@kimbucsis
Kim Bucsis
Is Gatorade actually better than water?Decades’ worth of Gatorade commercials have taught us two things: sports drinks hydrate you better than water, and it’s normal to sweat orange or blue liquid. Neither of these things is true, but it does bring us to another interesting point, which is that few of us really understand why we might be consuming sports drinks in the first place.
12020 Hospital Guide and RankingsWelcome to the Washington Monthly’s Best Hospitals for America rankings, where we rate hospitals on how well they save lives, save money, and serve everyone. It’s our answer to U.S. News’ hospital rankings, which rewards hospitals for their reputations and record of delivering expensive special ...
1Bad Blood: The Hidden Horror of the Tuskegee Syphilis StudyIn September 1932, Public Health Service officials recruited 600 Black men in Tuskegee, Alabama, to receive treatment for “bad blood.” The men had no idea they had become unwitting participants in one of the most controversial medical studies in recent times.
1What was it like to be a Nintendo game play counselor?With so many entertainment options available to consumers today, the bygone era of all-encompassing Nintendo mania in America seems quaint. During the late ’80s and into the early ’90s, the company’s characters were licensed for breakfast cereal, trading cards, clothing, and even ceiling fans as its gaming systems became a way of life. In 1989 alone, the company sold $2.7 billion of product—spurring The Los Angeles Times to proclaim that Nintendo has “suddenly become a pervasive, possibly even significant cultural force.” To many desperate players, though, the company’s stars weren’t Mario and Link but rather the oracle-like game play counselors who manned the “Powerline” tip hotline. These experts doled out advice and secrets to players stuck on the trickiest parts of NES games. The 8-bit (and later 16-bit) brain-trust was based at Nintendo Of America’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, 15 miles outside of Seattle. By calling the counselors at (206) 885-PLAY, players could get one-on-one instruction to defeat a pesky boss or navigate a challenging dungeon.