YOUTUBE | Want to see a bowling ball get crushed beneath the weight of a massive hydraulic press? Of course you do. How about a pineapple? Absolutely. You can see those items, and many others, demolished on the HYDRAULIC PRESS CHANNEL on YouTube. The videos features the voice of Lauri Vuohensilta, a powerlifting factory owner with a mesmerizing Finnish accent who began sharing his destructive hobby last year with a steadily growing audience. The channel, a favorite among Reddit users, typically releases one video a week. Word is that Vuohensilta is in the market for an even stronger press, increasing his smashing potential.
PODCAST | NPR's EMBEDDED is perhaps the most effective use yet of the podcast format as a medium for investigative journalism. Yes, it's better than Serial. In each episode, Kelly McEvers, who you likely know as the co-host of All Things Considered and as an esteemed foreign correspondent who braved the Arab Spring, takes us into a different story, and as the title suggests, embeds with her subjects. The podcast debuted in late March with McEvers introducing us to a group of addicts suffering from HIV in Indiana. The second piece found McEvers ferreting out the truth about a shootout between biker gangs in Waco, Texas. It's gripping stuff.
STORY | You may be surprised to learn that legendary journalist Gay Talese (most famous for Frank Sinatra Has a Cold) is still writing outrageous and expertly crafted journalism. The 84-year-old shocked readers earlier this month when the New Yorker ran "THE VOYEUR'S MOTEL," which told of Talese's 35-plus years corresponding with a Colorado motel owner who was snooping on his guests through a vent in the ceiling. It's a creepy yet engaging tale which poses a lot of ethical questions concerning not just the Peeping Tom, but also Talese's role in getting the story. The piece was excerpted from the book of the same name, which is set for a July release.♦
