The black men from Pittsburgh who made up America’s original paramedic corps wanted to make history and save lives—starting with their own.

From legal battles to securing vendors to getting the walls painted, every budget line is a struggle.

In an excerpt from her book, the late Northern Irish journalist joined a search for a missing youth.

Each year, California’s child protective services agencies remove thousands of kids from their homes. The story of how some parents decided to fight back.

An ambitious new system will track scores of species from space—shedding light, scientists hope, on the lingering mysteries of animal movement.

The theft of a deeply personal painting by René Magritte from a Belgian museum was a national tragedy. Now, an investigation points to a tragedy greater still.

In 1976, a school bus carrying 26 children and their driver disappeared from a small California town, capturing the world’s attention.

Sam Simon made a fortune from The Simpsons. Now, diagnosed with terminal cancer, he is racing to spend it.

A profile of Malala Yousafzai, the young activist from Pakistan who was just awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

A journey on the Sunset Limited, which ferries people from Louisiana to California.

A look at the Mexican drug wars from the point of view of a narco’s mistress in Juárez.

A field report from Electric Daisy Carnival, a three-night bacchanal in the Las Vegas desert attended by “100,000 wasted hedonists scantily dressed in furry underwear.”

Reverse engineering the details of a murder that took place in St. Louis on Christmas Night in 1895 from over a century of popular song.

After a 19-year-old is convicted of murdering his girlfriend, her family fights to free him from prison.

Five cars (all bought with $3,000 or less) containing 13 men (some in costume) race from New York City to California.

How a Madrid workshop is perfecting the art of copying imperiled art, from Egyptian tombs to Renaissance paintings.

After thousands of birds vanished overnight from a Florida refuge, conspiracy theories bloomed.

A dispatch from the Philippine capital, where “no one will be safe until many, many more have died.”

One story of coming to America from the Soviet Union.

The world’s richest prisoner interviewed from the Siberian prison colony he calls home.

A writer embarks on a seven-year trek from Africa to Tierra Del Fuego.

In a campaign supported by the Koch brothers, Republicans are working to prevent millions of Democrats from voting next year.

An excerpt from a new oral history of MTV.

An immigrant from Lebanon, a hair-cutting fortune, and the dream of building a castle on an island in British Columbia.

Meet Ben Discoe, a programmer who did it from October 2011 to November 2012.