As 2012 draws to a close, CJR writers brainstormed the year’s best reads in their beats.
The dream that failed —
The Economist’s special report on nuclear energy marking the first anniversary of the meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima power plant
Media blows hot air about dinosaur flatulence — Smithsonian Journalists carried away by speculation about Jurassic farts and climate change
‘NASA mohawk guy’ outshines Curiosity — From the Sidney Morning Herald: How a 32-year-old flight director went as viral as the Mars rover
Historic Jump Heralds Bold New Era of Humans Leaping Out of Space Capsules For No Reason — Slate wonders about the wonder of Fearless Felix’s record-breaking plummet
My So-Called Ex-Gay Life — A deep look in the Prospect at the fringe movement that just lost its only shred of scientific support
How Sandy slapped the sarcasm out of the Twitter — The New York Times‘s David Carr on watching his feed turn from prankish to practical
New light on the ‘Dark Lady of DNA’? — Boing Boing asks James Watson about the latest edition of The Double Helix
The bedbug bunk — How The New York Times used fear and misinformation to spread public library hysteria
Pollution, Poverty, People of Color — Environmental Health News’s poignant series on the toxic burden afflicting low-income communities
The Dilbit Disaster — Inside Climate News on the biggest oil spill you’ve never heard of
Curtis Brainard writes on science and environment reporting. Follow him on Twitter @cbrainard.