The End of the Rodeo for the World's Greatest Cowboy
A profile of Florida legend—and pardoned killer—Charlie Driver.
Press X for Beer Bottle
On LA Noire and the gaming paradoxes presented by pairing nuanced storytelling with a player’s free will.
Mysterious Disappearances
On the rise of the modern city – and the rise of missing persons.
Scent of a Woman's Ink
An essay on gynobibliophobia and the critical reception of women writers.
The Social[ist] Network
The story of Daily Kos and its founder, Markos Moulitsas.
Three-Man Weave
On witnessing an incredible junior college basketball game 23 years ago in North Dakota.
Paw Paw & Lady Love
The life and death of Anna Nicole Smith.
The Hustler
No one argues before the Supreme Court more than Tommy Goldstein.
The Secret History of Boeing’s Killer Drone
The bitter rivalry within the aerospace industry to produce unmanned combat aircrafts.
Product Placement in Modern Poetry
In pre-modern poetry, Shakespeare, who mentioned everything, would probably have name checked products if he could, but there were few goods with the maker’s name on them: though he would specify the street or town which had given origin to a certain cut of sleeve.
Zach Galifianakis Can't Help It
A profile of the up-and-coming comedian just after the cancellation of his VH1 talk show, Late World with Zach. His sentiment at the time: “Hollywood is just such a fucking idiot machine.”
Anthony Weiner’s Long, Long Audition
A profile of the up-and-coming New York politician, who at the time was toying with a run for mayor.
The Redeemer
A profile of filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar during the 2004 Cannes International Film Festival.
The Man Who Sees Another Crash
Bob Rodriguez, the oracular mutual fund manager with the best record over the last quarter century and two correctly-predicted crashes under his belt, says another spectacular crash is on its way within five years.
The George Saunders Interview
"For example, I remember reading Hemingway and loving his work so much—but then at some point, realizing that my then-current life (or parts of it) would not be representable via his prose style. Living in Amarillo, Texas, working as a groundsman at an apartment complex, with strippers for pals around the complex, goofball drunks recently laid off from the nuclear plant accosting me at night when I played in our comical country band, a certain quality of West Texas lunatic-speak I was hearing, full of way off-base dreams and aspirations—I just couldn’t hear that American in Hem-speak. And that kind of moment is gold for a young writer: the door starts to open, just a crack."
The Baddest Lawyer in the History of Jersey
On the complete corruption of Paul Bergin, a federal attorney turned high-priced defense lawyer now awaiting trial on a host of charges.
If Paul is guilty of half the things they say, he’d be the craziest, most evil lawyer in the history of the State of New Jersey. That is saying something.
Watching the Murder of an Innocent Man
In a shantytown near Johannesburg, an angry mob committed a horrifying crime that was caught on video.
AIDS: A New Disease’s Deadly Odyssey
A dispatch from the early days of AIDS:
It is as relentless as leukemia, as contagious as hepatitis, and its cause has eluded researchers for more than two years.
For Victims of AIDS, Support in a Lonely Siege
A brutal story from the Times’ cub Metro reporter:
''We're dying,'' he said. ''Why is this happening? Is it because we loved each other too much or not enough?"
The Invention of Patient Zero
It was the worst AIDS crisis in years—until it wasn’t.
Hunting for the Hidden Killers: AIDS
Pathologists and epidemiologists take on “the confounding killer known as AIDS.”
In Which We Are Back In Nigeria Now
On returning to Lagos after years abroad.
It is always understood when you leave Nigeria as a Nigerian that you will return at some point.
The Accidental Bricoleurs
On Forever 21 and the rise of “fast fashion”:
They have changed fashion from a garment making to an information business, optimizing their supply chains to implement design tweaks on the fly.
Angel of Death: The Trial of the Suicide Doctor
“Is he Socrates or Mengele?” On the late Jack Kevorkian.
Interview with Joe Sacco
On comics and journalism:
Now, when you draw, you can always capture that moment. You can always have that exact, precise moment when someone’s got the club raised, when someone’s going down. I realize now there’s a lot of power in that.
