Longform

Wuhan-based virologist Shi Zhengli has identified dozens of deadly SARS-like viruses in bat caves, and she warns there are more out there

A trip to India for total silence.

The passengers of the Diamond Princess came for indulgence, relaxation and bottomless buffets. Then they found themselves trapped on a ship infected with a deadly virus.

The first epicenter is coming back to life, but not as anyone knew it.

The initial coronavirus outbreaks on the East and West Coasts emerged at roughly the same time. But the danger was communicated very differently.

Richard Phillips survived the longest wrongful prison sentence in American history by writing poetry and painting with watercolors. But on a cold day in the prison yard, he carried a knife and thought about revenge.

On the then-new phenomenon of dead downtowns.

Three nights with 311 in the waning moments of free American life.

The photographer who showed us the world always kept coming back to a little town by the sea.

A hundred and fifty years ago, slightly more, a strange notion: the dead could be counted. In the Civil War, in the lush fields of the South, Americans first, as a culture, began to imagine death in numbers. Rosters of soldiers, as well as lists of war casualties, were not common practice in the mid-nineteenth century. Many officials feared responsibility for the dead by numbering or naming them, and military leaders felt an accurate count might embolden their enemies.

The chef/writer behind New York City’s Prune revises her original dreams for the restaurant in the wake of closing because of COVID.

Headlines have portrayed Australia’s bucket-list destination as dead, or dying. But that’s an oversimplification of a complex story—and the most dire threat from tourism may be what you least expect.

A futuristic world of scavenging and anatomical harvesting.

In 1865, a failed stockbroker tries to pull off one of the boldest financial schemes in American history: the original big short.

The iconic actor played Iceman, Doc Holliday, Batman, and Jim Morrison, but behind all the mythic roles was a man grasping for meaning wherever he could find it. Here he opens up about cancer, strength, and death.

The strange life of a 16-year-old model.

Antoine Yates spent three years living in New York City public housing with a 450-pound Siberian tiger named Ming.

After 20 years of long-distance competition, I ran my fastest. All it took was tech, training, and a new understanding of my life.

A young dealer goes on the lam after selling multiple masterpieces to several buyers simultaneously.

The case against a notorious cat burglar, who is accused of stealing more than $12 million worth of the South’s finest sterling silver.

A Ranger graduate breaks down an ordeal that shapes some of the nation’s finest soldiers.

A front-line physician at Elmhurst Hospital sees how closely socioeconomic status is tied to the disease, and tries to help patients who are dying without their families.

A singer keeps getting close to stardom. And then something falls apart.

From Kenya to Amsterdam to New Jersey, an industry collapses in a matter of weeks.