The leader of a Church of England ‘sex cult’ has been convicted three decades after its collapse. Why did the Church fail to learn lessons from the scandal? (O’Neill & Bradley, The Times UK)
Read MoreForget passive viewing. Audiences today want to step inside the story. Find out what goes into creating an immersive experience, and why they’re having a moment for audiences. (Green, USA Today)
Read MorePublishers are frantically searching for the next breakout romantasy series. Last year, romantasy sales topped more than 32 million copies in print alone, a 47 percent jump over the previous year, according to Circana Bookscan. Five of the 10 best-selling adult fiction titles this year are romantasies. (Alter, The New York Times)
Read MoreOver the past decade, organized crime gangs working out of Southeast Asia have scammed people out of billions of dollars. Operating giant scam compounds—where experts estimate around 200,000 victims of human trafficking have been forced to run scams 24 hours a day—the criminal enterprises have used an array of romance, cryptocurrency investment, and impersonation fraud to target thousands of people around the world. Now new research reveals that the already chilling scam compounds may have an even darker underbelly. (Burgess & Newman, Wired)
Read MoreTexas cannot require public schools in Houston, Austin and other select districts to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, a judge said Wednesday in a temporary ruling against the state’s new requirement. Texas is the third state where courts have blocked recent laws about putting the Ten Commandments in schools. (DeMillo, AP News)
Read MoreA study of 43 Christian worshippers by Duke University researchers offers some indications. The small study, published in the journal Psychology of Religion and Spirituality in July, suggests virtual church services are less effective on some individual measures than in-person worship. (Shimron, Religion News Service)
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