Cycles of boom and bust in the drilling town of Williston, N.D., as seen from the perspective of an itinerant dancer filling one of three slots at the only strip club in town, Whispers.

Real-estate mogul Charles Kushner had been cast out of power, found guilty of a strange bundle of crimes including “secretly setting up [his brother-in-law] with a prostitute, then taping the encounter.” His son Jared, then 23, was left to carry the ambition for the both of them.

A profile of Cormac McCarthy–on the verge of fame.

On getting a brain implant to slow the progress of Parkinson’s disease.

An appraisal of the Wisconsin congressman’s “green-eyeshade fiscal conservatism.”

The legacy of late hip-hop producer Paul C.

On Nate Silver and the messiness of modern political polling.

On Politico’s brand of insider journalism.

Dunks, drugs, and disappointment: an oral history of the 1980s Houston Rockets.

How a team of 40 engineers helped reelect Barack Obama.

Confessions of a Sweet Valley High ghostwriter.

Diary of a veteran gadfly.

The crumbling of an American icon.

Inside the DIY world of synthetic drugs.

The story of a tobacco industry whistleblower.

Inside the growth of intelligence contracting.

Script doctor Damon Lindelof explains the new rules of blockbuster screenwriting.

On the fast food workers of St. Louis.

What the gospel of innovation gets wrong.

The bungled theft of a $6 million violin.

The story, so far, of First Look Media.

Talking about hope and the environment with a photographer who takes pictures of birds killed by plastic.

How the prolific crime novelist did his work.

On the gender gap in diagnosis and treatment of autism.

On the unexpected longevity of a very strange theory.