Post Script

On December 31, 1975 half of the Mahoney family -- a prominent doctor, his wife and their 15-year old son -- were gunned down in their rural Massachusetts home while quietly ringing in the New Year. The murders sparked deep fear in the small community and sent a team of local investigators on a winding, six-month pursuit of the killers. To this day, there are still questions about what exactly happened in that house on Whipple Road.

Janae Marie Kroczaleski was born Matthew Raymond Kroczaleski. Known as “Kroc” in the weightlifting world, she eventually became one of the strongest people in ever. In 2009, Kroc set a world record by squatting 1003 pounds, bench pressing 738 pounds and deadlifting 810 pounds. As one of the top strength athletes in the world, she was known for her intensity, toughness and perseverance. After years of internal conflict, Janae is finally transitioning her gender. Although her professional lifting career is over, she is embarking on another strength journey: helping people understand what being transgender means. In this episode, we share her story. Follow Post Script at SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/post-script-podcast

In 2001, an unknown Japanese eater named Takeru Kobayashi transformed the sport of competitive eating. The revolution took place on July 4th at the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest. Up until that day, the highest total at the competition had been 25 hot dogs in 12 minutes. With his unconventional style and relentless pace, Kobayashi doubled that total – reaching 50 hot dogs. No one saw it coming. Since 2001, the sport of competitive eating has changed dramatically. Kobayashi’s cutting-edge training strategies and eating style influenced a whole new generation of gorgers who are now breaking records that were unfathomable in the sport’s early days. In this episode, we’ll talk with Gersh Kuntzman, a veteran competitive eating reporter, about Kobayashi’s influence, why the Japanese star faded out of the spotlight, and how far the new generation of eaters can take the sport.

In 2013, Lance Armstrong sat down next to Oprah in Austin, Texas and finally admitted to using banned substances over his career. Since that interview, Armstrong hasn't just lost the public's trust -- he lost many of his closest friends, millions of dollars in sponsorships, his cancer foundation and his ability to compete. Two years later, the troubles are not over for the record-breaking cyclist. In fact, they could get worse financially. In this episode, we talk with Vanessa O'Connell, a 20-year veteran of the Wall Street Journal and co-author of a book detailing Armstrong's lies, about his life, career and legal troubles since the downfall.

Forty years ago, on April 28th, 1975, Newsweek magazine published an article that created one of the most pervasive scientific myths in modern history. It was a one-page story, buried in the middle of the magazine. But it became the most widely cited article in Newsweek’s history. The piece, called “A Cooling World," raised concerns about a global cooling trend. It was published on page 64. But it became front page news for climate skeptics, who point to it as proof that scientists were confused, or even deliberately misleading, about global warming. But those skeptics are wrong. There was no consensus among scientists about global cooling. In fact, the vast majority of papers in the 1970s were predicting planetary warming from greenhouse gases. In this episode, we'll revisit the myth 40 years later and explain why the science of global warming is stronger than ever.

Neetzan Zimmerman is one of the most successful “engineers” of viral content on the web. In 2008, he started a Tumblr called The Daily What, one of the early websites focused on aggregating viral stories. Neetzan didn’t have a background in journalism. But he was obsessed with writing about Internet culture, and he wanted to help people understand the inside jokes of the deep web. “It was trying to open up this byzantine world to potentially my mother or my grandmother and try to invite everybody in. My thinking was the more people we involve, the more fun we can all have,” said Zimmerman. For two years, Neetzan published 30 or more posts a day on his own, anonymously. Then his passion and addiction became a business. He eventually sold the Daily What, and in 2012, he moved to Gawker to begin a career in viral journalism. While there, Neetzan was generating more traffic than all the other writers combined. He was given appropriate title: Editor of the Internet. Shortly after Neetzan moved over to Gawker, he published a very important piece called, “This is How You Make Something Go Viral: An Impractical Guide.” In this episode of Post Script, we chat with him about how virality has evolved on the web. We’ll also talk about his new job at a Congressional newspaper in Washington, D.C., where he’s trying to apply his viral expertise.

Since its inception, Republicans have labeled the stimulus package a complete failure. But we no longer have political posturing as a way to gauge performance. Today, we have 6 years of experience and data. And economists are in agreement that the package created jobs and contributed to the rebound of the America’s economy. This week, we speak with Politico senior reporter Michael Grunwald, who’s been closely tracking the impact of the stimulus in helping America keep from collapse.

How does a company with 50 percent of the cellular phone market drop down to 1 percent in five years? This week, we'll explore the implosion of Blackberry, the iconic phone maker that has quickly become irrelevant in the consumer smart phone market. We'll talk with Jacquie McNish, the co-author of a new book called, "Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry." We'll discuss how Blackberry executives misread the rise of smart phones, and how a rift between the company's two CEOs paralyzed innovation.