• An image from Brett Kavanaugh's testimony as he denied sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford has gone viral.
• The image shows the women behind Kavanaugh scowling and crying as he became visibly angry during his hearing.
• Many saw it as a wider symbol of how women were reacting to Kavanaugh's alleged actions and the visible emotion that Blasey Ford displayed during her testimony. 
• But those sat behind him are actually friends, family, and allies.
• Here's who is in the photo and how they have expressed support for Kavanaugh.

Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused him of sexual assault, delivered powerful testimonies to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday about the alleged incident.

For some watching, one of the most striking things during Kavanaugh's testimony was his visible anger and the reactions of the women sat behind him, who cried and scowled as he categorically denied the accusations against him.

The photo went viral on Twitter, where many saw it as a wider symbol of how women were reacting to Kavanaugh's alleged actions and the visible emotion that Blasey Ford displayed during her testimony. 

But others pointed out that those sat behind Kavanaugh were his friends and allies and that, rather than acting disgusted with what he said, they were likely mirroring the anger that he expressed during his speech.

Who is in the photo

Kavanaugh's parents, Everett and Martha Kavanaugh, sit on the left of the photo. The pair has been supportive of Kavanaugh and were at his confirmation hearings, which took place before the allegations went public. In his prepared opening statement, which he did not read on Thursday, he called his mom one of his "judicial heroes."

Laura Cox Kaplan, a friend of Kavanaugh, sits beside them. Her Twitter account shows her vocal support for Kavanaugh. Her husband, Joel Kaplan, Facebook's public policy chief, is behind her, with the blue tie. 

Kavanaugh's wife, Ashley, is to his left. She entered the hearing on Thursday holding hands with her husband and has appeared with the pair's daughters at press conferences since the allegations went public. She also appeared beside him in a Fox News interview where he denied ever sexually assaulting anyone.

Suzanne Mattan, a school friend of Kavanaugh, is to his right. Mattan told Fox News in September that she first met Kavanaugh in high school when they became friends. She said that "the allegation is something that is completely opposite of the Brett that I knew then and the Brett that I know now."

Zina Bash, a former clerk for Kavanaugh, is to her right. Bash also previously served as special assistant to the president for regulatory reform, legal, and immigration policy. Kavanaugh prides himself on taking on a gender imbalance in the legal profession by hiring female clerks, and mentioned it during th hearing. 

White House counsel Don McGahn is to the right of the photograph. Kavanaugh was urged repeatedly by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin to turn to McGahn and request the FBI investigate the claims and clear his name. McGahn, who is set to leave his role soon, had advocated for Kavanaugh.

SEE ALSO: Republicans sustain critical self-inflicted wound from emotionally painful Kavanaugh hearing

SEE ALSO: American Bar Association urges lawmakers to shelve Kavanaugh voting until a 'thorough FBI investigation' is conducted

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• Business Insider spoke to Will Corby, Head of Coffee at Pact, to find out what bad habits we're keeping.
• He said people should treat coffee like vegetables and bread rather than a long-term product.
• He also explained why cheap instant coffee should be a red flag.

Whether it's choosing the wrong glass for your wine or abiding by old-school whisky rules, we make mistakes every day when it comes to how we eat and drink.

And buying and making coffee is no exception.

To find out what we're doing wrong when we buy, order, and drink it, Business Insider spoke to Will Corby, head of coffee at Pact Coffee, a London startup that delivers freshly roasted and ground coffee by post.

Corby has been working in the coffee industry for 12 years, has won and judged global barista awards, ran his own coffee shops, and also has experience roasting.

"For the past 12 years, I've specialised in the absolute pinnacle of coffee quality and optimising the process of growing it, shipping it, importing it, brewing it," he said. 

He's also been a head judge — appointed by the Colombian government — for the Colombian National Quality Competition for the past two years.

Now at Pact Coffee, he works on relationships with coffee founders to "develop practices, and increase quality and production in a sustainable manner," he said.

"We want to show the coffee in the best light we can, brew the coffee in the best possible way, [and] provide it to [people] in a way that makes it easy."

However, he said there's a lot of steps that go into making sure people have a good cup of coffee every day — and there are plenty of things you can do to make sure you're getting the most out of your java.

SEE ALSO: The biggest mistake people make when drinking wine is choosing the wrong glass — here's exactly how to drink Bordeaux, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and pinot noir

SEE ALSO: The 3 mistakes people make when buying, ordering, and drinking whisky — and what to do instead

1. Not buying it fresh like you would vegetables or bread...

"If you walk into a supermarket in the UK, coffee is treated like a dried fruit," Cory said. "You find it in an aisle with cereal, dried peas, long-life things."

However, he explained, coffee isn’t really a long-life product.

"One of the key things to explore is to drink your coffee really fresh," he said. "Think about it like fresh bread or vegetables."

One of the ways to do this is through a service like Pact, which sends out the coffee the day after it's been roasted, or from a local coffee shop or roaster.

2. ...Then keeping it for longer than a month

Coffee in the UK tends to be sold in 250g bags, according to Corby, which typically makes 13, 14, or 15 cups of coffee.

"That's about two-week supply if you drink it every day," he said, the ideal timeframe.

"You could be drinking it up to a month after it's been ground, but you’ll notice a drop off in the quality," he said. "After a month, it will begin to taste stale."

He added that every time you open and close the bag, you’re "allowing the aromatics to escape," meaning your coffee is losing its flavour.

3. Not making sure your grind size is consistent

You can usually buy whole beans or ground coffee suited for a cafetiere, drip, or a stove-top.

While this means you can successfully brew coffee in any of these methods, he said getting a consistent grind size is the real way to get a "really good brew" out of any method.

"Relatively small particles are going to over-extract, and make coffee taste more bitter than it should," he said.

Meanwhile, he added that large particles "add a [taste] that feels like acidity, which isn’t very pleasant."

A "mish-mash" of both will provide "an astringent flavour," according to Corby.

"You need to buy coffee that is ground quite specifically for the brew method you’re going to use to do it," he said.  "Once you have particles your own size, brew the coffee."

• President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh mentioned beer and enjoying beer almost 30 times while denying drunkenly sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford.
• Key to Kavanaugh's defense was that he had never drank beer to the point of memory loss, but he strongly defended his beer drinking and the habit generally. 
• At one point, Kavanaugh asked a Senator if they like drinking beer too.

Brett Kavanaugh gave a spirited defense of his conduct and character at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, during which he was accused of drunken sexual assault, but mentioned drinking beer nearly 30 times. 

President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee said a number of times that he had never drank to the point of memory loss. He was defending against Palo Alto University professor Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that he attempted to rape her at a high school party in 1982 while under the influence of alcohol.

But bizarrely, a refrain of Kavanaugh's defense became repeated iterations of some version of "I like beer."

In total, Kavanaugh mentioned "beer" 29 times. Kavanaugh conceded that most of his social functions in high school involved beer drinking that, despite his claims to the contrary, violated state law at the time.

"I liked beer. I still like beer. But I did not drink beer to the point of blacking out, and I never sexually assaulted anyone," Kavanaugh said during his opening statement. 

"There is a bright line between drinking beer, which I gladly do, and which I fully embrace, and sexually assaulting someone, which is a violent crime. If every American who drinks beer or every American who drank beer in high school is suddenly presumed guilty of sexual assault, will be an ugly, new place in this country," he continued, in what became seemingly a defense of beer drinking itself. 

"I liked beer. Still like beer. We drank beer," Kavanaugh responded to a question about his past intoxication.

Asked if Kavanaugh had ever suffered memory loss during a time that he had been drinking, Kavanaugh said no, but still defended beer drinking.

"We drank beer, and you know, so — so did, I think, the vast majority of — of people our age at the time. But in any event, we drank beer, and — and still do. So whatever, you know," Kavanaugh replied. 

When further drilled on his past drinking, Kavanaugh began questioning the senators if they liked beer too.

When being questioned about the word "ralph" included in his yearbook, and whether it referred to Kavanaugh drinking to the point of throwing up, Kavanaugh demurred and instead talked about beer drinking generally.

"Do you like beer, Senator, or not?" Kavanaugh asked Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse after tacitly admitting to having vomited from too much beer drinking. 

" Um, next" replied Whitehouse, who continued to ask about his yearbook entries. 

The Committee is set to vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation on Friday morning. 

BuzzFeed and others cut together Kavanaugh's beer references, a number of which went viral on Twitter. Here's BuzzFeed's version:

SEE ALSO: Republicans sustain critical self-inflicted wound from emotionally painful Kavanaugh hearing

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• Before the Senate has even voted on whether or not to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Democrats have begun talking about impeaching him from the court. 
• Democrats stand to potentially win back the Senate in the 2018 midterm elections, and could use that opportunity to dig into Kavanaugh and possibly have him impeached.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation on Friday, potentially advancing him to a wider Senate vote and eventual confirmation to the Supreme Court.

Before the Senate has even voted on whether or not to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Democrats have begun talking about impeaching him from the court. 

"Based on the numerous allegations of sexual assault against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, including these new criminal allegations by Julie Swetnick, the House Judiciary Committee must immediately start an investigation into Judge Kavanaugh to see if he should be impeached," Ted Lieu, a California Democratic Congressman tweeted on Wednesday.

Lieu's tweet refers to Swetnick, the Kavanaugh accusers who alleges he and friends held parties and plied women with drugs and alcohol to facilitate gang raping them. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation on Friday, which would potentially advance him to a wider Senate vote, and eventual confirmation as a Supreme Court Justice.

The news website Axios quoted a well-known, but unnamed, Democratic strategist on Friday as saying that among the minority Democratic party, if Kavanaugh gets confirmed, it's "only question is who calls for it [impeachment] first."

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat, told CNN on Thursday: "As soon as Democrats get gavels we're going to want to get to the bottom of this." It implies that Democratic wins in 2018 could tip the balance of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and allow the current minority party to dig into Kavanaugh.

With Kavanaugh's confirmation vote set for Friday, and the schedule permitting his ascension to the Supreme Court as quickly as next week, Democrats' only option to oppose Kavanaugh may be impeachment.

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NOW WATCH: Inside the Trump 'MAGA' hat factory

• The US National Sex Assault Hotline say they got 147% more calls on the day of the Brett Kavanaugh hearing.
• The hotline also got a spike in calls when the Access Hollywood tape emerged of President Donald Trump saying he could "grab ’em [women] by the p----," in 2016. 
• Kavanaugh, a Supreme Court nominee, was in front of the Senate Judiciary Committe on Thursday testifying against claims he sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in High School. 
• Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick also accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in high school and college.

The US National Sexual Assault Hotline says it received a record number of calls on Thursday – the same day as Brett Kavanaugh testified before the Senate Judiciary Committe defending himself against sexual assault allegations.

The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) runs the 24/7 hotline and said on their official twitter page on Thursday they had 147% more calls than on a normal weekday.

RAINN told Time on Thursday that since Ford came forward with her allegations, they have also seen a 46%  increase in calls compared to the same time period last year.

Kavanaugh is accused sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford 36 years ago, and defended himself in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Ford also gave testimony and said she was 100% sure he sexually assaulted her.

Ford shared harrowing details of her experience, recalling the "uproarious laughter" of her attackers and describing it as having been burned in her memory. 

At least two other women have accused Kavanaugh of sexual impropriety – Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick.

The Senate Committe will give their verdict on Friday morning.

Read a full and in-depth report of Thursday's hearing here.

This is not the first time that public accusations of sexual assault have motivated victims to come forward.

In October 2016, when the Access Hollywood tape of President Donald Trump saying he could get women and "grab ’em by the p----" was released, calls to the same sexual assault hotline went up 33%, Time Magazine reported.

Anyone looking talk about sexual assault can visit RAINN’s online hotline or call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673.

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• John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix make "The Sisters Brothers" one of the most unique Westerns you'll ever see.
• Though there are great gun fights and beautiful images, it's the unique story that will grab you.

Every weekend we pick an indie movie currently playing in theaters we think is definitely worth your time and money, and this week's is "The Sisters Brothers."

The Western genre has been around for so long that, if you're a fan, it can be easy to feel like you've seen it all. But then a movie like "The Sisters Brothers" comes along and it makes you realize that's not the case.

In the first film with spoken English by French director Jacques Audiard ("Rust and Bone," "A Prophet"), this adaptation of the Patrick DeWitt book is a beautifully shot and incredibly acted story that goes beyond most Westerns of this era. Set around the gold rush, the film deeply explores its two main characters as well as the hope for a better future.

That may sound on the surface like dozens of other Westerns, but it's the tone Audiard brings and the performances by John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix playing the brothers (along with Riz Ahmed and Jake Gyllenhaal in supporting roles) that elevates this work.

Eli (Reilly) and Charlie (Phoenix) may be two of the deadliest killers of the 1850s, and when they are tasked with taking out a gold prospector (Ahmed), their success is believed to be a forgone conclusion. But it's the way the brothers see the world and feel there's more out there for them that truly fuels the movie, taking you to places you never thought it would go.

There's beautiful cinematography (including the opening sequence which is lit mainly by the flashes of gunfire between the brothers and the men they have been hired to take out), thrilling gunfights, and incredible attention to detail through the production design. But this is a movie that's looking at men at the cusp of progress in America, men who want to be a part of it and find wealth from it — well, at least until things go horribly wrong.

Even if you're not a Western fan, if you enjoy great storytelling, don't miss this one.

See where "The Sisters Brothers" is playing near you.

Our indie movie picks from previous weekends:

• "Eighth Grade"
• "Blindspotting"
• "The Miseducation of Cameron Post"
• "BlacKkKlansman"
• "Support the Girls"
• "Sorry to Bother You"
• "Operation Finale"
• "Lizzie"
• "Assassination Nation"

SEE ALSO: John C. Reilly on long silent walks with Joaquin Phoenix, a tearful farewell to a horse, and almost losing the part he wanted in "The Sisters Brothers"

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NOW WATCH: How actors fake fight in movies

• The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on whether to favorably recommend the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at 1:30 p.m. ET on Friday.
• The vote comes after a historic day of emotional testimony from him and Christine Blasey Ford, the psychology professor who accuses him of sexually assaulting her in high school.
• If the committee votes to advance his nomination, the first procedural floor vote is set to take place Saturday. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Friday on whether to favorably recommend the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at 1:30 p.m. ET following a dramatic, marathon day of testimony from him and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in high school.

Here's a brief rundown of what's happened so far Friday:

• The committee convened Friday morning to consider motions surrounding the vote.
• Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, raised a motion to issue a subpoena to Mark Judge, the man who Ford says was in the room during the alleged assault.
• The committee voted against the motion, 11-10, on party lines.
• The committee then voted 11-8 to hold a vote at 1:30 p.m., with Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California abstaining out of protest. In voting no, Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii was overheard saying, "The ram job continues."
• A handful of Democrats subsequently walked out of the meeting, including Harris, Blumenthal, and Hirono, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

The committee is composed of 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. While most Republicans on the committee are expected to vote to give Kavanaugh a favorable recommendation, all eyes will be on undecided Republicans who could sway the vote.

Shortly before the vote, Sen. Jeff Flake, who was previously undecided, announced he would support Kavanaugh.

Ford, a psychology professor in California, accuses Kavanaugh of groping and attempting to rape her during a Maryland house party in 1982, when he was 17 and she was 15. 

"This isn't easy for anybody," Flake told reporters after the testimony on Thursday. "Some of us have been talking for a while — similar questions I guess."

If Kavanaugh's nomination makes it out of committee, the first procedural floor vote to advance his confirmation is scheduled for Saturday at noon ET.

Both Ford and Kavanaugh delivered highly emotional testimonies that captivated the nation and the world. While Ford said she was "terrified" to be in the spotlight and held back tears at time, she delivered a thorough and steady recounting of the assault and its effects on her life, weaving in her scientific expertise on the effects of trauma on the brain. 

When Kavanaugh took the stand, he gave a passionate, vehement, and sometimes angry denial of the allegations, sparring with senators and accusing Democratic forces of concocting a plot to tank his nomination.

He delved deep into details about his life in high school and touted his record of supporting and advancing the careers of female lawyers to defend both his qualifications to be on the Supreme Court — and his honor. Republicans left the day perhaps rallied even more around his nomination, even as some senators remained on the fence.

"It's shameful what has gone on in this country in the last two weeks," Montana Sen. Steve Daines told Business Insider. "This has brought the United States Senate to an all-time low."

After the hearings, the American Bar Association took the extraordinary step of recommending an FBI investigation into the allegations before proceeding with his confirmation.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

Read Business Insider's full coverage of the Ford-Kavanaugh hearing:

• Full recap of the Ford-Kavanaugh hearing here
• 'I am terrified': Ford details her sexual-assault allegation in gut-wrenching opening statement
• 'I will not be intimidated into withdrawing': Kavanaugh defiant in prepared remarks for Senate hearing
• Ford says the strongest memory she has of Kavanaugh's alleged sexual assault was 'the uproarious laughter'
• Ford says she decided to come forward after reporters were sitting outside of her house and showing up in her classroom where she taught
• Here is the polygraph test Ford took following her sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh
• Meet Mark Judge, Kavanaugh's high-school friend and the other man who's becoming central to the allegations
• Here are all the allegations against Kavanaugh
• How the Ford-Kavanaugh hearing compares to the 1991 Anita Hill hearing
• Meet Rachel Mitchell, the woman questioning Ford about her Kavanaugh allegations
• Meet Brett Kavanaugh, 'the Forrest Gump of Republican politics'

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• President Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the Supreme Court.
• The Senate, tasked with the confirmation process, is split at 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats.
• Republicans will need a minimum of 50 votes, because Vice President Mike Pence can cast a tie-breaker.

When President Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals judge, to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court left by retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, it immediately created a horse race for Republicans to lock down at least 50 votes in his favor. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are looking to block the nominee.

Because of the split nature of the Senate, in which Republicans control 51 seats and Democrats have 49 (including two independents who caucus with Democrats), the confirmation process will come down to the wire. Republicans need a minimum of 50 votes, creating a scenario in which Vice President Mike Pence could cast the deciding vote as the tie-breaker.

Most senators are reliable to toe the party line as to how they vote for Kavanaugh. But the vote count will likely be closer than ever, because of a mix of two moderate Republican in Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, along with a handful of Democrats facing tough reelection bids this November in traditionally red states.

The Senate Judiciary Committee's series confirmation hearing for Kavanaugh began on Tuesday, September 4, when political infighting enveloped much of the panel. But the committee's chairman, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, vowed to continue moving forward with the process.

Kavanaugh's confirmation appeared to be on the ropes when a woman came forward accusing him of sexually assaulting her when they were both teenagers in the early 1980s.

The Judiciary Committee heard additional testimony on September 27 from Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Kavanaugh, has declined to testify until the FBI has investigated the matter.

This graphic serves as an ongoing whip count of who is leaning which way and whose final vote is still up in the air. It will be updated accordingly.

SEE ALSO: Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination has suddenly gotten back on track as Republicans grow impatient with his accuser

DON'T MISS: The woman accusing Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault reportedly had to move out of her house and hire private security after receiving death threats

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• Sen. Jeff Flake announced on Friday morning that he will vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court — and faced immediate backlash from protesters and survivors of sexual violence.
• "You have power when so many women are powerless," one said.

Sen. Jeff Flake announced on Friday morning that he will vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, who's been accused by three women of sexual misconduct, to the Supreme Court — and faced immediate backlash from protesters, some of them survivors of sexual violence.

Minutes before the Senate Judiciary Committee met on Friday morning to conduct a committee vote on the nominee, Flake and an aide were cornered in a Senate elevator by female protesters.

"I told the story of my sexual assault. I told it because I recognized the story that she is telling the truth. What you are doing is allowing someone who actually violating a woman to sit on the Supreme Court. This is not tolerable," one protester said. "I have two children. I cannot imagine that for the next 40 years they will have to have someone in the Supreme Court who has been accused of violating a young girl. What are you doing, sir?"

Flake, who had been seen as a possible swing vote in the confirmation, nodded and said he needed to get to the vote. 

"You're telling all women that they don't matter, that they should just stay quiet because if they tell you what happened to them you are going to ignore them," another protester said, close to tears. "That's what you're telling me when you vote for him. Don't look away from me."

Another protester said, "You have power when so many women are powerless."

Flake released a statement on Friday morning announcing that he would cast his vote for the judge. 

"After hearing more than 30 hours of testimony from Judge Kavanaugh earlier this month, I was prepared to support his nomination based on his view of the law and his record as a judge" he said in a statement explaining his vote.

Flake called Christine Blasey Ford's Senate testimony regarding her sexual assault allegation "compelling," and Kavanaugh's subsequent testimony denying the allegations "persuasive," but said that he will never know for sure which person is telling the truth. Flake never called for an FBI investigation. 

"I wish that I could express the confidence that some of my colleagues have conveyed about what either did or did not happen in the early 1980s, but I left the hearing yesterday with as much doubt as certainty," he said. 

SEE ALSO: Christine Blasey Ford says she's '100%' certain Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school

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NOW WATCH: Inside the Trump 'MAGA' hat factory

Each year people break out their cameras and microscopes for the Nikon Small World Motion Photomicrography Competition. The submissions give us a unique glimpse into the realm of the extremely tiny. Watch a flea giving birth and clock ticking away time like you've never seen before. Learn more about this year's competition here and check out the gallery page. Following is a transcript of the video.

Just beyond the limits of human sight is an unseen universe that microscopes can explore. These are the gears of ap pocket watch ticking away time. Some of this footage is helping researchers crack nature's mysteries like this video filmed over 16 hours. It reveals how a baby Zebrafish's nervous system develops. The video won 1st place at this year's Nikon Small World competition. In 2nd place were these electrifying green bolts. They're actually a laser beam shooting through soap bubbles bending and refracting into a dazzling display of light. And in 3rd place was this marine worm. No, it's not playing an instrument. It's just trying to swallow something. The animal's mostly transparent body offers a clear look at its organs. In 4th place is this footage of an expectant mother. She's a tiny Daphnia water flea and is having twins!

But these award winners are just the tip of the iceberg. Here are some more honorable mentions. Everybody starts somewhere and if you're a baby stinkbug, then its' an egg hatching under a leaf. Ever seen the skin of a squid? It's full of cells called chromatophores. Alone these pigment-filled cells look rather strange. But together they help the animal change color on a whim. What about these growing golden crystals/ Just a bit of soy sauce that's drying up. The salts begin to crystallize as the water evaporates away. Microstomum lineare: an aquatic worm that likes to wriggle. These fat cells of a mouse are dividing and multiplying. Oh hello there, little larva of a Japanese mantis shrimp. This creature is magnified about four to six times. Inside each of our cells is a dynamic network of structural tubes and our bodies are constantly fighting off enemies including the cancer cells in this tissue. The microscopic world around us is mesmerizing to watch. Each clip shown was a finalist in this year's annual Nikon Small World in Motion Photomicrography Competition.

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In 1990, after a record high 2,262 homicides, some called New York City the "murder capital" of the country. But since then, the murder rate has steadily declined.

The Big Apple had about 290 homicides in 2017, the lowest in 70 years, according to the New York Daily News.

Some have even dubbed today's NYC "the safest big city" in the US.

To get a better sense of what NYC's streets are like these days, we spent three nights with NY Daily News crime reporter Kerry Burke, considered by many to be the best in the city.

Burke, 55, reported from ground zero on 9/11, helped break the Eric Garner story, and was even on a few episodes of Bravo's "Tabloid Wars" in 2006. He said he had been to roughly four shootings a week since he started the job 16 years ago.

The first night we spent with Kerry passed with few incidents — perhaps a sign of the safer times. But the last two nights told a different story.

Here's what we saw.

(This story was originally published in September 2017.)

SEE ALSO: I spent the weekend with a homeless community in New York to see what it's really like to live on the streets

DON'T MISS: I covered murders during Chicago's deadliest year in decades — here's what I saw

Night 1: I met Burke in the Bronx while he was trying to find a man who had just been acquitted on murder charges.

"How are ya, Mr. Brown?" he said in a Boston accent.

Burke, who grew up in Boston's Dorchester housing projects, was rather formal at first, but switched right away to "bro" or "brotha," like he called almost every other guy I met with him.

He filled me in on the details about the man he was looking for before we walked to the guy's last known address.

Residents in the building told him the man no longer lived there, so Burke asked people in other buildings and nearby stores whether they knew him.

"Bodegas are the best," he said. "They know everything that goes on in the neighborhood, and they know everybody."

He walked into one unlocked neighboring apartment building and knocked on doors.

Burke was adept at talking to and gaining the trust of all different sorts of people, and he stressed the importance of being polite.

"Maybe it's because I'm a troubled Catholic that I always say thank you," Burke said, adding that he "might have to come back" to get more information too.

After about an hour or so, Burke was able to get the man's phone number but was unable to reach him.

He later heard that a murder suspect was being questioned at the 32nd precinct and decided to go wait outside in the hopes of getting a statement when the suspect walked out.

Around 11 p.m., the suspect's cousin walked out of the precinct. Burke asked him a few questions but didn't get much.

Throughout the eight hours I spent with Burke that first night, there were no homicides and only one shooting — a man hit in the buttocks.

The victim was immediately stabilized, and since the incident was not serious and happened more than an hour away from us, we didn't go.

I took the lack of homicides or serious shootings during Burke's shift — especially given it was a Friday night — as a good sign. But it was only the first night.

• On Friday morning, Sen. Dianne Feinstein condemned Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's behavior during his Senate testimony on Thursday.
• During his four-hour testimony, Kavanaugh called the sexual misconduct allegations against him "a calculated and orchestrated political hit" and accused Democrats of using him to take "revenge on behalf of the Clintons."
• Feinstein said Kavanaugh's partisan attacks on the Judiciary Committee Democrats should disqualify him from sitting on the nation's highest court.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, condemned Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's behavior during his Senate testimony on Thursday, during which he defended himself against sexual misconduct allegations. 

During four hours of emotional, combative testimony, Kavanaugh described the allegations against him — which have been made by three women — as "a calculated and orchestrated political hit" and a "coordinated and well-funded effort to destroy my good name and to destroy my family." He also suggested that the attacks on him are Democrats taking "revenge on behalf of the Clintons." 

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Friday morning, Feinstein said Kavanaugh's partisan attacks and combative responses to Democrats' questions on Thursday were unprecedented for a presidential nominee. 

"Candidly, in the 25 years on this committee, I have never seen a nominee for any position behave in that manner," Feinstein said. "Judge Kavanaugh used as much political rhetoric as my Republican colleagues and what's more, he went on the attack."

The senator went on to say that Kavanaugh's performance on Thursday should disqualify him from sitting on the nation's highest court. 

"This was not someone who reflected an impartial temperament or the fairness and even-handedness one would see in a judge," she said. "This was someone who was aggressive and belligerent. I have never seen someone who wants to be elevated to the highest court in our country behave in that manner."

By contrast, Feinstein argued, Christine Blasey Ford — who also testified on Thursday concerning her allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her as a teenager — "was poised, she was credible, and she should be believed."

SEE ALSO: Christine Blasey Ford says she's '100%' certain Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school

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NOW WATCH: An aerospace company reintroduced its precision helicopter with two crossing motors

• A tiny penthouse apartment in New York City is on the market for $750,000.
• At just 350 square feet, that puts the cost at $2,143 per square foot, which is $370 more per square foot than the Manhattan average.
• The compact SoHo studio was designed with simplicity and multifunctionality in mind.
• The space is also tech-heavy, including motorized blinds, energy-efficient light bulbs, Nest security cameras, and air purifiers.

New Yorkers are used to paying a lot to live in small spaces.

The average Manhattan home costs $1,773 per square foot, according to Curbed.

A newly renovated apartment in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood is on the market for $750,000 — for a space of 350 square feet, which makes the cost $2,143 per square foot. 

For comparison,  the typical American home is 2,687 square feet and costs $216,700, according to a 2016 report from the Census Bureau and data from Zillow. That makes the average price per square feet about $81. 

The compact New York apartment, which could fit inside the average US home about seven-and-a-half times, was created by Graham Hill, founder of lifestyle and design company LifeEdited and advocate for minimalism and living with less. 

"...The houses I design contain less stuff and make it easier for owners to live within their means and to limit their environmental footprint," Hill wrote in The New York Times in 2013.

The 350-square-foot SoHo home is the second Hill has renovated in the same building, according to Forbes. The other unit, a slightly more spacious 450 square feet, sold in 2014 for $790,000.

For Hill, Americans simply don't need so much space.

"Americans are using three times as much living space today as they did in the 1950s. Even with all this space, we’re supporting a 22-billion-dollar personal storage industry. I see a home like this as a compelling alternative to the status quo," Hill told Dwell magazine in 2012, referring to the first apartment he renovated in at 150 Sullivan Street.

Here's a look inside the tiny yet functional home in SoHo.

SEE ALSO: Take a look inside the $65 million SoHo loft that could be one of the most expensive apartments ever sold in downtown NYC

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The apartment is on Sullivan Street in SoHo, a street lined with boutiques, bakeries, and cleaners, as well as an Italian restaurant and a deli.

Source: Corcoran, Google Maps

The apartment is the penthouse unit of a 40-unit pre-war co-op building built in 1900.

Source: Corcoran

Finished in 2016, the apartment was inspired by a "less but better" concept that emphasizes simplicity and highly functional spaces. The home features herringbone oak floors and walnut cabinetry in the living space.

Source: Corcoran

• Stephen Colbert on Thursday criticized the "indignation" of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's defense in his Senate hearing earlier that day, following Christine Blasey Ford's sworn testimony that he sexually assaulted her. 
• "Please, save your indignation that, finally, someone is taking one woman's accusation of sexual assault seriously," Colbert said in his monologue. 

Stephen Colbert on Thursday criticized the "indignation" Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh showed in his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier that day, following the sworn testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault before the committee.

Colbert started his monologue by playing clips of conservative commentators on Fox News calling Ford's testimony "very sympathetic," "exceptionally credible," and "a disaster for Republicans."

The "Late Show" host then turned to Kavanaugh's angry, impassioned defense of himself and attacks on the hearing's process.

"Perhaps the Kavanaugh quote that sticks with me is his passionate condemnation of the hearing and its repercussions," Colbert said. 

"You sowed the wind for decades to come," Kavanaugh said in his opening statement at the hearing, in an extended condemnation of Democratic senators. "I fear that the whole country will reap the whirlwind."

"You really need a better weatherman," Colbert said. "Because let me tell you, brother, this is the whirlwind, and the wind was sown when Donald Trump had 19 credible allegations of sexual assault against him, bragged about sexual assault on tape. And your Republican buddies up on that committee said, 'Yeah, but we want our guy on the Supreme Court' — and that's you, Brett. That doesn't mean you're guilty, but please, save your indignation that, finally, someone is taking one woman's accusation of sexual assault seriously."

The "Late Show" host then showed a clip of Kavanaugh saying at the hearing, “Today, I have to say, I fear for the future."

"#MeToo," Colbert replied.

Watch the monologue below:

SEE ALSO: Here's an evolving count of which senators are voting for Trump's Supreme Court pick

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• A coroner in the UK said Pret A Manger was "inadequate" in labeling allergens in its products after a girl died from an allergic reaction to a baguette.
• Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died of an anaphylactic shock on a plane from London to Nice in 2016 after eating a sandwich that contained sesame.
• Sesame was not listed as an allergen on the sandwich's packaging at the time.
• The coroner said Ednan-Laperouse was "reassured" by its absence from the packaging before she ate the sandwich.
• Pret A Manger says they are "deeply sorry" and "will learn from this."

Pret A Manger has been blamed for its "inadequate" labeling of allergens in its food after a teenage girl died from an allergic reaction to a baguette.

Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who had numerous allergies, went into cardiac arrest and died after eating the chain's baguette sandwich with artichoke, olive, and tapenade in July 2016. She was 15.

An inquest in the UK, where Ednan-Laperouse bought the baguette, concluded Friday that Pret had not properly warned her of what she was about to eat.

The baguette contained sesame seeds — to which Ednan-Laperouse was allergic — but it was not labeled on the sandwich's packaging, the BBC reported.

Ednan-Laperouse bought the sandwich at Heathrow Airport before flying to France on summer holiday. She collapsed about 20 minutes into the flight, went into cardiac arrest, and died within hours.

A video published by The Telegraph showed Ednan-Laperouse on her flight to France shortly before her death.

A coroner's court in London found on Friday that the teen died of anaphylaxis — a serious reaction to a trigger, like an allergy. It's also known as an anaphylactic shock.

The coroner, Dr Sean Cummings, said that Pret A Manger's allergy labeling was "inadequate," ITV News reported.

He added: "There was no specific allergen information on the baguette packaging or on the (food display cabinet) and Natasha was reassured by that."

British coroner courts aim to determine the cause of a person's death, but do not attribute responsibility.

Earlier in the week the coroner heard that Pret A Manger received nine complaints of sesame-related allergy incidents in 2015, including six involving its baguettes, but did not list it as an ingredient on product-shelf tickets.

Business Insider understands that at the time of Ednan-Laperouse's death, Pret A Manager had been in the process of making allergen information clearer to customers. The chain now lists all allergens, including sesame, on product-shelf tickets in the UK.

UK food-labeling regulations do not require restaurants that make and package food onsite, like Pret A Manger, to label allergen information on each individual product, according to the BBC.

But Cummings said earlier this week, as cited by ITV News: "It seems a little strange a local sandwich shop could benefit from that regulation but an organisation that sells 218 million items [a year] should also benefit from that regulation."

Cumming said on Friday that he would write a report to the UK government on his concerns about allergen labeling laws, ITV News reported.

Ednan-Laperouse's father, Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, said earlier this week his daughter foamed at the mouth and said she couldn't breathe during the reaction which killed her, according to Sky News.

Those symptoms persisted even after he administered two EpiPen shots to his daughter and a doctor performed CPR for her throughout the flight, Nadim Ednan-Laperouse said.

The Ednan-Laperouse family said on Friday that food labeling laws were "playing Russian roulette with our daughter's life."

"Our beloved daughter died in a tragedy that should never have happened and we believe that this inquest has shown that she died because of inadequate food labeling laws," they said in a statement on Friday.

"It feels to us that if Pret A Manger were following the law, then the law was playing Russian roulette with our daughter's life. It's clear that the food labeling laws as they stand today are not fit for purpose and it is now time to change the law.

Clive Schlee, the chief executive of Pret A Manger, said in a statement to Business Insider:

"We are deeply sorry for Natasha's death. We cannot begin to comprehend the pain her family have gone through and the grief they continue to feel.

"We have heard everything the Coroner and Natasha's family have said this week. And we will learn from this.

"All of us at Pret want to see meaningful change come from this tragedy. We will make sure that it does."

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• It may resemble a European castle, but this luxury resort is tucked away in the woods of New Hampshire.
• Omni Mount Washington Resort was ranked the best hotel in New Hampshire by the US News and World Report.
• At the resort, guests can fly through treetops on zip line, play tennis, take a horse-drawn sleigh ride in the winter, and get massages, anti-aging manicures, facials, and many other treatments at a 25,000-square-foot spa.
• Rates are $350 to $500 a night on average but can range up to $700 for family suites.
• The hotel is rumored to be haunted by a well-mannered ghost.

The Omni Mount Washington Resort in New Hampshire is a "favorite New England retreat of presidents, poets and celebrities," according to their website.

Along with its 200 luxury guest rooms and suites, the resort offers a 25,000-square-foot, full-service spa and salon, fine dining, 27 holes of golf, and activities that include skiing, hiking fishing, and sleigh rides.

Industrialist Joseph Stickney had the hotel built between 1900 and 1902 — and it's rumored that his wife, Carolyn, who died in 1936, still haunts the hotel. Forbes included Omni Mount Washington Resort in a 2017 list of America's 25 most haunted hotels. But not to worry: Carolyn is a well-mannered ghost, according to Town and Country magazine.

Take a look at the hotel and grounds below.

SEE ALSO: This luxury resort on Maine's largest island costs up to $2,000 per night and is a gateway to one of the country's most stunning national parks

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Omni Mount Washington Resort is nestled in the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire, near Mount Washington, the highest peak in the northeastern US.

Source: Google Maps, New Hampshire State Parks

White Mountain National Forest is a landscape of mountain lakes and streams, hardwood forests, and alpine peaks.

Source: US Forest Service

The 200-room resort is more than 100 years old, built between 1900 and 1902 by 250 master craftsmen and originally called the Mount Washington Hotel.

Source: Omni Mount Washington Resort

• A top Republican Senate staffer stifled Deborah Ramirez's chance to testify about sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee, according to a new report by The New Yorker. 
• Emails between Senate staffers and Ramirez's legal team show Mike Davis refused phone calls to further discuss Ramirez's allegation that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her and instead demanded additional evidence.
• Ramirez's attorney said earlier this week only Senate Democrats were showing up for scheduled appointments.

A top Republican Senate staffer stifled testimony from Deborah Ramirez, the second woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's of sexual assault, according to a new report by The New Yorker.

Emails between Senate staffers and Ramirez’s legal team show that Mike Davis, a senior Republican committee staffer, didn't pursue offers for telephone calls with Ramirez and her team concerning her allegation that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her. He instead repeatedly demanded additional evidence, the report said.

Ramirez, a former Yale University classmate of Kavanaugh's, said he exposed himself to her at a dorm-room party during the 1983-84 school year, when he was a freshman.

After The New Yorker published an article detailing Ramirez's allegations and Senate Democrats' investigation into the claims, Davis reached out to Ramirez’s attorneys, who told him they wanted an FBI investigation and that Ramirez would possibly agree to an in-person interview.

However, Davis reportedly ignored her attorney's proposed next steps to ask for additional evidence and confirmation whether Ramirez would be willing to testify to investigators. 

John Clune, Ramirez's attorney, told The New Yorker he felt any evidence or other information they would provide to Davis would be used for their specific political interests or to attack the allegations. The team also provided a letter detailing further information and Ramirez's request for an FBI investigation, which Clune said the committee ignored. 

"It is remarkable that the committee admits they had enough information to question Judge Kavanaugh under oath on Debbie’s statements in The New Yorker, yet that very same information was insufficient for Debbie’s counsel to earn even a phone call," Clune said. 

This is the latest report of a bipartisan divide in pursuing allegations that have dominated the final days of Kavanaugh's confirmation process. Clune said on CNN earlier this weekthat only Senate Democrats showed up to a Tuesday call concerning the allegations. 

Davis first raised flags last week, after a Washington Post article detailed professor Christine Blasey Ford's accusation of sexual assault against Kavanaugh. In a since-deleted tweet, Davis seemed to refer to Senate Republicans, writing "unfazed and determined. We will confirm Judge Kavanaugh."

Republicans have taken a hard line of support for Kavanaugh amid three total accusations of sexual misconduct. Two potential swing votes, Republican Sen. Jeff Flake and Bob Corker, announced Friday morning that they'll ultimately vote for him.

SEE ALSO: Here are all the sexual-misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh

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After eight years, the founders of Instagram are leaving the company. 

CEO Kevin Systrom and CTO Mike Krieger announced Monday that they are departing the mega-popular photo sharing social network , which was bought by Facebook for $1 billion in 2012. The news came following months of turmoil and scandals for Facebook, and reportedly comes amid tension between the founders and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. 

Still, it's something of a surprise that Systrom and Krieger would leave the app they built from scratch. Instagram grew out of Systrom's love of photography, and has since become one of the most popular social media apps in the world — in fact, Instagram hit 1 billion active users earlier this year. 

Here's how Systrom got his start and built Instagram into what it is today. 

SEE ALSO: 5 red flags in the Instagram founders' goodbye letter to Facebook that make it obvious there's bad blood

Systrom was born in Holliston, Massachusetts, a wealthy suburb of Boston. His father worked as a human resources executive, while his mother worked in tech — first at Monster and Swapit, and later at Zipcar.

Source: The Guardian,  Fortune

As a teenager, Systrom was obsessed with record collecting and deejaying. While still in high school, he used to have his friends sneak him into clubs in the Boston area to open for established DJs.

Source: Fortune

Systrom applied early decision to Stanford University. He had planned to study computer science, but once he arrived, decided to switch majors to management science and engineering.

Source: Fortune

• A handful of Democratic senators walked out of the Judiciary Committee's hearing on Friday morning in protest of the vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
• "My answer is no, no, no," Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii said as she left the room.
• The 21-person panel is expected to approve Kavanaugh's nomination — the next step toward full Senate confirmation — at 1:30 pm on Friday.

Four Democratic senators walked out of the Judiciary Committee's hearing on Friday morning while committee chairman Chuck Grassley delivered his opening statement praising Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 

Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, and Patrick Leahy of Vermont held a press conference in the hallway outside the committee room.

Harris and Sen. Cory Booker remained silent during the committee's vote, while other Democrats spoke out in dissent. 

"I strongly object. This is just totally ridiculous. What a railroad job. My answer is no, no, no," Hirono said as she left the room.

The 21-person panel is expected to approve Kavanaugh's nomination — sending him to a cloture vote on Saturday — at 1:30 pm on Friday. Sen. Jeff Flake — the only Republican on the committee who had signaled he could break with his party — announced on Friday morning that he would support the nominee, who has been accused of sexual misconduct.

"It was only fair that his accuser had the burden of proof and, in my opinion, this wasn't met," Grassley said during his opening statement, referring to the allegations of sexual assault made against Kavanaugh by research psychologist Christine Blasey Ford. 

Blumenthal condemned his Republican colleagues at the press conference, arguing that they were doing their best to ignore and divert attention away from the "undeniably credible" sexual assault allegations against the judge. 

"Talking about coordination, what we saw yesterday was a coordinated effort to change the conversation away from the brave, courageous survivor of sexual assault because her story was so intensely, undeniably credible, to a partisan attack," Blumenthal said, referring to Ford's Thursday testimony.  

Meanwhile, in the Senate hearing, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, excoriated Kavanaugh for what she described as his "aggressive and belligerent" behavior during his Thursday testimony.

"Candidly, in the 25 years on this committee, I have never seen a nominee for any position behave in that manner," Feinstein said. "This was not someone who reflected an impartial temperament or the fairness and even-handedness one would see in a judge."

A group of House Democratic women who were sitting in on the hearing also walked out in protest. 

Liberal activists encouraged the senators to walk out. 

SEE ALSO: 'I have never seen a nominee for any position behave in that manner': Sen. Dianne Feinstein slams Kavanaugh's 'aggressive' and 'belligerent' testimony

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• "Free Solo" directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin recount what led to them agreeing to film Alex Honnold's attempt to solo climb El Capitan.
• The filmmakers also explain why filming what was going on in Honnold's life on the ground was just as important as his climb.

For Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and her husband Jimmy Chin, the idea of doing a documentary on rock climber Alex Honnold was more intriguing to them because of how he is on the ground than when he's thousands of feet above it during a climb.

Before Honnold became known the world over for his incredible free solo climbs (mountain climbing without ropes or other protective equipment), he was a kid who was incredibly intelligent but also scared of everything: people, physical contact, even vegetables. But that same kid blossomed into a young man who fights his fears by climbing mountains.

“It was the potential of being a story that spoke to a lot of people and could inspire,” Vasarhelyi told Business Insider about her original interest in doing a movie on Honnold.

But Honnold had another idea. He wanted them to shoot him soloing up the 3,000 foot high El Capitan wall in Yosemite National Park.

“He said, ‘If we’re to make a film, the only film-worthy thing in my life is doing this,” Vasarhelyi recalled.

Chin has filmed Honnold soloing for 10 years. He knew Honnold had the skill to pull off the climb. But he also knew how crazy it was to even attempt it. It would be a four-hour climb, at least. Every single step would need to be perfect. His level of concentration needed to be super sharp throughout the entire climb because his next move could be his last.

Could Chin say El Cap is the Super Bowl of soloing?

“It’s beyond the Super Bowl,” he said. “The mental capacity to do that is unlike any athletic achievement I’ve seen, whether it’s extreme sports or professional sports of Olympic sports. You have to play the perfect game for four hours. You throw an interception in the Super Bowl, compared to this, it’s not really a big deal.”

With that danger in mind, Vasarhelyi and Chin told Honnold they had to think about if they wanted to proceed. And they thought about it — for months. Could they go forward with doing a movie that could end with their friend falling to his death?

They say the moment that really pushed them to finally agree to film the attempt was a chat Chin had three years ago with author and avid climber Jon Krakauer, one of the survivors of the disastrous 1996 expedition to Mount Everest and the man who wrote "Into the Wild" and "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman." Who better to get advice from?

Chin told Krakauer he and Vasarhelyi were considering doing a movie on Honnold and his soloing of El Cap. The author simply replied: “Holy s--t.”

"He was quiet for a while," Chin said. "And we walked for a little bit further, and I asked if it’s even okay for us to do this. He was like well, 'Is he going to do it whether you film it or not?' And I said yes. And he said, 'Are you one of the best people to do this?' And I said yes. And he said, 'If this is one of the greatest athletic achievements of all time, shouldn't it be captured?' And I was like 'Yes.' We kind of went from there."

With Vasarhelyi and Chin on board, they set out for Yosemite to make “Free Solo” (in theaters Friday). For months they filmed Honnold’s day-long training sessions on El Cap and his humble existence off the mountain living in a van.

Chin and his team of mountain climbers/cameramen used huge 4k cameras to capture Honnold on the wall, which he said is unheard of when filming climbing because of the weight of the equipment. But he and Vasarhelyi wanted “Free Solo” to be more than just a highlight video. They wanted to go a step further, not just visually, but emotionally. And that’s what Vasarhelyi was doing on the ground, trying to peel back the layers of the complex Honnold.

“It was basically a conversation that kept going for a year and a half,” Vasarhelyi said about creating a verite feel to the movie.

As “Free Solo” makes very clear, Honnold is not an open person. His life is completely focused on climbing and everything else comes second, including opening up to Vasarhelyi. But a fascinating thing happened during the filming process: He found a girlfriend who could tolerate his lifestyle.

Sanni McCandless is the complete opposite of Honnold. A big personality and not afraid to challenge Honnold, the relationship between the two is an interesting subplot in “Free Solo,” as the driven climber begins to let his guard down (the two go climbing one time and a mistake by the inexperienced McCandless leads to Honnold falling and injuring himself before the El Cap climb; in another scene, the two look for a house in Las Vegas).

Then there’s the lead-up to the climb itself. At one point in the movie, Honnold starts his solo climb of El Cap but then dramatically stops and climbs back down to the ground. From that point on, it’s unclear not only if Honnold will attempt the climb again but if he still wants Chin and Vasarhelyi there to film it.

“In our minds we’re not allowed to push him one way or the other,” Chin said. “But I would like to think he understood the amount of passion and heart that this whole crew was putting into it.”

“But Alex responded in an honest way,” Vasarhelyi added. “Which was, ‘I have to be stronger and better.’”

It all culminates in a dramatic conclusion where the filmmakers capture the dramatics on the ground between Honnold and McCandless as well as Honnold’s historic trek.

Audiences are already dazzled by “Free Solo.” It won the people’s choice award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, which inevitably thrust it into the race for the best documentary Oscar. But as much as Vasarhelyi and Chin love how audiences have reacted to the movie so far, the standout for them is how Honnold sees it.

“He says he has the opposite experience from the audiences,” Chin said. “Everybody loves the love story and him as a fascinating documentary character and then are cringing during the climb. He loves the climbing footage and cringes during everything else.”

SEE ALSO: The director of Robert Redford's final movie describes the pressure and joy of closing out an icon's career

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