Americans are divided, politically and socially.

The conventional wisdom blames social media for the widening divide as the timing lines up. But scientifically, it's been surprisingly hard to make the charges stick, Adam Rogers (@jetjocko) writes. ⬇️

businessinsider.com/social-media-t… Now there's a new hypothesis.

Maybe the problem isn't that social media has driven us all into like-minded bubbles. Maybe it's that social media has obliterated the bubbles we've all lived in for centuries, Rogers says.

businessinsider.com/social-media-t…

Rebecca Hessel Cohen's tunnel vision — a world of parties and parasols, confetti and Champagne — is what turned LoveShackFancy into the success it is today.

But as it grew to a bona fide fashion empire, its founder’s blind spots turned glaring. 👇

businessinsider.com/loveshackfancy… LoveShackFancy has cemented its place as a must-have for prep schoolers and Southern sorority sisters.

In the past few years, the brand has exploded. There's something about it that seems to inspire an all-consuming passion in its shoppers.

businessinsider.com/loveshackfancy…

In 1977, a 15-year-old Kevin Baugh watched "The Mouse That Roared" — a satirical 1959 movie about a tiny, fictional nation waging war on the US.

He is now the "benevolent dictator" of the Republic of @Molossia — a one-acre micronation in Nevada. ⬇️

insider.com/photos-meet-di… "I was struck by the imagination and creativity of that," said the 60-year-old, who asked to be referred to as "Your Excellency" or "President Baugh," during a phone interview with @thisisinsider.

insider.com/photos-meet-di…

The United States' elected leaders are the oldest they've ever been.

Insider journalists have spent months interviewing hundreds of sources and analyzing data to understand how the US arrived at this moment.

Here are the highlights and key findings. 🗝👇
businessinsider.com/gerontocracy-r… 🗝 Nearly one in four members of Congress are in their 70s or 80s — a level never before seen in US history.

🇺🇸 Almost 50% of Americans are under 40, but only about 5% of members of Congress are.

businessinsider.com/gerontocracy-u…

What's the hardest college in America to get into?

You're probably thinking it's @Harvard, which admitted just 3% of applicants this year, but you're wrong. It’s @Tulane, whose official acceptance rate is 0.7%.

@James_S_Murphy explains why. ⬇️

businessinsider.com/early-decision… How did Tulane do it? Through the power of "early decision," which it first started offering for the freshman class of 2017.

The process is to look at their freshman class and hence, their annual revenue before they even look at RD applications.

businessinsider.com/early-decision…

Gen X should be in charge of the US by now.

Boomers (and the Silent Generation) still hold prime positions of power, including the presidency. Gen X has yet to secure a majority of seats in Congress and the Supreme Court. 👇

businessinsider.com/gen-x-presiden… By historical standards, today's middle-agers should be right there, right now, in the most important positions of power — like the presidency.

businessinsider.com/gen-x-presiden…

Most Americans want to see age caps in Congress, according to an Insider/Morning Consult poll. Same for term limits in the House of Representatives and Senate.

Three in four respondents think the age of the government is a problem. What do you think? 👇

businessinsider.com/congress-biden… America's government is too old, and most Americans want dramatic changes to address the nation's expanding gerontocracy, according to a new Insider/Morning Consult poll.

businessinsider.com/congress-biden…

The death of Queen Elizabeth II marks a major change for people working within the royal household.

Here's what "The Firm" currently looks like and how it might evolve to suit the new monarch. 👇

insider.com/queen-elizabet… Insider previously estimated that 1,133 people work, volunteer, and assume ceremonial roles in the royal household.

https://twitter.com/thisisinsider/status/1488595032550658051?s=20&t=bBc9hgSrJzkJO3qmR2I88A

America's leaders are old and getting older.

Insider’s "Red, White, and Gray" investigation explores the costs, benefits, and dangers of aging leaders running the US, and the true problem of a gerontocracy. 👇

businessinsider.com/gerontocracy-u… America has always been governed by a class of political leaders older than the population. This has been the case going back to the early 1800s.

For the bulk of the 19th and 20th centuries, the country has gradually aged as Congress has gradually aged.

businessinsider.com/gerontocracy-u…

Prince Harry and King Charles' rift appears to have subsided since his accession.

The father and son have made several gestures honoring each other since the Queen's death. 👇

insider.com/king-charles-c… Harry told @Oprah last year that his relationship with Charles struggled because of his and Meghan Markle's step back from royal duties in January 2020.

insider.com/king-charles-c…

Parents in largely Democratic-run cities and states have lived in an extended purgatory of pandemic restrictions.

Angie Schmitt (@schmangee) explains why kids, particularly in cities, have been deprioritized. ⤵️

businessinsider.com/cities-given-u… The connection between deteriorating youth mental health and isolation imposed by the severe restriction of youth activities, like basketball or going to the pool, is well documented, both anecdotally and with hard data.

businessinsider.com/cities-given-u…

From “The Amanda Show” to subsequent hits like “Zoey 101,” “iCarly,” and “Victorious,” Dan Schneider helped turn Nickelodeon into a powerhouse.

But whispers about his bullying crew and becoming overly-close with child actors have followed him. ⬇️
businessinsider.com/dan-schneider-… In 2018, Nickelodeon cut ties with Schneider after an investigation found he'd verbally abused colleagues.

Several writers and crew members said Schneider created an uncomfortable, bizarre environment that he ruled over like a fiefdom. businessinsider.com/dan-schneider-…

A Texas jury on Friday found Infowars host Alex Jones must pay $45.2 million in punitive damages to two parents whose son was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre.

Here's how the conspiracy theorist got here. ⬇️
insider.com/alex-jones-pun… Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis — the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, who was one of the 26 killed in the Newtown, Connecticut, rampage — sued Jones for defamation over his bogus "hoax" claims about the 2012 shooting.
insider.com/alex-jones-pun…

TW: grooming

Ezra Miller has gone from one of Hollywood’s most promising actors to one of its biggest liabilities.

@thisisinsider spoke with 14 people who had recent interactions with Miller in which the actor had outbursts or left them feeling unsafe.

businessinsider.com/ezra-miller-fl… Some people said Miller, who uses they/them pronouns, sought out impressionable young women and nonbinary people whom they could isolate from families and control.

In some cases, Miller had sexual relations with these people.

businessinsider.com/ezra-miller-fl…

Earlier this month, a monster Midwestern thunderstorm called a derecho turned the skies over South Dakota a sickly green.

The new colors of the sky are so terrifying, they will spur us to action, @jetjocko says.

Here's why. 👇

businessinsider.com/green-orange-b… Images from the storm went viral and hit the news.

It all moved even faster than the storm itself — just as it did two years ago, when massive wildfires turned the skies over San Francisco a shade of Golden Gate orange.

businessinsider.com/green-orange-b…

https://twitter.com/aafaque33/status/1544451522897002496

Visits to America's national parks have exploded in recent years as people seek out majestic places to color their Instagram feeds.

But when throngs of novice adventurers take on challenges without proper training or expertise, disaster often follows. 👇

businessinsider.com/inside-a-fall-… In May 2021, four mountaineers attempting to summit Denali, North America's tallest peak, experienced the worst day of their lives after one of them got sick and fell 1,000 feet.

Later, one of them would be criminally charged over what happened that day.

businessinsider.com/inside-a-fall-…

In the mid-'80s, Amado Carrillo Fuentes was well on his way to becoming Mexico's top drug trafficker, the "Lord of the Skies."

One night, in May 1985, Amado's rise to power was very nearly stopped.

Here's what happened. 👇

businessinsider.com/the-night-the-… In May of 1985, Amado's photo wasn't yet on any police bulletin boards, nor in any newspapers.

So when US border agent David Ramirez spotted strange activity on Highway 67, near Texas' extreme southwest border, he didn't know how big a deal it was.

businessinsider.com/the-night-the-…

Thursday’s hearing in the Jan. 6 probe focused on Donald Trump’s actions as his supporters stormed the Capitol. National security adviser Matthew Pottinger and deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews testified.

Here are the biggest takeaways. ⬇️
businessinsider.com/live-january-6… A former Trump White House security official said that there were fears that if President Donald Trump marched to the Capitol on January 6 that a “coup” could be underway. businessinsider.com/official-if-tr…

An investigation from @WELTAMSONNTAG, @politico, and @thisisinsider gained access to the online chat groups where far-right extremists organize.

Here's what they found. ⬇️

insider.com/international-… Far-right gangs such as the Proud Boys and suit-and-tie-wearing white nationalists like Richard Spencer regularly make headlines.

But there are lesser-known groups with more directly violent aims that follow an ideology called accelerationism.

insider.com/international-…

On a Thursday evening in late May, Insider’s @Schwartzesque left his two children in his wife's care so he could travel hundreds of miles away to drink ayahuasca in a cave.

Here’s his kind of scary, very trippy, life-altering story. 👇

businessinsider.com/my-scary-very-… There's evidence dating the ritual use of ayahuasca to 1,000 years ago, though some believe that the current form of ritualized drinking is an artifact of mestizo culture, formed by contact between Indigenous people and Europeans.

businessinsider.com/my-scary-very-…