MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant Winners Leak

It’s Christmas come early for recipients of the MacArthur “genius” grant. Ahead of the foundation’s press embargo, The Sun Herald accidentally published the list of this year’s “genius” grant recipients, a glaring mistake made even more obvious by the caption under their photo, which reads “hold for release at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.” All of the 24 winners, which vary from jazz composers to organic chemists, will receive $625,000 over the course of the next five years—money that they can spend on, virtually, whatever they want. Among the winners is the 32-year-old author of Swamplandia!, Karen Russell.