disorderly conduct. And yes, that Reese Witherspoon tried to argue with the cop because she's a famous person and she is allowed to "stand on American ground."

Comments | 13,175 Views

By Adam Clark Estes and Connor Simpson

Apr 21, 2013

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Is Awake and Answering Questions

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev regained consciousness and began answering written questions from police on Sunday night. Authorities have now released the full transcript of Monday's bedside hearing with a federal judge.

Comments | 45,816 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 21, 2013

Box Office Report

Tom Cruise Blows the Box Office Into 'Oblivion'

Welcome to the Box Office Report, where it's been a while. Let's get reacquainted, shall we?

Comments | 1,744 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 21, 2013

The Sunday Grind

Menino Says the Brothers Acted Alone

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino revealed he thinks the Tsarnaev brothers acted alone when they terrorized Boston over the last five days during an appearance on ABC's This Week.

Comments | 3,293 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 21, 2013

F.B.I. Released the Tsarnaevs' Photos Because of Reddit and the Post

One of the most interesting details from the Washington Post's steller tick-tock of the F.B.I. investigation into the Boston Marathon bombings has to be the reason they decided to release the photos of Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev: to fend off Reddit and the New York Post. 

Comments | 39,839 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 21, 2013

Who Influenced the Tsarnaev Brothers to Bomb the Marathon?

As the days press on, the investigation into the brothers Tsarnaev is turning up fewer and fewer leads explaining why they would decide to bomb innocent citizens at the Boston Marathon and then engage law enforcement in two days of intense firefights before being captured or killed. 

Comments | 12,810 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 21, 2013

The Koch Brothers Wouldn't Mind Controlling the Medium and the Message

Charles and David Koch are very major players in the Tribune Company's sale of some of the biggest newspapers in the country, including the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, and according to a new report, they have debated using the media to spread their political message. 

Comments | 1,549 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 20, 2013

See How the Cops Knew Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Was Inside That Boat

When the police received a tip that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev might be hiding out in a Watertown boat, there was obviously some worry: how do you safely check to see if he's there when he's been carrying explosives this whole time? You use a police helicopter's thermal camera, of course. 

Comments | 25,102 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 20, 2013

Would the Real Sarah Hanson Please Stand Up?

What happens when a 19-year-old programmer extensively covered by media outlets this week probably doesn't exist? 

Comments | 3,288 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 20, 2013

"This Is Our F------- City": Boston Sports Rallies the City

As the Massachusetts city slowly returns to normal life after Friday night's events, Boston's three most important sports teams played Saturday and helped breath a semblance of normal life back into the exhausted citizens. 

Comments | 4,062 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 20, 2013

Meet David Henneberry, the Tipster Who Caught Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

David Henneberry is the most beloved boat owner in America. For it was his boat -- a 20-footer resting in his driveway, under a tarp, waiting for the harbor to thaw enough for sailing season to begin -- that led to the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old accused of bombing the Boston marathon. 

Comments | 51,036 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 20, 2013

Earthquake Kills Over 100 in China, Death Toll Expected to Rise

A powerful earthquake devastated China's southwestern region on Saturday leaving more at least 156 people dead and more than 5,500 injured, with expectations that those numbers will surely arise as the recovery efforts continue. 

Comments | 387 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 20, 2013

What the Newspapers in Massachusetts Look Like The Morning After

The last Boston Marathon bombings suspect sought by authorities was captured Friday evening in a dramatic two hour stand off with police in Watertown, a community just outside of Boston. The day after, Saturday morning's newspapers offers a look at a state that was brought to its knees, now standing tall once again. 

Comments | 5,610 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 20, 2013

Behind the Scenes of Boston's Manhunt: What Happened Last Night? What Now?

A week of uneasy, unanswered questions came to an end Friday evening as Boston authorities were finally able to capture the only surviving suspect allegedly behind the Boston Marathon bombings, but only after another intense firefight with police. Now the nation looks for answers.

Comments | 15,447 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 17, 2013

Google Fiber Is Coming to Provo, Utah — Because It Already Had Fancy Internet

Last Tuesday, Google announced another reason to be jealous of Austin, Texas — the city became the second place in the U.S. where Google would offer its super fast, affordable fiber Internet service. Well, this week you can be jealous of Provo, Utah.

Comments | 769 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 17, 2013

Is This the New Daft Punk Song?

After a tease at Coachella over the weekend, fake versions have tricked fans multiple times all week, but it appears the first single off the electronic music legends' first album in eight years has finally leaked in full. Sort of.

Comments | 5,059 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 17, 2013

Mark Sanford's Trespassing Charge Just Lost Him a Lot of Campaign Money

The National Republican Congressional Committee announced they would not be contributing another cent to Mark Sanford's campaign in South Carolina Wednesday afternoon because of his trespassing charge.

Comments | 3,303 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 16, 2013

Pat Summerall, Who Let the NFL Speak for Itself, Has Died

Known for bringing his dulcet, almost restful near baritone to the restlessness of the NFL as a play-by-play announcer on CBS, Fox, and ESPN, Summerall also played nine seasons in the league with the Detroit Lions, Chicago Cardinals, and New York Giants.

Comments | 1,343 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 16, 2013

While You Were Watching Boston, All of This News Happened, Too

As the world turned in the 24 hours since two explosions went off around 3 p.m. Monday, most of the world's attention turned to the aftermath in Boston. But other things were happening, believe it or not, so here's a quick primer on what you may have missed.

Comments | 3,263 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 16, 2013

Boston's Broken Hearts Are Nearly Ready for Bawstin Sports

In the immediate and very strange aftermath, Boston is coping with tragedy, and America with it, however it can. But, eventually, blessedly, not soon enough, that happiest distraction of all will return: the light touch and emotional balance of sports. Because sports are important. We are waiting for the games to begin again.

Comments | 192 Views

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App

Departments
Open Wire

Have a story we missed? A link we have to click? A sharp opinion about the news? Instead of waiting for us to post it, tell us on the Open Wire.

Submit your news and ideas | See all reader posts

Most Clicked

  1. Berlin Looks a Lot Different to Obama in 2013 Than It Did in 2008
  2. After an Easy Hearing, the NSA and FBI are Ready for a Drink
  3. FBI Nails an Alleged KKK Member for Wacky Terrorist Death Ray Plot
  4. Kim and Kanye's Baby Name Is Not That Strange
  5. The Supreme Court Decided Your Silence Can Be Used Against You
  6. The Re-Invention of Miss Utah Will Be Televised
  7. Bloomberg Group Called Tsarnaev a Gun Victim on a List It Copied from Slate
  8. The Three Sentences in the Fed Announcement That Matter
  9. TWA Flight 800 Investigators Claim the Official Crash Story Is a Lie
  10. GOP Congressman Wants to Ban Abortion to Save Masturbating Fetuses

Atlantic

More from Atlantic

Atlantic Cities

More from Atlantic Cities

Quartz

More from Quartz

National Journal

More from National Journal