Longform

Their community forged by industry, residents of Badin, North Carolina confront the long shadow of racism and pollution.

Inside the effort to exonerate the “Starved Rock Killer.” After 60 years behind bars for one of this state’s most infamous crimes, Chester Weger is out to prove his innocence with DNA testing.

Could tinkering with photosynthesis prevent a global food crisis?

How reading can lead to resilience in the most trying times.

Inside a 45-day fight.

The 72-year-old is still making movies that shock.

A primer on how the smartphone generation is redefining communication.

Why is life in this country so hostile to single people?

As the summer months stretched into fall, Justin Edwards would sometimes bump into the man wanted for his attempted murder.

A food-world star’s method and mess.

On Tse Chi Lop, “the Jeff Bezos of the drug trade” and ringleader of a $21-billion crime syndicate.

Against all predictions, the Taliban took the Afghan capital in a matter of hours. This is the story of why and what came after, by a reporter and photographer who witnessed it all.

In his 90th year, L.A.’s finest living writer discusses his heroes and inspirations, the anti-gay and anti-Mexican prejudices he’s weathered and the wisdom accrued over a miraculous life.

How online sales of highly regulated, super-toxic rodenticides exploit gaps in the law and imperil wildlife.

How NFL wide receiver Demaryius Thomas lost his mother and grandmother to drug dealing, and how he plans on bringing them home.

On a remote island in Maine, a group of friends thought they witnessed one man killing another with an ax. But no one was ever arrested. In a small town far out at sea, justice sometimes works a little differently.

27 courses that will live on in nightmares.

The comic answers some uncomfortable questions.

In 1936, Karp Lykov whisked his family into the Siberian wilderness to escape Bolshevik persecution. They remained there, alone, until discovered by a helicopter crew in 1978.

“Before I came to Hollywood, I was confidently queer. Years of mixed messages in the industry changed that.”