Longform

Born at a barely viable 24 weeks, Owen’s life began as a battle for survival. His future is a test for how far neonatal medicine has come.

A profile of Spears at her nadir.

How a journalist who wrote a seminal account of police brutality during the 1967 race riots in Newark wound up on the wrong side of the law.

One in three families can’t afford diapers. Why are they so expensive?

A profile of UConn basketball coach Geno Auriemma, who has not found peace despite unprecedented success.

A profile of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who “may be the only reliable voice of caution left in an administration inching closer to the brink.”

Why would a billionaire go wear a badge and a gun in a tiny desert town? To obtain something that’s impossible to buy.

The pros and cons of computerized boyfriend models; reposted in honor of the late fabulist Zachary Doss.

Then there’s Mark Kostabi, the former New York gossip column fixture and self-professed “con artist” who everybody remembers but nobody talks about. Christie’s and Sotheby’s have no comment. Neither does the MoMA, the Guggenheim, or the Met, despite the curious fact that they all have Kostabis in their permanent collections. As for quotes from some highfalutin critics expounding on the semiotics of cone hats, cash registers, and the Sony Walkman in Kostabi’s work? Not a chance.

Twenty-five years after 82 Branch Davidians and 4 federal officers were killed, the lead negotiator at the scene is still arguing about what happened.

Does anyone care?

On the star who is re-writing the rules for the next generation.

“He stood on edges. He skied edges. He climbed edges.”

“Most of us should be in jail for the things we do. We just haven’t been caught. No one’s gone after us.”

Hannah Upp keeps disappearing, forgetting her sense of self. Can she still be found?

The story of the 100-mile Barkley Marathons.

“Tiffany Haddish may, in fact, be too good at being Tiffany Haddish. Too good at seeming like one of your friends who became famous. At times, she treats her new fame like she is on a group text with the world.”

“It’s beyond strange that so many humans are clueless about how they should feed themselves. Every wild species on the planet knows how to do it; presumably ours did, too, before our oversized brains found new ways to complicate things. Now, we’re the only species that can be baffled about the ‘right’ way to eat.”

How a group of hippie surfers and a former Spanish teacher built the largest weed-smuggling empire on the West Coast.

As it scrambled to compete, the tech company cut tens of thousands of U.S. workers, hitting its most senior employees hardest and flouting rules against age bias.

On the road with the world’s greatest hitchhiker.

When Ben Roethlisberger, Charles Barkley, Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal and the future President of the United States crossed paths at a celebrity golf tournament.

John Francis Anthony “Jaco” Pastorius III lay comatose in the intensive-care unit of a Fort Lauderdale hospital for nine days, unrecognized until he was spotted by the doctor who had delivered his children. Once he had been identified, local newspapers ran photographs to accompany stories headlined “DARK DAYS FOR A JAZZ GENIUS” and “JAZZ PERFORMER’S LIFE STRIKES A TRAGIC CHORD” and “THE LONG, SAD SLIDE OF A GIFTED MUSIClAN.” The various photographs seemed to be of different men.