A personal history of “America’s most misunderstood religion.”

On dirty laundry and the meaning of freedom.

A profile of the designer, who died on February 19, 2019.

The story of Theranos.

Omar Mohammed (most certainly not his real name), a former Iraqi cop, is widely believed to be the most skilled and prolific terrorist hunter alive. Recently, he personally killed two of Al-Qaeda’s senior commanders in Iraq. He has already been shot and blown up, and with U.S. forces on their way out, his chances of survival in Baghdad are slim.

“What I do is not magical realism. I do realistic magic. Look, whenever someone does something new, people have to compare it with things they already know. So even if you innovate, you end up being connected to the past. When I began making movies people linked me to Fellini or Buñuel. Now new filmmakers are called ‘jodorowskian.’”

On the parallel sadness of Thom Gunn and Elizabeth Bishop.

The case of the murdered real-estate legend and her enraged assistant.

A Marine veteran of the Iraq War on battle and faith.

A profile of Gina Rinehart, the richest person in Australia.

The benefits of getting sick in New York.

On the mysterious death of a high school basketball star in Dallas.

The unintended consequences of American funding in Pakistan.

A search for the “armpit of America” ends in Battle Mountain, Nevada.

In Minneapolis, a group of activists take over a Sheraton and open it to the homeless, banning police.

Clarence Thomas, then-chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, profiled by Juan Williams:

He agrees with Reagan's characterization of the civil-rights leaders as old men fomenting discontent to justify their own "rather good positions." "The issue is economics—not who likes you." Thomas has told me. "And when you have the economics, people do have a way of changing their attitudes toward you. I don't see how the civil-rights people today can claim Malcolm X as one of their own. Where does he say black people should go begging the Labor Department for jobs? He was hell on integrationists. Where does he say you should sacrifice your institutions to be next to white people?"

The odyssey of Kim Jong-il’s personal chef.

High school debate and the demise of public speech.

The life and last days of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

An essay on gynobibliophobia and the critical reception of women writers.

The origins of Lagunitas are laced with THC.

Rise of the wonk.

She is venerated around the world. She has outlasted 12 US presidents. She stands for stability and order. But her kingdom is in turmoil, and her subjects are in denial that her reign will ever end. That’s why the palace has a plan.

In 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for starting a fire that killed his three daughters. The case hinged on the testimony of a jailhouse informant named Johnny E. Webb. Today, Webb says he lied.