This story was produced in partnership with DoubleBlind, an independent magazine covering the psychedelic industry. In the spring of 2022, a 49-year-old New Yorker named David* headed south to Cancún, Mexico. He went to overcome his dependency on drugs using ibogaine, the primary alkaloid in a central African root bark …
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T he mood in hell was light. All smiles and hugs, Sammy Davis Jr. was in high spirits as he arrived at Paramount Studios in the fall of 1972 to film Poor Devil, a new NBC comedy set in the netherworld. The 46-year-old entertainer surveyed the Hollywood soundstage, where Hades …
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W hen Sergiy Antonenko came to, he was on fire. As he regained consciousness, the Ukrainian sniper realized the blaze set off by the makeshift explosive was all around him. It took nearly every remaining ounce of energy he had to roll into the river abutting the nameless village at …
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T he Caribbean island of Dominica is a kind of thorny paradise — a land of jewel-toned flowers and lush foliage that’s a refuge for sunburned foreigners looking to avail themselves of the waterfalls and hot springs, not to mention lucrative tax shelters. Woven through the tropical escapism is a …
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Months before The Umbrella Academy’s premiere in February 2019, showrunner Steve Blackman knew he’d delivered Netflix a hit series. Forty-five million households would tune in to the first season —making it Netflix’s third-most-watched television series that year, behind Stranger Things and The Witcher. Anticipating a quick greenlight for Season Two, …
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T witter lead client partner Alex Martinez had already gone on a handful of dates with Bobby Harr when, over drinks at a cute French restaurant on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Martinez found himself venting about Elon Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform. Musk’s attitude toward disinformation …
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A lex Neville was one of those boys who was always in costume, wearing his obsessions on his sleeve. At three, he went around dressed as a mummy, earnestly explaining the embalming process to children in Aliso Viejo, a town in Orange County, California. At seven, he was SoCal’s shortest …
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O ne night in 2021, Sharonda Johnson had a dream. A figure was standing over a baby’s bassinet. She couldn’t tell what it was, but she sensed this figure emanating overwhelming dread. “I remember saying to myself, ‘I don’t know how anyone can fight this,’” she says. Sharonda woke up …
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A s he took the stage at the BET Awards in June 2022 to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, Sean “Diddy” Combs was elated. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!” he bellowed, punctuating his words with triumphant jumps. The adoring crowd — who gave him a sustained standing …
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W HEN YOU VISIT BOB RITCHIE at his home in the jagged hills outside Nashville, the guy who will likely greet you at the door is a tall, well-dressed, exceedingly polite gentleman who goes by “Uncle Tom.” Because of course he does. Ritchie makes his living as Kid Rock, but …
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