Scott’s face, in this shot, is a whole novel, disintegrating into tears before being shored up again, eventually rearranged into something resembling a welcoming smile that teeters on the edge of collapse.
—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
15 Sep. 2026
The 110-floor south tower, struck shortly after the north tower by another plane, was disintegrating.
Fifteen months later, 56 decomposing bodies were found at their South Chicago Chapel.
—
Susana Mendoza,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Sep. 2026
As excavations for the foundation got underway, bones and decomposing bodies were found, releasing a horrid odor and spreading yellow fever across the island.
Anna Anosowicz’s highly resourceful production design makes excellent use of existing midcentury brutalist architecture and far more ancient, enduring structures, all moldering under superficially futuristic window-dressing.
—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
20 Aug. 2026
Developer John Dewberry is responsible for the site, and has a reputation for leaving half-finished, moldering construction projects in his wake.
In 1963, Gloria Steinem went undercover for a journalism assignment as a Playboy bunny, exposing degrading working conditions that forced policy changes.
—
Emily St. Martin,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Sep. 2026
While some look at this aesthetic as idealizing a time where women had fewer rights and independence, many trad wives do not think their roles are degrading.
Transportation officials posted a video showing severe erosion jeopardizing the train tracks used by Metrolink in San Clemente, with strong ocean waves crashing on the tracks and sediment crumbling onto the rocks below.
—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Sep. 2026
Vigiano was assigned to NYPD Emergency Services Unit Truck 2 on 9/11 and was one of the first to rush into the crumbling World Trade Center complex.
Seemingly, the only thing that could slow down the automobile takeover was diminishing fuel supplies, fear of which had become a fixation of American oil companies and government officials after the Armistice.
—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2026
Having already weathered so many attacks aimed at diminishing its power, the remaining Iranian leadership, which learned to tolerate hardship in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, is unlikely to be cowed by further aggression.
And by engaging with these powerful militaries, the group reinforced its self-image as a major regional player that was uniquely capable of liberating the Muslim world from corrupting American and Israeli influence.
—
April Longley Alley,
Foreign Affairs,
11 Sep. 2026
Gadgets with screens of any size have long been allegedly melting, rotting, and/or corrupting the brains of youths for decades.
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