Behind the Blog: iPhone Mysteries and Sex Strikes

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we talk about the question "are people nutting to that?", doomscrolling on election night, and calls for Lysistrata 2024.

EMANUEL: I was up a little later than usual on Monday desperately looking for something to write on Tuesday knowing that, like most election days, it would be a pretty difficult day to be productive. I have a few leads I need to pick up but they require exactly the kind of focus I knew I wouldn’t have, and everything in the news was understandably about the election. There have been years at Motherboard where we’ve tried some counter-programming around elections and other all consuming news events, but these only work when they come about organically. You can’t force it. 

We’ve talked here a few times in various ways about how we find stories. There are online communities we’re embedded in, experts we check in with, and many times our best tips come from you, the reader. Sometimes, however, I find stories by asking myself: wait, are people nutting to this? And, of course, the answer is often yes, they are. 

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