Against all odds, it really was a refuge of competence, normalcy and transcendent play. But the outside world has a way of sneaking in.

The International Criminal Court embodied the hope of bringing warlords and demagogues to justice. Then Luis Moreno-Ocampo took on the heir to Kenya’s most powerful political dynasty.

Those who survived tell the story of twenty three ISIS hostages’ shared months of brutal captivity before some were ransomed and some executed.

The story of Universe 25, a mouse utopia that became an overcrowded hell, and its implications for the future of humankind.

The story of Christopher and Jeffrey George, the twin proprietors of a pain clinic empire.

The short-lived literary career of Breece DʼJ Pancake and his roadmap to a world of oppressive poverty.

On Tse Chi Lop, “the Jeff Bezos of the drug trade” and ringleader of a $21-billion crime syndicate.

How the 1983 assassination of his father, the president of American University of Beirut, shaped the Golden State Warriors basketball coach.

The rise and fall of Intrade, the betting market for world events—elections, hurricanes, Academy Awards—and the death of its CEO near the top of Everest.

In eight malls spread across three continents, kids get to try out grown-up jobs in corporate-sponsored theme parks. Welcome to KidZania—coming soon to the U.S.

The Lyme-disease infection rate is growing. So is the battle over how to treat it.

Developed by early computer engineers in their spare time, improved in University comp-sci labs, and ultimately sold in coffeeshops for ten cents per game. Inside one of the most influential games ever played.

When Kenneth Jarecke photographed the charred remains of an Iraqi soldier during the Gulf War, he thought it might help challenge the popular narrative of a clean, uncomplicated battle. He was wrong.

The scientists at Beyond Meat have concocted a plant-protein-based performance burger that delivers the juicy flavor and texture of beef with none of the dietary and environmental downsides.

Soap operas, enrollment in multiple graduate programs at once, student films alongside Hollywood blockbusters. Is James Franco’s entire career a piece of performance art?

Darren Lumar lived in mansions he didn’t own, ran companies that didn’t make a dime, went to colleges that didn’t exist and slept with “any number of women” despite being married to James Brown’s daughter. When he was murdered, the cops had a problem: too many possible suspects.

A discovery in a Lithuanian forest brings a tale of survival back to life.

The internet has made porn ubiquitous. It’s also ruined the industry.

The case of Brett Kimberlin.

On the unlikely survival (for the second time) of Kamaishi, Japan.

A prescient take on what the US invasion of Iraq would mean for both countries.

A Supreme Court Justice revisits a rape trial from the 1950s.

“I laugh off 90 percent of the stuff I’m sent,” Wu says. “But it’s the 10 percent.”

On the day of the earthquake, two men went into Haiti’s Soccer Federation headquarters. Only one came out.