investigations

Fewer Newspapers= Death of Innocents

Hamilton Nolan · 05/21/09 09:35AM

What's the worst part of the decline of newspapers? Oh maybe it's all the innocent people who will DIE. Every time you don't buy a paper you practically slip the noose around a condemned man's neck!

Bill Clinton Wants His Domain Names Back

Owen Thomas · 04/12/09 04:00PM

In the late '90s, private investigator Joe Culligan registered presidentbillclinton.com and other Clintonesque domain names as a joke. Now Bill Clinton's lawyer is pursuing legal action to get the website addresses. It's payback, says Culligan.

Ann Coulter Under Investigation for Vote Fraud

Owen Thomas · 02/08/09 11:32AM

Everyone's favorite scary conservative harpy may have tried to subvert democracy, twice! Property records and lawsuits show that Ann Coulter voted in Connecticut while living in New York. Now officials are investigating.

American Apparel's Internal 'Bankrupt' Emails

Hamilton Nolan · 01/27/09 11:19AM

Simple patriotic pornographic clothing firm American Apparel is beset by trouble! Now the SEC is investigating the company. Because of fishy leaked emails. Which we have for you, below!

My Private Eye Saga: An Update

Hamilton Nolan · 11/25/08 01:31PM

Several months ago I found out that someone had hired a private investigator to go blundering around my hometown, harassing old acquaintances and trying to dig up dirt on me. I wrote all about it here. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the situation. Another private eye has been asking around about me here in NYC as recently as last week. But here's the good part: I now know who hired the PIs to go after me. They were angry about things I've written. To the culprit(s)—and I know you'll read this—now is your chance to email me and explain yourself. You should do so in the near future. If you don't tell me your story, you may find that someone else has told it for you. [I also know that there are people who knew that this was going on, but who were not responsible themselves, and who believe the whole thing was sleazy. I encourage you to email me as well.]

National Money Chief Exposed As Hairless Wharton Grad

Hamilton Nolan · 10/10/08 01:13PM

Either our nation's elite reporters are all snoozing, or our nation's young new bailout chief Neel Kashkari is a pretty boring guy (likely). But the WSJ today, after an exhaustive investigation, did manage to dig up this nugget: "'Everyone at Goldman has a full head of hair and went to prep school and Dartmouth and played lacrosse. That’s not Neel,' said an investment banker who knew him." Hey, remember Kevin Pollak in The Usual Suspects? "Did you put that together yourself, Einstein? Whattaya, got a team of monkeys working around on the clock on this?" [WSJ]

How To Be An Investigative Spy

Hamilton Nolan · 08/19/08 02:02PM

Recently BoingBoing filled its readers in on how to tap a phone line. It's not too hard! All you need are a lineman's handset, some recording equipment, and a free stretch of time to spend in jail. But incarceration isn't necessary if you're a real (amateur) investigative reporter; there are plenty of legal and semi-legal ways to gather info. After the jump, a complete guide to everything you need to set yourself up as a DIY spy. Only to be used for a righteous cause: Recording Phone Calls Federal law allows recording of phone calls with the consent of one party on the call, meaning you can legally record any phone calls you're a part of. State laws vary, however: in some states you must have the consent of both parties (not New York, though). See here for a full guide.

Banksy's Face

Hamilton Nolan · 08/07/08 01:19PM

The image on the left is a portrait by UK artist Mister Aitch (which we brought you last week along with several awesome action photos), showing semi-anonymous street artist-to-the-stars Banksy in profile, dressed as the Queen of England. The image on the right is the actual photo of Banksy from which the portrait was drawn. A tipster sent us the full photo-which, as far as we can tell, is not currently published anywhere-which is part of a set of photos taken of Banksy at work in Jamaica in 2004. The much-hyped "only known photo" of the artist is taken from this set. But after the jump, we have two more photos from that set, including one of the mystery man's face in profile:

Rare Photos Of Banksy In Action

Hamilton Nolan · 07/31/08 02:05PM

You thought that the search for new pictures of the mysterious world-famous street artist Banksy had come to an end? It has not! Our earlier shot at digging up photos of the maybe-identified but still unseen artist turned out to (probably) not be him. But! A tipster has sent us a lovely present: three still shots of Banksy in action, taken from a UK documentary filmed in 2000, when he was less obsessive about hiding his identity. We also have two photos of Banksy that were featured in an article in the UK's Squall magazine (now defunct) back in 2000. And for the finale: two art prints that are reportedly drawings of Banksy in profile, dressed as the Queen of England. None are full-on face shots; but this is probably the first time all these rarely-seen images have been collected in one place. Click through to explore. Stills from the 2000 UK documentary Boom or Bust, by filmmaker Si Mitchell:

Banksy vs. Banxy

Hamilton Nolan · 07/30/08 11:45AM

Well god damn. Banksy really is mysterious! A couple of weeks ago we showed you what was allegedly a 1999 photo of Banksy, the once-secret-but-now-maybe-not street artist. Before that, there had only been one known photo of the man in existence. But now...it looks like there's still only one known photo. Stupid Brits and their stupid names! Here's what happened: A tipster wrote in to point out that the new photo we found is probably not of Banksy, the artist; it's of Banxy, the break dancer. Well who the fuck can keep track, really? Banxy is a dancer and performer in the UK who once appeared in a dance TV show with Deborah Bull, the British ballet dancer who appears with "Banksy" in this photo:

The Magazine Industry's Dirty Little Secret

Hamilton Nolan · 07/16/08 02:34PM

The business of selling magazine subscriptions door-to-door is surprisingly shady. It consists largely of crews of young people-some under 18-recruited by (often) criminal characters who haul them around the country in vans, releasing them only to make their way through neighborhoods, using any lies necessary to tug the heartstrings of people enough to get them to buy something. Then all the kids are rounded up again, given their meager cut of the profits, and they all go do drugs. Sometimes they rape people, or drive off cliffs. The Houston Press just put out a monster investigation of the industry, and it shows a long but clear path from the offices of Conde Nast out to the wild kids hustling in the hinterlands. And there are some true horror stories:

Another Alleged Photo Of Banksy Surfaces

Hamilton Nolan · 07/15/08 02:46PM

For years, there has only been one known photograph of the supersecret celebrity street artist Banksy, whose identity was (probably) outed this week. That one was taken in Jamaica in 2004 by a photographer who, we hear, leaked it to the media after getting angry at the artist. That was the picture that the Daily Mail used as the key clue in its yearlong investigation of his true identity. But we've just been leaked another photo that supposedly shows Banksy in 1999.