Author: Editor

Earlier this month, the AI hacking startup Horizon3 achieved a rare milestone: a $250 million funding round pushed its market valuation above $2 billion, making it a so-called double unicorn.CEO Snehal Antani said he spent nearly two decades acquiring the skills he needed to build the business, which simulates cyberattacks on companies’ systems to identify vulnerabilities before real hackers can exploit them. The knowledge he gained turned out to be crucial, first when the tech funding market tightened and, later, when the bank where Horizon3 held all its money collapsed.”I wanted to make sure I built the right experiences,” Antani,…

When Erin Piacenti walked into Bank of America on Monday after five months on maternity leave, she found pink daisies sitting on her desk. Welcome signs were strung around the office she shared with a few teammates. Piacenti showed them photos of Madison, her newborn daughter, before settling in to read case law.That afternoon, Piacenti was fatally stabbed in Times Square in what police described as an unprovoked attack. She was 32.Though Piacenti only started as a vice president in the firm’s Americas Business Selection and Conflicts group around 18 months ago, she’d already made an impact on the small…

When some people travel, they collect fridge magnets or shot glasses. Eugen Godun collects marathon medals.Last March, the 34-year-old software developer earned the coveted Six Star medal for running the Boston, Chicago, New York City, London, Berlin, and Tokyo marathons, known as the original World Marathon Majors. When Godun crossed the finish line in Japan, he burst into tears, overcome by a mixture of pride, happiness, and pure exhaustion.Godun started running in 2014 and completed his first international marathon in Poland the following year, shaving an hour off his previous time of 4 hours and 6 minutes. Over the past…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kymberly McClain, a 45-year-old who lives in Las Vegas. She previously worked at a small nonprofit until resigning in 2024. The following has been edited for length and clarity.Two years ago, I was working as a deputy director at a small nonprofit in California focused on providing resources for the homeless population.After some leadership changes, I didn’t feel like I had the support I needed. In August 2024, I resigned.When I started looking for a new job, I was so confident. I’d gained experience and felt like I’d parted ways on…

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently blocked the use of license plate readers on state roads, joining a host of other elected officials and political candidates speaking out against the law enforcement surveillance technology. Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America hide caption toggle caption Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America There are plenty of issues Republicans and Democrats disagree on, but increasingly, they’re aligned on this: they want Flock surveillance cameras gone. The widespread backlash against AI-powered license plate readers, which allow police to track people over time, is becoming more of a political issue as the midterm elections approach in races from…

People line up before their hearings at the New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court in October 2025. Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images Immigrants are being told last minute about new in-person hearings at previously undisclosed courtroom locations. That’s according to five immigration attorneys who reviewed notices or observed the hearings and spoke to NPR about them. The last-minute notifications appear to be another tactic in a broader strategy from the Trump administration to short-circuit immigrants’ already limited due process options to speed up arrests and deportations. NPR has learned that over…

A replica of President Trump’s planned arch stood at the Great American State Fair in July. Joe Raedl/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Joe Raedl/Getty Images The Trump administration plans to break ground on its proposed 250-foot arch near Washington, D.C.’s National Mall in the coming days, without key approvals and despite an ongoing lawsuit. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote on social media Thursday that “we are preparing to start, over the next two-week period, the excavation work necessary for the Great Triumphal Arch and Military Observation Deck.” But the arch is still awaiting final approval from the National Capital…

The NBA’s landmark ruling against the Los Angeles Clippers for salary cap circumvention is causing a PR headache for the Worldwide Leader in Sports.ESPN has drawn widespread criticism from media industry insiders for its coverage of the Clippers’ salary cap scandal.ESPN’s reporting included an August 17 story that cited three unnamed sources who said the NBA had “no evidence” that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money through team sponsors to pay Kawhi Leonard. The story also quoted an anonymous source who said an argument that sponsorship introductions amounted to salary-cap circumvention would be “dead on arrival.”That ESPN story, published before…

For many people, softball league memories are distant but blissful: The camaraderie of teammates, celebratory ice cream, and so much fun in the sunshine. Why did it have to stop?For Sharon Montero, it never did.”I always thought that adulthood would be all rainbows and cotton candy — no bills and just relaxing,” says Montero, a customer service agent at Newark Airport. “But I’m still living my dream, which is playing softball.”Between her full-time job as a customer service agent at Newark Airport and a handful of side gigs — including voice acting and hosting bingo nights — Montero keeps a…

My youngest son developed a passion for sharks early. By the time he was 18 months old, he could identify at least 150 of the 500 known sharks through photographs in a guidebook. His interest only intensified as he grew. By the time he entered school, he could recite innumerable facts about these creatures.I encouraged his interest at every turn, purchasing books and videos and decorating his room with artifacts like megalodon and shark teeth. We even mounted a plaster cast of a shark’s head on the wall that his preschool teacher had given him.No matter where we ventured on…