“The first point he makes several times is that his new album will appeal to everyone; the second is that he is a changed man who’s grown up and calmed down. All I can say with certainty is that Brown is a stranger to the concepts of modesty and consistency.”

In 1980, four American nuns were murdered in El Salvador. This is the story of how a young American official stationed there singlehandedly found the culprits.

Excerpted from Weakness and Deceit: America and El Salvador's Dirty War

After circulating Lolita in secret amongst a small circle of New Yorker editors and publishers, Vladamir Nabokov finally placed it at Olympia Press. Three weeks before publication, a slumping and broke Dorothy Parker appeared in The New Yorker with a story entitled “Lolita” about a teenage bride, her jealous mother, and a much older man.

Whoever wants to enchant America’s conservative base as well as independents looking for a steady hand amid economic upheaval must try to grasp what has carried Cain this far — what not only shields him from spectacular attempts at self-immolation but also, with each incident, seems to make him stronger. Why, with this candidate, do the laws of physics seem not to apply?

Imagine a community of great possibilities and prosperity built by Black people for Black people. Places to work. Places to live. Places to learn and shop and play. Places to worship. Now imagine it being ravaged by flames.

A profile of Claire Danes.

The web has revolutionized communications and commerce, but what does it mean for art?

Immune systems don’t make for clean narratives, even as we expect them to keep us pure.

The hockey legend’s new life as a medical icon for a questionable stem-cell treatment.

Inside the cases for—and against—his removal from office.

When Spanish authorities sentenced this provocative musician to prison for “glorifying terrorism,” his dedicated fans helped him make a daring escape across the border.

Elizabeth Pierce impressed investors with hefty contracts for fiber—until they learned she was the only one who’d signed them.

The author expounds on culture and crime in the early 90s:

Yes, I know there are sensational tabloid crimes everywhere and the closeness to the Manhattan media nexus tends to magnify everything. But even so, that was always true. There's just no denying that something has changed in the past decade, that, as our bard Billy Joel sings on his new album, there's "lots more to read about, Lolita and suburban lust." But why? Why is this Island different from all other islands? And why are so many Long Islanders suddenly running amok?

“What happens when the thing that might save you is also the thing that might destroy the world?”

Did a school for spies get conned by a fake spook who molested students?

In 1960, beer heir Adolph Coors III was kidnapped and murdered. A look back at the crime and the man who committed it.

The film executive hired private investigators, including ex-Mossad agents, to track actresses and journalists.

The executive and investor resigned from his position as Tronc chairman hours before the news.

The Federal Writers’ Project narratives provide an all-too-rare link to our past.

One reason the Tea Party's patriotic political statements are so taupe is that they mirror the religious rhetoric, which is high on generalizations about God and low on nuance and complexity and conflict. Go ahead, replace "constitution" and "patriotism" with "God" and "faith" in some tea party speech sometime—it's not as wacky as it should be.

How Goldman Sachs made $5 billion by controlling supply and manipulating the aluminum market.

The late governor’s most enduring speech.