Longform

The world of high-end wine gets conned.

With flash, hip-hop echoes rock’s golden age.

When rock was at its peak in 1972, Americans earning the equivalent of $1m a year took just over 1 per cent of national income. In 2010, this group’s share of national income had grown to almost 10 per cent. At the same time, the average tax paid by these top earners almost halved. The rise of Jay-Z’s “new black elite” reflects the growth in numbers of the super-wealthy. But the opulence that he and West flaunt also reflects the growing estrangement of those at the top from the rest.

New research on children’s behavior.

The idea that a young child could have psychopathic tendencies remains controversial among psychologists. Laurence Steinberg, a psychologist at Temple University, has argued that psychopathy, like other personality disorders, is almost impossible to diagnose accurately in children, or even in teenagers — both because their brains are still developing and because normal behavior at these ages can be misinterpreted as psychopathic.

A cop kills a fellow officer during a drug bust and claims it was an accident. Others suspect that it wasn’t.

The making of Thelma & Louise.

The story of Trina Garnett, “one of approximately 470 prisoners in Pennsylvania serving life without parole for crimes they committed as teenagers.”

How one man made millions with a fancy hamburger.

A nasty divorce ends in murder and national notoriety.

An exposé of Internet Marketers.

A couple’s story.

A profile of Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Prime Minister.

The tables have been turned – brutally – on Qaddafi loyalists.

On the ground with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The case of the murdered real-estate legend and her enraged assistant.

A married father of two tracks down his free-living doppelgänger, a musician who has avoided responsibility at every turn, to see who’s happier.

Inside the Quidditch World Cup.

“There was no Delta blues before there were cheap, readily available steel-string guitars. And those guitars, which transformed American culture, were brought to the boondocks by Sears, Roebuck & Co.”

From failure to Pixar, Steve Jobs’ “wilderness years.”

A profile of Maurice Sendak.

A year with Major Steve Beck as he takes on the most difficult duty of his career: casualty notification.

A profile of Mark Zuckerberg, savvy CEO.

Is creativity in our genes? A self-made scholar’s search for the answer.

In the early ’90s, American Airlines began selling lifetime passes for unlimited first-class travel. It hasn’t worked out well for the airline.

On geoengineering, a high risk/high reward fix for global warming.