endurocross (sport)

Most poisonous mushrooms won’t kill you—they’ll simply cause a severe headache or vomiting. Death-cap mushrooms are not like the others. As little as half an Amanita phalloides contains enough toxin to kill an adult human. Ingestion of the poison in death-cap mushrooms, known as amatoxin, is responsible for 90 percent of deaths related to mushroom poisoning worldwide. Worse still, death caps can resemble nontoxic mushrooms and are said to be quite tasty. You might not know you’ve been poisoned until days after eating the highly toxic fungi.

While the mushrooms are historically endemic to Scandinavia and parts of northern Europe, the cultivation of non-native species of trees in North America has led to a “mushroom boom” in some areas of the continent.

“We’ve opened Pandora’s box,” the author Craig Childs says in a new animated video from The Atlantic. “There is no way you can stop them.” For more information, read “Death-Cap Mushrooms Are Spreading Across North America": https://www.theatlantic.com/science/a...

Life Up Close is a project of The Atlantic, supported by the HHMI Department of Science Education.

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

Should a job provide a paycheck or a purpose? Traditional religion lends some people meaning, community, and self-actualization. For many Americans, work has stepped in to fill that role. But this all-encompassing worship of work is setting us up for mass anxiety and inevitable burnout, says Atlantic staff writer Derek Thompson.

For more, read Derek Thompson's article, "Workism Is Making Americans Miserable": https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/arc...



Listen to Crazy/Genius here: https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/...

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

Marquez Jackson is serving a juvenile life sentence at Bon Air Correctional Center in Virginia for second-degree murder. Jackson lives in the maximum-security side of Bon Air. “I get locked in my room every night,” he says. “Everything is about security here. I get searched every time I move.” Jackson will be at Bon Air until he turns 21. “The thing that makes me happy is just visualizing what I could be doing if I was home.”

This VR series from The Atlantic is part of a larger reporting project on juvenile justice reform in Virginia. As the population of incarcerated young people has declined, the state has closed all but one center, Bon Air Correctional Center. Approximately 200 inmates are serving out their sentences there, many of them far from their families and communities. Follow The Atlantic for more, including an inside look at Bon Air and perspectives from inmates, staff, and advocates.

These three VR films explore firsthand experiences of three young people in the system. Blending interviews with 3-D animation, each film presents a perspective from a different stage in the detention process. For an optimal viewing experience, watch the film in VR180 with a VR headset.

Read more on The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/projects/...

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

Inside an emergency dispatch center in San Francisco, 911 operators navigate the daily stresses of their job. Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/ind...

"The Shift" was directed by Elivia Shaw and Paloma Martinez. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

As the border between the United States and Mexico began to figure more and more prominently into the news cycle, filmmaker David Freid noticed a consistent blind spot: No one, it seemed, was talking to the people who actually lived there. He decided to visit Mike Davidson, who for the past 40 years has been ferrying tourists across the Rio Grande in his rowboat. Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/ind...

"Ferryman at the Wall" was directed by David Freid ( https://davidfreid.com/). It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

In 1992, professional skydiver Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld boarded a plane for a routine training jump. Six weeks later, he awoke from a coma to discover that a terrible accident had crippled his body and shattered his dream of becoming a World Champion. Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/ind...

"Above All Else" was directed by Yali Sharon ( http://weliveunbound.com). It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

On Rottnest Island, off the coast of Western Australia, a peculiar marsupial has captivated the hearts of Instagram users worldwide—and supported a booming tourism economy. The quokka, a close cousin of the kangaroo, rocketed to internet fame when tourists began taking selfies with the animal, which is unafraid of humans and appears to smile for pictures.

“They are like living teddy bears,” filmmaker David Freid, who made a short documentary about the mammals and the attendant social media sensation, told The Atlantic. “When you see one, it's a bonafide heart-melter.” Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/ind...

"Happy Animals" was directed by David Freid ( https://davidfreid.com). It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

Rather than create Victorian dollhouses like her contemporaries, a miniatures artist keeps her work rooted in the real world. Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/ind...

"Life in Miniature" was directed by Ellen Evans ( https://www.ellen-evans.com/). It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

In this stunning 360° video, former U.S. inmate Rickey Jackson, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 40 years (including being on death row and in solitary), tells the story of his rebirth. At the time of his release, Jackson served the longest sentence of any exonerated U.S. inmate. Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/ind...

Use the arrows on the top left of the video window to watch from any angle, or just click and drag in any direction.

"Send Me Home" was directed by Cassandra Evanisko and produced by Lonelyleap. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

“Dear Noortje: Why, I sometimes wonder, do so many love letters start with ‘I meant to write sooner,’ or ‘I should write to you more often,’ or a more fanciful variation of the same?” reads a young man in Tara Fallaux’s short film. “Maybe because people are lazy and, in their daily lives, easily find an excuse for that laziness,” the man ventures, “while it’s harder to justify on paper. Maybe the reason is deeper.”

Those reasons and more are explored in the exquisite documentary "Love Letters," from Amsterdam-based production company HALAL Films. Fallaux trains the camera on various couples as they read each other heartfelt letters and openly discuss their relationship. We also hear from singles, who read letters they wrote to ex-lovers while reflecting on the trials and tribulations of these life-changing relationships. The film is an intimate rumination on the project of love—and, ultimately, the virtues of vulnerability. Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/ind...

"Love Letters" was directed by Tara Fallaux and produced by HALAL Films ( https://halal.amsterdam/). It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

For decades, Assam Hadhad ran a chocolate factory in Syria, the second-largest in the Middle East. In 2012, it was destroyed in a bombing. Hadhad and his family fled war-torn Damascus soon thereafter. After spending years in a Lebanese refugee camp, they were granted asylum in Canada. When they arrived in Nova Scotia in 2016, they had little more than the clothes on their back.

Hadhad, a chocolatier at heart, hoped to resume his profession once he was settled in his new country. But he spoke no English and had no resources. That’s when the community around him stepped in. Locals noticed Hadhad at the farmers’ market, where he sold sweets baked in his home kitchen. When they learned of his ambitions, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and other skilled workers from the community rallied around Hadhad to help build a factory. The family even received a loan to kick-start the business. “I was welcomed as [if] Canada was my homeland,” Tareq Hadhad, Assam’s son, has said.

One of those friendly and solicitous locals was Frank Gallant. “Rather than viewing Issam as an outsider, Frank simply saw him as a friend going through a tough time,” Jonathan Keijser, who made a short documentary about the pair, told The Atlantic. Keijser’s film Brothers premieres on The Atlantic today. It follows Gallant and Hadhad on the latter’s first-ever camping trip. “Frank told me about how he’d been wanting to introduce Assam to some ‘real Canadian experiences,’ and mentioned how Assam had never been camping before,” Keijser recalled. Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/ind...

"Brothers" was directed by Jonathan Keijser. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

Stories of people and animals bringing comfort to one another are a dime a dozen on the internet. But every once in a while, an interspecies communion rises above the din. Ron Krajewski and his horse, Metro Meteor, are one such pair. The short documentary "My Paintbrush Bites," premiering today on The Atlantic, tells their remarkable story—one of a reclusive failed artist who finds redemption in the most unlikely of places.

When Krajewski rescued Metro, the thoroughbred was on the brink of death. He had once been a successful racehorse, with eight winning races at the prestigious Belmont Park and $300,000 in prize money to his name. But severe injuries forced Metro’s stable to retire him. Krajewski, looking for an affordable horse for his wife to ride, bought Metro in the nick of time; had he not done so, the horse would surely have been sent to the slaughterhouse.

Shortly after they rescued him, though, the Krajewskis would discover just how severe Metro’s health problems were. Just one trail ride rendered him unable to walk. The vet gave him a year to live. And to make matters worse, the horse had an attitude; he would often bite or kick those who attempted to touch him.

“Everybody had said that Metro’s not going to amount to anything,” Krajewski says in the film. “Well, we found a skill for him, and he’s pretty good at it.”

Krajewski had always dreamed of being an artist, but his abstract paintings never sold. When he noticed Metro had an interesting tic—he would often bob his head up and down and side to side—Krajewski had what he terms a “crazy” idea. He taught Metro to hold a paintbrush. Using horse treats as a reward, he then taught the horse to touch his nose to the canvas.

“He went to town and just started painting,” says Krajewski. Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/ind...

"My Paintbrush Bites" was directed by Joel Pincosy and Joe Egender. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

In drug-ravaged Appalachia, a man tries to save lives by bringing death into the streets. Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/ind...

"Heroin Hearse" was directed by Ryan Buckley and produced by Mark Winters. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT

After Maryam Henderson-Uloho was convicted of obstruction of justice, she was sentenced to 25 years in a Louisiana prison. Ultimately, she served 13 years—more than half of that time in solitary confinement. When she was released, she felt dehumanized. “You see, in prison, you’re broken—mentally, emotionally, and physically,” says Henderson-Uloho in the short documentary Sister Hearts. “I didn’t know what to do. I was alone. I was scared. I had no one.” An ex-felon, Henderson-Uloho was unable to open a bank account or a credit card. She couldn’t rent an apartment. Nobody would employ her. “I had to go inside myself and find something good about me,” she says. “I felt like trash … I needed help.”

This is the incredible story of how she turned her life around—and continues to support other female ex-offenders. Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/ind...

"Sister Hearts" was directed by Mohammad Gorjestani, in association with Even/Odd Films ( http://evenoddfilms.com/), for Square. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT