Longform

A first-timer’s adventures at a nudist camp.

A tech support scammer makes the mistake of engaging a talkative podcast host. [Transcript]

A profile of Sam Shepard.

The Tarahumara became famous for running incredibly long distances. In recent years, cartels have exploited their talents by forcing them to ferry drugs into America. Now they’re running for their lives.

Taking a stand for public land turns out to be very good for sales.

A case of mistaken identity leads to the prosecution of an ordinary Eritrean for human smuggling.

Ricky Rodriguez was born in the role of the messiah. His father was David Berg, the leader of the polygamous/incestuous cult The Children of God, which published a book documenting his early life:

In 1982 a shop in Spain printed several thousand copies of a book that was then distributed to group members around the world. Bound in faux leather, illustrated with hundreds of photographs, the 762-page tome meticulously chronicled Ricky's young life and was intended as a child-rearing manual for families. Its title, The Story of Davidito, was stamped in gold. With its combination of earnest prose and unabashed child pornography, it is perhaps the most disturbing book ever published in the name of religion.

Eventually, he left the cult and found work as an electrician. But revenge called him back.

When Isis rounded up Yazidi women and girls in Iraq to use as slaves, the captives drew on their collective memory of past oppressions – and a powerful will to survive.

Theresa Buchanan, a professor at LSU, “used the f-word in class, overshared about her personal life, and could be brutally candid in her critiques of the student teachers under her tutelage.” Should she have been fired?

The ’90s icon and Nine Inch Nails frontman talks about listening to music, his own and others, in 2017.

Hollywood is aggressively adapting material that doesn’t have a narrative or even any characters. But not all intellectual property is created equal.

Reflections on a scientific autopsy and the nature of intimacy.

The mystery of the Brillante Virtuoso.

Video-game designer Zoë Quinn in the aftermath of Gamergate, an act of web harassment with world-altering implications.

A former member of SEAL Team 6 sheds her disguise.

The Department of Energy is in chaos and it is putting the world at risk.

Investigating the disappearance of a trans teen who hasn’t been seen since 2012.

A profile of London’s mayor.

How young actors are navigating the new world of opportunities on our ever-shrinking screens.

Love and loss on the Texas Panhandle plains.

Amid an historic glut the cheese market, a secretive, government-sponsored entity is putting the stuff anywhere it can.

William Regnery II spent almost 20 years funding the racist right. It finally paid off.

"If I had been a straight-A student my whole life and had rapped about Jesus coming back to save us all, I wouldn’t get no media. The motherfuckers wouldn’t give a fuck about me. But since I’m telling the truth, and been through what I’m stressing and know what I’m talking about, I’m a threat."

How a dialect coach does her job.