Longform

Thirty years ago, a series of documentaries introduced the world to an isolated tribe in Papua New Guinea. What happened when the cameras left?

Twenty years later, the author looks back.

“It’s not like I told myself, okay, this is it, you’re gonna take the guy outside and throw him off the goddam boat.”

How the disappearing bayou town of Jean Lafitte, Louisiana is trying to delay its inevitable end.

How she has controlled the GOP and gun law in Florida.

They’ve built a hidden society in a state park. Among the haole squatters of Kalalau.

Reconstructing an ancient African civilization heretofore mostly ignored.

The disappearance of a once ubiquitous movie star.

On the Central Park jogger case.

The intersection of life and social media in the future.

“A unicorn, a monster, a phoenix, a machine, a heavyweight fighter, an astronaut, a superhero, a thoroughbred, a home-run hitter, a waitress juggling ‘16 entrees, 42 starters, 16 desserts,’ a jazz virtuoso, LeBron James, Magellan, Snuffleupagus. The actress Laurie Metcalf has been compared to all of these things.”

“You’ve got your whole life in front of you. You’re pretty, you’ve got this house — well, you don’t have this house anymore. This house is my house.”

Note From the Editors: As we were reporting this story, Newsweek Media Group fired Newsweek Editor Bob Roe, Executive Editor Ken Li and Senior Politics Reporter Celeste Katz for doing their jobs. Reporters Josh Keefe and Josh Saul were targeted for firing before an editor persuaded the company to reverse its decision. As we continued working on the story, we were asked to take part in a review process, which, we ultimately learned, involved egregious breaches of confidentiality and journalism ethics.

Saul is a Longform contributing editor.

In a time when no one agrees on anything, some vague consensus can be found around the idea that more American manufacturing would be good. Rarely does someone say publicly, “Actually, I think there should be less American manufacturing.” (Although it happens.)

A conversation between Eminem and Elton John.

To the KGB and back.

A star explodes.

An investigation into sexual exploitation and abuse in the modeling industry.

The connections he made at a 2013 pageant in Russia may have helped give him the Presidency.

He holds incredible power over women’s rights. New evidence shows he lied repeatedly about his history of harassment to get there.

An essay on the power of keeping a journal.

How getting back into serious cycling helped the author heal as his marriage unraveled.

Developed by early computer engineers in their spare time, improved in University comp-sci labs, and ultimately sold in coffeeshops for ten cents per game. Inside one of the most influential games ever played.

One woman’s account of clandestine meetings, financial transactions, and legal pacts designed to hide an extramarital affair.