I think we're both arguing with emotion here. You said you hated the style and it's rarely done well. I happen to think that Wired isn't a scholarly journal, and fact + emotional narrative can be really enjoyable to read if used appropriately (and I happened to enjoy reading the article). I guess I'm objecting to how you evaluated an entire genre of narrative style. There is irony in using your emotional response to a writing style to argue for a more objective or scientific approach to journalism.
I think we're both arguing with emotion here. You said you hated the style and it's rarely done well. I happen to think that Wired isn't a scholarly journal, and fact + emotional narrative can be really enjoyable to read if used appropriately (and I happened to enjoy reading the article). I guess I'm objecting to how you evaluated an entire genre of narrative style. There is irony in using your emotional response to a writing style to argue for a more objective or scientific approach to journalism.
TLDR: "It's not science"