Discovering why we hurt.

A dispatch from North Carolina.

A profile.

On Terri Schiavo, “persistent vegetative state,” and life or death decisions:

Imagine it. You are in your early twenties. You are watching a movie, say on Lifetime, in which someone has a feeding tube. You pick up the empty chip bowl. “No tubes for me,” you say as you get up to fill it. What are the chances you have given this even a passing thought?

The United States, which took a forceful stance on other Arab revolts, remained relatively passive in the face of the kingdom’s unrest and crackdown. To many who are familiar with the region, this came as no surprise: of all the Arab states that saw revolts last year, Bahrain is arguably the most closely tied to American strategic interests.

A report on Bahrain, the Arab Spring’s most ill-fated uprising.

We devote vast resources to intensive, one-off procedures, while starving the kind of steady, intimate care that often helps people more.

“No one works better out of anguish at all; that’s an incredible literary conceit.”

On the death of NBA star Reggie Lewis.

But not for want of programmers trying.

A profile of author William T. Vollmann.

The story of heiress Huguette Clark, who spent her life avoiding people and collecting dolls.

During her brief tenure as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin was a genuinely effective, bipartisan legislator. What went wrong?

The story of a Marine who saved innumerable lives, then got fired.

Researchers do look into near-death experiences, seeking a verified case of what they call “apparently non-physical veridical perception.”

Revisiting the 6200 block of Osage Avenue.

The story of a bizarre—and bizarrely effective—smear campaign.

The reclusive director comes out of his shell at 73.

Searching for answers after unexplained brain injuries afflicted dozens of American diplomats and spies.

A profile of Lorena Bobbitt.

Does the ubiquitous dance troupe really present five thousand years of civilization reborn?

The history of a sundown town.

Inside a literary Ponzi scheme.

Millions of human artifacts circle the Earth. Can we clean them up before they cause a disaster?

There is so much talk now about the art of the film that we may be in danger of forgetting that most of the movies we enjoy are not works of art.

Tekashi 6ix9ine was SoundCloud rap’s most notorious star. But the same instincts that made him huge may put him in prison for years