Welcome to Plasenzuela, whose 500 inhabitants enjoyed no-show jobs, spent millions on phantom projects and defrauded Social Security.

The underground routes by which drugs enter the U.S. from Mexico, and the officials who’ve found it almost impossible to curb their construction.

Paul Krugman breaks down the basics of climate change economics, from Arthur Cecil Pigou to Capitol Hill.

How Indians with the surname Patel came to own 1/3 of the motels in America.

The fatal allure of the Golden Gate Bridge and why it doesn’t have a barrier to thwart potential leapers.

Argentina’s Lio Messi, the best soccer player on the planet, stands all of 5’7” and needed growth-hormone injections to get there.

A woman posing as a non-profit worker kidnaps a formerly homeless pregnant woman and tries to claim her baby. [PART 1]

How Madden NFL went from a programmer’s childhood dream to a $3 billion business.

Two sisters, heirs to the Bronfman fortune, may have blown $100 million supporting the cult-like group NXIVM.

Scenes from Madonna’s first major tour and an author struggling to explain the 26-year-old’s massive, surging appeal.

A profile of Joe Biden, whose political stock has continued to rise even as his boss’s falls.

What happened to the minds behind Napster, Gnutella, WinAmp, and BitTorrent after their creations irrevocably changed business and culture.

It’s now routine for corporations to outsource the task of generating new ideas. A look at the consulting firms who meet that need.

A caller poses as a policeman and convinces McDonald’s managers to strip-search a female employee. It’s not the first time.

On the group of friends who came to rule the bizarre, decreasingly lucrative world of Internet porn.

A look at what it takes to protect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he’s in New York City.

How J.C. Penney gamed Google and became the top result for searches on everything from “area rugs” to “skinny jeans.”

On two gay men in Pennsylvania who tried, and failed, to build a commune of their own.

Searching for the line between courage and humility on an expedition to Cirque of the Unclimbables, a remote ring of perfect rock-climbing mountains in Canada.

What it’s like to write about a candidate who hates you.

“Nearly half of Americans would have trouble finding $400 to pay for an emergency. I’m one of them.”

An ancient document suggests that Jesus had a wife. But an investigation into its origins leads to … Florida.

The story of the meeting that led to the creation of ISIS, as explained by someone still on the inside.

We like to believe that the blame for wrongful convictions falls on individuals: the racist prosecutor, the crooked cop. It doesn’t always work that way.

Carrie Goldberg is a pioneer in the field of sexual privacy, using the law to defend victims of hacking, leaking, and other online assaults.