When a hurricane tears through a coastal town or a flood swallows an entire neighborhood, the first thing many of us do is reach for our phones. We check on loved ones, we scroll for updates, we look for answers. But in that frantic blur of fear and uncertainty, we are also especially vulnerable to stories that tell us what to think and who to blame. A study published in the Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, titled Amplifying the Storm, looks closely at this exact vulnerability. The researchers wanted to understand how right-wing extremist Telegram channels use natural disasters as…

In Duluth, Minnesota, a quiet professional life has collided with serious accusations that reach into the heart of public trust. Peter Meilahn, a Duluth psychotherapist, is among nine people charged in a statewide Medicaid fraud crackdown, but his case stands apart for its sheer scale. Court documents allege that Meilahn billed Medicaid more than 27,000 times for services he never actually provided, a pattern of fraudulent claims that reportedly added up to $2.2 million in taxpayer-funded waste and abuse. Meilahn ran an organization called Individual Services, which once had an office space in downtown Duluth, a location that would have…