From Driving Miss Daisy to Green Book.

Not knowing what these movies were “about” didn’t mean it wasn’t clear what they were about. They symbolize a style of American storytelling in which the wheels of interracial friendship are greased by employment, in which prolonged exposure to the black half of the duo enhances the humanity of his white, frequently racist counterpart. All the optimism of racial progress — from desegregation to integration to equality to something like true companionship — is stipulated by terms of service.

COVID-19 has led many Americans to rethink prison. But a habitual offender law has condemned hundreds of people who never physically hurt anyone to grow old and die behind bars.

How the #MeToo movement paved the way for a new era of food writing.

Why your phone may (or may not) be killing you.

A Russian soldier vanishes in Ukraine.

Tracking the circuitous fall of a Chinese political star.

An annotated transcript:

MR. SEALE: [The marshals are carrying him through the door to the lockup.] I still want an immediate trial. You can’t call it a mistrial. I’m put in jail for four years for nothing? I want my coat.

The battle for the old man with “snots running down his nose / Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes.”

Riding through Detroit with the author of The Turner House.

Meet Dr. Schnoz, the nose-sculpting YouTube king of Miami.

The story of Lisa S. Davis and Lisa S. Davis.

A profile of the Fox News anchor, who started his media career as a promising magazine writer.

After years of whispers in her Polish community, Anna finally learned the truth about her father. Then she went to Sri Lanka to find him.

After Brexit, the obsessions of Jake Fiennes could change how Britain uses its land.

Jorge and Carmen Barahona are awaiting trial. Both are charged with murder. The Department of Children & Families, which received numerous calls about Nubia to its child abuse hot line but did not protect her, has been flagellated for failure to do its job. That is the story of Nubia Barahona’s death. This — from voluminous court records, audio recordings, hundreds of family photos released by prosecutors, interviews and DCF documents — is the story of her life.

“None of this should have ever happened. It makes absolutely no sense at all. It’s truly crazy.”

The comedian on his show business bucket list, Donald Sterling, and whether he ever feels guilty for being funny.

A veteran magazine journalist changes jobs at 57.

A profile of philosopher Timothy Morton, who wants humanity to give up some of its core beliefs.

The future of Tesla.

On riding China’s Qinghai-Tibet Railway just before it opened:

Staring out at the shimmering tracks and concrete-reinforced embankment extending to the horizon, I can’t help but think of the senior Chinese scientist who confessed to me that the rail line he helped build might not be safe for long.

How do you start closing the gap between rich and poor? Convince the rich to do it themselves.

Searching for the person responsible for an iconic piece of 90s design.

How to plan for the most serious of possible natural disasters.