Justin Higginbottom

Print and radio journalist

Stories

NPR •

Authorities don't know who is shooting free-roaming horses in the Utah desert

On a remote patch of Utah desert bordering the Navajo Nation in Utah, hundreds of horses roam free on the shrubby desert that stretches across red rock canyons all the way to the forested slopes of Bears Ears National Monument. To some, they're majestic wildlife that symbolize the freedom of wide-open western landscapes. To others, they're an out of control population displacing cattle and damaging the ec
The New Republic •

The “Psychonauts” Training to Explore Another Dimension

Kevin Thorbahn found himself in a hotel lobby without quite remembering how he got there. There were flashes of brilliant light, indescribable geometric patterns, and the feeling of being blasted through a gigantic stained glass window. And then he was standing in the lobby, as if checking in for a long-planned vacation. All he knew was that he was enamored with the woman behind the counter. Although “woman” wasn’t quite right—it was more like an outline of energy, a feminine purple hue.
The Independent •

Inside America’s ‘Bermuda Triangle for missing people’

On a still-cold April morning at her home in Farmington, New Mexico, Bernadine Beyale knelt next to two of her dogs – the German Shepherd Trigger and a Czech Shepherd named Gunny – and applied juniper ash above their eyes.

Her Frenchie dog thought Beyale was dispensing treats and bullishingly lined up. So Beyale blessed him too in the Navajo way, even though he would be staying behind today.

Trigger and Gunny, meanwhile, were heading to work.

Beyale is the founder of Four Corners K9 Search an
Truly Adventurous •

Dojo Wars

On the night of April 24, 1970, a historic karate brawl broke out in Chicago between senseis and students from rival dojos (karate centers). The fight was not for an audience or a trophy. No one had seen anything like it outside of the movies. One thing was certain: Not everyone was going to get out alive.

They were introduced as the Dragon Lady and Count Dante.

Christy Carter, a 22-year-old Playboy Club bunny, sat next to John Keehan, 29, one of the country’s best known martial artists, on th
CNBC •

'They will destroy everything here': Turkish advance forces Syrians to flee homes as winter looms

Sleman Alshallah, 40, gathered his wife and five children outside his home with what little they owned — cooking pots, blankets and a rug — in the small northern Syrian farming village of Am Alkef last week. "We are ready to leave at any hour," said Alshallah.


It would be difficult to abandon his grandparents' farm and only source of income, he said. He looked north, in the direction of Turkey and dull thuds of fighting, where a mile away was the last defense against the adv
Atlas Obscura •

How an Abandoned Modernist Cinema Became a Revolutionary Symbol in Lebanon

A few months ago, a trickle of protesters converged on downtown Beirut, spurred by a proposed tax on the text-messaging platform WhatsApp. Within a few days, the crowd had swelled, and so had its aims: Demonstrators spoke out against sectarian rule, unemployment, and development that had transformed the area where they were standing into a playground for the rich. Their efforts helped oust the prime minister, but the protests have continued, and they have faced violent crackdowns by security for
KUER •

CIA Paranormal Program Finds New Life In Utah

Paul Smith’s psychic school is located in an industrial park on the outskirts of Cedar City. It could be an accountant's office except for a decal of a pyramid and an all-seeing eye on the door.

It’s called Remote Viewing Instructional Services, and inside half a dozen students hailing from Colorado to Canada are practicing before their first session.

Remote viewing is a form of extrasensory perception, or ESP, where practitioners learn to describe an object, which might be on the other side o
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