Tomorrow morning Failure publishes an interview with Angelo J. Guglielmo Jr., co-author of "The Woman Who Wasn't There" (Touchstone), a new book that chronicles the remarkable 9/11 survival story of Tania Head, a woman who inspired countless 9/11 survivors ... until she was revealed to be a fraud.
With the 253rd pick of the 2012 NFL draft the Indianapolis Colts selected Chandler Harnish, a QB from Northern Illinois. He becomes the 37th Mr. Irrelevant. Chandler Harnish take heart. Many last-in-the-draft picks have gone on to successful NFL careers. Case in point: Ryan Succop, Mr. Irrelevant 2009, who signed a five-year $14 million contract extension with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2011. Failure magazine talked to Succop after he was drafted in 2009, part of a feature on the history of Irrelevant Week.
Failure recently learned that the deadliest train wreck in U.S. history happened in Nashville, Tennessee, not far from the magazine's current home base. The accident (referred to as the Dutchman's Curve wreck) occurred on July 9, 1918, when a pair of Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis passenger trains collided head-on, resulting in the loss of at least 101 lives. At right is the historical marker that was erected in July 2008, not far from the crash site.
“I didn’t dream about this,” admits Mark Titus about the popular and critical acclaim for ‘Don’t Put Me In, Coach,’ his memoir about his four years as a walk-on basketball player at THE Ohio State University. “I didn’t know it was possible for a bench-warmer to write a successful book,” he says. Mark Titus interview with Failure magazine.
In the 1960s, Americans were focused on space and the idea of sending a man to the moon. In the meantime, a scrappy group of sea-dwelling divers were looking down — to the bottom of the ocean — and opening a vast undersea world to human exploration. So why have they been forgotten? Ben Hellwarth on Sealab, America’s Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor.
First, there was the Titanic Memorial Cruise. Now available: cabins on the Titanic Anniversary Cruise (roundtrip to and from New York) on the Azamara Journey [pictured above], and the Titanic Mini Cruise (roundtrip to and from Southampton on the MS Balmoral).
Sarah Gilman's Christmas Day column in the Denver Post highlighted Failure magazine's feature The Berkeley Pit. Unfortunately, the Post's editors failed to link to the article.
The inspiring story of Sarah Wu (also known as Mrs. Q), who has become an unlikely part of the school lunch reform movement. The cover of her book, "Fed Up With Lunch" (Chronicle), is pictured at right.
In the new book “A Thousand Lives” (Free Press), author Julia Scheeres makes it clear that Jim Jones never intended for Jonestown to succeed. In fact, he explored many different means of killing his followers, including loading them onto a jet plane and crashing it, and driving buses off the Golden Gate Bridge. Our feature on the book includes a link to the video advertorial that Jones used to entice followers to come down to Guyana, as well as photos, documents, movies, and audio clips that the FBI rescued from Jonestown.
Butte, Montana toxic waste site (and State Office of Tourism recommended "place to visit") yielding compounds that may be medically, environmentally useful. Photo courtesy of Donald Stierle.
To go out onto Berkeley Pit Lake you have to complete a 40-hour Hazmat course. But for just two dollars, a member of the public can look out over the Pit from the Berkeley Pit Viewing Stand (which is accessed by walking through a long tunnel) - and take in this strangely-compelling view. Photo by Failure magazine.
In January 2011, Empire was home to ninety-nine U.S. Gypsum Company employees and their families. Today, all the inhabitants of the company town are gone and the desert is reclaiming the land. Above: The view from outside Empire's locked gates. (Photo by Leigh Ann Lipscomb, late November 2011).
Above: The now-vacant drywall plant.
(Photo by Leigh Ann Lipscomb, late November 2011).
Today Failure magazine published a feature on the work of watchdog group ICARE (Idaho Concerned Area Residents for the Environment), which aims to educate the public about the environmental impact of Concentrated Animals Feeding Operations (CAFOs), and also acts as a champion of small family farmers. The above photo depicts a feeding pen at a dairy CAFO on Bob Barton Highway in Jerome County, Idaho. Notice the single cow standing atop the manure pile.
In Awkward Family Pet Photos, coauthors Mike Bender and Doug Chernack celebrate "the special — and frequently disturbing — bond between families and their pets.
Traditional nudist retreats may be failing, but thanks to social media, the rise of high-end resorts, and new groups like Young Naturists America (logo at right), young people are at last showing the lifestyle some love.