Amid the brutal civil war, a town fought off the regime and the fundamentalists—and dared to hold an election. Can its experiment in democracy survive?

With “The Apprentice,” the TV producer mythologized Trump—then a floundering D-lister—as the ultimate titan, paving his way to the Presidency.

Few men have acquired so scandalous a reputation as did Basil Zaharoff, alias Count Zacharoff, alias Prince Zacharias Basileus Zacharoff, known to his intimates as “Zedzed.” Born in Anatolia, then part of the Ottoman Empire, perhaps in 1849, Zaharoff was a brothel tout, bigamist and arsonist, a benefactor of great universities and an intimate of royalty who reached his peak of infamy as an international arms dealer -- a “merchant of death,” as his many enemies preferred it.

How a corporate network engineer became one of Aleppo’s most prolific weapons manufacturers.

The Libyan Investment Authority was brand new, staffed by people who barely understood finance and had billions to invest. Goldman Sachs saw a whale. Now the Libyans want their money back.

For years, the candidate for Kansas governor has defended towns that passed anti-immigration ordinances. The towns have lost big — but Kobach has fared considerably better.

During the brief moment when the pandemic was receding and we could be together again, all we wanted to do was move our bodies.

“Over the past century, coaches have used intuition and discipline to vastly improve athletic performance. Now scientists are taking the last step, helping athletes approach perfection.”

The multiple stories behind an iconic college football photo.

The Booker Prize-winning novelist on fantasy, reality, and a religious crisis that has never ended.

Life inside Long Island’s largest cluster of sex offenders.

Profiles of people with genius-level IQs.

An oral history of Siskel and Ebert.

A tour of our greatest conspiracy theories.

A profile of Rupert Murdoch, written before his empire began to crumble.

Adapted from a new biography of Jane Fonda.

A profile of Elizabeth Warren.

A profile of Taylor Wilson, who achieved nuclear fusion at age 14.

Are video games capable of emotion?

A pair of undercover cops infiltrate a dogfighting ring in Houston.

A globe-trotting, pre-CCTV profile of architect Rem Koolhaas.

How Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian government has woven soccer into its grisly campaign of oppression.

How a perfect vision of mother hood hurts moms.