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

As divided families argued over whether to stay or go, Jones saw part of his congregation slipping away. Al Simon, father of three, wanted to take his children back to America. "No! No! No!" screamed his wife. Someone whispered to her: "Don't worry, we're going to take care of everything." Indeed, as reporters learned later from survivors, Jones had a plan to plant one or more fake defectors among the departing group, in order to attack them. He told some of his people that the Congressman's plane "will fall out of the sky."

Adapted from a new biography of Jane Fonda.

A profile of Elizabeth Warren.

A trip to Hawaii to cover a marathon.

On Bangkok’s Khao San Road.

An essay drawn from the introduction of Davidson’s iconic book Subway, first published in 1986:

To prepare myself for the subway, I started a crash diet, a military fitness exercise program, and early every morning I jogged in the park. I knew I would need to train like an athlete to be physically able to carry my heavy camera equipment around in the subway for hours every day. Also, I thought that if anything was going to happen to me down there I wanted to be in good shape, or at least to believe that I was. Each morning I carefully packed my cameras, lenses, strobe light, filters, and accessories in a small, canvas camera bag. In my green safari jacket with its large pockets, I placed my police and subway passes, a few rolls of film, a subway map, a notebook, and a small, white, gold-trimmed wedding album containing pictures of people I’d already photographed in the subway. In my pants pocket I carried quarters for the people in the subway asking for money, change for the phone, and several tokens. I also carried a key case with additional identification and a few dollars tucked inside, a whistle, and a small Swiss Army knife that gave me a little added confidence. I had a clean handkerchief and a few Band-Aids in case I found myself bleeding.

How a drug store conquered New York.

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

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.

A 21-year-old’s audacious real estate scam and subsequent escape.

A veteran critic reviews 32 shows in 30 days.

Scenes from a Bowery flophouse.

Investigating an infamous Yale secret society.

Timothy Treadwell liked to say that, “Grizzlies are misunderstood.” Then one killed him.

Relations between two ice cream vendors in Oregon turn nasty.

Talking to Lee Daniels about Empire, Hollywood, and survival.

Who killed Jean Hope in 1970?

Bobby Gunn has fought 71 illicit bare-knuckle boxing matches. He’s never lost.

On an African-American entrepreneur and race in Silicon Valley.

On a 16-year-old Silicon Valley wunderkind.

How mental illness reshapes a marriage.

A profile of then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.

Searching for sanctuary with American war deserters.

Are video games capable of emotion?