Longform

The narcocorrido-immortalized Pacific coast traditionalists, the kidnap-crazed Gulf coast Zetas, and massacres that no longer seem tied to a discernible purpose; inside the ruins of the Mexican-American border.

A profile of Nick Denton.

A rare co-mingling between Hasidic Jews and their Crown Heights neighbors within Brooklyn’s ‘Basil Pizza & Wine Bar.’

Full six-part series on the rise and fall of Viktor Bout, the most notorious arms dealer of the modern era.

The godfather of experimental psychedelics and his many occasionally imprisoned followers.

Notes from the California recount.

Tony Kaye was one of the biggest commercial directors of his time. Then he directed American History X and, by his own admission, completely lost his mind.

The story of a young man killed in Juarez.

Four years after a disastrous MTV performance had led him to avoid the public, Rose was back on stage.

The story of two Canadian artificial intelligence visionaries who became bitter rivals and then both committed suicide in the same month.

What we can learn from procrastination.

A one fire, one goat, many cooks experiment.

Eleven books into his planned thirteen book The Wheel of Time cycle, the most popular fantasy series since Lord of the Rings, Robert Jordan saw death on his own horizon and planned accordingly. A 31-year-old former Mormon missionary inherited his universe.

If your ex-spouse takes your child and hightails it abroad, the legal system often isn’t on your side. So what can you do? One option: hire a former Army ranger named Gus Zamora to take back your kid.

Why did a veteran BBC on-air personality confess on camera to a mercy killing he did not commit?

A behind-the-scenes account of the tense negotiations, involving Gorbachev, Kohl, Bush, and Thatcher, that led from the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall to a reunified Germany. (Translated from German.)

The story of how Washington blew its best shot to do something on climate change.

A pair of undercover cops infiltrate a dogfighting ring in Houston.

Pitching a no-hitter in the middle of a multi-day acid bender was only one of Dock Ellis’ many amazing exploits.

In 1906, Enrico Caruso was arrested for molesting a young woman inside the Monkey House of Central Park Zoo, paving the way for the first celebrity trial of the 20th century.

A profile of the perpetually disappointed Alec Baldwin.

If the fittest survive, why are so many people still depressed? An evolutionary theory on the benefits of painful rumination.

How the mind behind Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto plans to push gaming further.

Ten years ago, Esquire did a piece about Harvard Law grads who had eschewed their degrees. One of them was the late comedian.

The story of Charles Goodyear, who dedicated his life to inventing usable rubber yet has little to show for it, aside from his name on the side of a blimp.