The Browser - Storm Fall

A Storm Trapped A Luxury Passenger Train

Robert Klara | Smithsonian | 9th January 2025

In January 1952, snowdrifts stalled and buried a train in the Sierra Nevadas. The streamliner service from Chicago to San Francisco usually took 40 hours and 15 minutes. After 24 hours of being stuck, the lights went out. Then carbon monoxide began to leak from the portable heaters and food had to rationed. Wealthy passengers were losing it by the time help arrived three days later (1,800 words)

Share this on X , Facebook , Linkedin or Bluesky

Nomido

Nomido is the Browser's daily word game. Play today's before it's gone!

The Rise And Fall Of "Fact-Checking"

Nate Silver | Silver Bulletin | 8th January 2025

Reducing content moderation by fact-checkers on Facebook is likely "the right move for the wrong reasons", Silver argues. The checkers had minimal power — they could not remove material, merely "demote" it — and the volume of false claims was always too great to address. Fact checking should be an intrinsic part of journalism before publication, not a separate enterprise later on (1,900 words)

Share this on X , Facebook , Linkedin or Bluesky

Caroline Crampton, Editor-In-Chief; Robert Cottrell, Founding Editor; Kaamya Sharma, Editor; Sylvia Bishop, Assistant Publisher; Jodi Ettenberg, Associate Editor; Uri Bram, CEO & Publisher; Al Breach, Founding Director

Editorial comments and letters to the editor: editor@thebrowser.com‌‌ | Technical issues and support requests: support@thebrowser.com‌‌ | Or write at any time to the publisher: uri@thebrowser.com

Proudly published with Ghost, the fiercely independent website and newsletter platform