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A Battle of Two Great Smiles
How Michael Jordan beat Magic Johnson and won his first NBA championship.
Hail Dayton
The legacy of the Scopes trial on one Tennesse town.
Be Bossy
A profile of Sophia Amoruso, the 30-year-old CEO of Nasty Gal and author of #GIRLBOSS.
Opportunity's Knocks
Tereza Sedgwick trains to become a nurse aid, the fastest-growing job in America. It pays just better than minimum wage and has one of the highest burnout rates of any career.
The Internet With a Human Face
Privacy, memory, data and advertising—how the modern web has become a Ponzi scheme and how we might be able to fix it.
The Birdman’s Vengeful Ghost
The catfishing of Chris Andersen.
Should a Mental Illness Mean You Lose Your Kid?
For many, the answer from the state is “yes.” An investigation into what legally determines a person’s ability to parent.
Who Killed Lois Duncan’s Daughter?
The author of I Know What You Did Last Summer investigates her own daughter’s unsolved murder.
The Exorcists Next Door
Marion and Larry Pollard live in the suburbs. They have eight grandkids and a terrier named Bella. They can also expel demons and save your soul.
The Other Side of the Face
Thoughts on necks.
Fiction Pick of the Week: "001: Falling"
The director of a covert organization arrives for his first day at work.
Life in the Valley of Death
The Srebrenica massacre, almost 20 years later.
Portrait of the Consummate Con Man
“On a small scale, Titanic Thompson is an American legend. I say on a small scale, because an overpowering majority of the public has never heard of him. That is the way Titanic likes it. He is a professional gambler. He has sometimes been called the gambler’s gambler.”
Angelina Jolie’s Perfect Game
How the actress masterfully shapes her public image.
The Blood Countess
On Erzsébet Báthory, the first—and still most prolific—female serial killer.
Say Hello to the Bad Guy
A profile of Tiny Lister, the silver screen’s half-blind villain.
Two Minutes to Midnight: The Very Last Hurrah
An eyewitness account of Robert Kennedy’s assassination.
Modern-Day Slavery in America's Prison Workforce
Inmates work for hours each day and yet have no labor rights.
For Hire: Dedicated Young Man with Down Syndrome
A father reflects on his son’s search for employment.
Crime and Punishment
The story of a high school basketball star’s sexual abuse conviction and its aftermath, told from all sides.
Gary Smith, a four-time National Magazine Award winner, retired last month after 32 years at Sports Illustrated.
"We were on the Santa Monica Freeway, Ali's driving 70 miles an hour and his eyes are drifting asleep—the medication for Parkinson's would do that to him. I'm thinking, 'Oh, crap.' We're weaving between lanes, cars are honking, and I'm wondering in the passenger seat, 'Should I grab the wheel from the greatest champ of all-time?' The writer in me wants to let it go, let the crash happen just so I get a scene for the story. But the human in me was just getting scared as hell."
Thanks to TinyLetter and EA SPORTS FIFA WORLD CUP for sponsoring this week's episode.
Shame and Survival
An essay on life as “the first person whose global humiliation was driven by the Internet.”
Maya Angelou: The Art of Fiction No. 119
“But to grow up costs the earth, the earth. It means you take responsibility for the time you take up, for the space you occupy. It’s serious business. And you find out what it costs us to love and to lose, to dare and to fail. And maybe even more, to succeed. What it costs, in truth. Not superficial costs—anybody can have that—I mean in truth. That’s what I write. What it really is like. I’m just telling a very simple story.”
The Smutty-Metaphor Queen of Lawrence, Kansas
A profile of the internet’s poet, Patricia Lockwood.
50 Cent Is My Life Coach
Making vision boards with rap’s strangest fallen star.
