The Rise and Fall of Silk Road
A long look at the infamous online marketplace for illegal goods, starting with a DEA raid on a grandpa in Utah who had just taken receipt of $27,000 of cocaine. http://www.bit.ly/wired-silkroad
Romain Pizzi is saving endangered animals, one operation at a time
A leading veterinary surgeon, the perfect man if you have “a tiger with gallstones, or a suspiciously sickly beaver”, has been turning his hand to a broad array of endangered animals.
It’s the (Democracy-Poisoning) Golden Age of Free Speech
A special issue of Wired contains several strong pieces looking at the complex freedom of speech trade-offs required in the new information era. Pieces include – the web infrastructure company Cloudflare being embroiled in a free speech debate when offering services to far-right extremists, Reddit as a case study for civil discourse online, a startup making smartphone-neutralising pouches, six stories of censorship, and a look at a database of extremists called Whack-a-Mole.
Inside the Two Years that Shook Facebook – and the World
A piece examining the series of challenges Facebook has faced as it struggles to manage the intended and unintended consequences of its huge scale and the reach it has into many parts of its users’ lives.
A New Look Inside TheranosÕ Dysfunctional Corporate Culture
The story of the much-feted healthcare startup where things went very sour. http://bit.ly/wired-theranos
Inside the Crypto WorldÕs Biggest Scandal
The story of Tezos, just one of many in the constellation of blockchain related startups, but with unusual personalities and disputes behind the scenes. http://bit.ly/wired-tezos
The New Arms Race Threatening to Explode in Space
As Donald Trump announces plans for a “Space Force” this article explains why space is the latest area marked for conflict.
Crispr Can Speed Up Nature – and Change How We Grow Food
A look at the advances being made in the gene editing of food and the opportunities, and challenges, created by this potentially transformative technology.
Cocaine, Tug Boats and Tip Offs
A detailed account of how “the largest drugs bust in UK history” played out. http://www.bit.ly/wired-cocaine
The Untold Story of NotPetya, the Most Devastating Cyberattack in History
A gripping read on a devastating global cyber attack that affected millions around the world and nearly wiped out the shipping giant Maersk’s entire IT operations. They survived only due to an accident of fate, and the virus went on to cause an estimated $10bn of damage worldwide.