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Talking It Out Helps People Spot Fake News, Study Finds

It helps to actually talk to people rather than cutting then off. I once talked a 9/11 Truther out of his conspiracy theories just by having a conversation with them about it. He said no one had ever done that before, everyone else in his life was angry and dismissive whenever he brought it up

The US Has Produced Twice As Many Serial Killers As The Rest Of The World Combined. What’s Behind This Terrifying Statistic?

Congratulations?

More Stories Below, but first some new content in the News Sidequest Podcast Universe…

Auditory Anthology

SCI-FI SHORT STORIES - NARRATED BY DARREN MARLAR & PRODUCED BY KEITH CONRAD

Breaker’s Yard & Maiden Voyage - Chapter Seven: The Team - On the maiden voyage of the MV Atlas, the world’s largest cruise ship, a ghost operative team attempts a silent extraction of a high-value defector carrying an impossible secret: an ancient, non-human artifact. Hidden amongst twenty-two thousand passengers and stalked by an elite foreign intelligence network, the team must execute a precise, high-stakes tradecraft operation in international waters — one wrong move could blow their cover and trigger a confrontation that could break the global order.

Our companion short story, “Breaker’s Yard,” follows Marcus Webb — soon to join Mercer’s team — during a routine compliance job aboard a decommissioned Navy ship being torn apart for scrap. What he encounters alone in her stripped, powerless corridors is impossible to explain, and impossible to shake. It’s another quiet thread of the unexplained, and our first real look at the man who’s about to become part of something much bigger.

Breaker’s Yard & Maiden Voyage - Chapter Seven: The Team Keith Conrad / Darren Marlar Episode

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Also Worth A Look…

• FDA Approves First Autonomous Blood-Drawing Robot To Tackle Shortages In The US, And Patients Seem To Like It - Not to be alarmist or anything, but a robot that takes your blood without any human intervention doesn’t seem like the greatest idea. Do you want Robot Vampires? Because this is how you get Robot Vampires

• Man Who Had Stress-Induced Amnesia For 6 Years Recovered His Memories After Switching To An Easier Job - OK, I guess I can add “Stress-Induced Amnesia” to the list of things I didn’t know I needed to be worried about. Which doesn’t seem like it’ll help my stress level. Also, if you’re job is causing you so much stress that you end up with stress-induced amnesia, you should definitely switch jobs

• Why Coffee Makes Some People Sleepy Instead Of Alert - It seems similar to how alcohol effects people. Some will end up bouncing off the walls and become the life of the party after one drink, others will just get even more quiet and stare at the wall

• First-ever cage fight pits human fighter against 6-foot ‘Terminator’ robot - Preview of the inevitable robot uprising. How about instead of having cage fights with chimps and robots, we actually try treating them with some dignity? All of this has happened before, all of it will happen again

• Mother’s urging leads Va. woman to $500,000 lottery prize - The lesson here? Always listen to your mom

• ‘Lost’ medieval castle found hiding inside university building in Dublin - They’re always in the last place you look

• Thieves Make Off With 800K Bees - If you hear of someone suddenly starting up a homemade honey side hustle, you might want to alert whichever authorities are in charge of bees

• Old Gold Rush Outpost Hits Market for $4.75M - Anyone want to go halfsies?

• Tutankhamun’s Tomb May Contain Hidden Chambers Housing The Body Of His Predecessor, Queen Nefertiti - Is my moratorium on opening up ancient tombs a joke to you people?

• What Kills Schrödinger’s Cat? Gravity May Not Be the Answer - How do you know for sure it’s even been killed?