How a major American company helped bring Charles Taylor to power in Liberia.

Creating, and then attempting to dismantle, a fake persona based on a man who died in 1984.

Stefan Simchowitz has supported dozens of emerging young artists. Why do so many people hate him?

Inside Roger Goodell’s troubling (or wildly successful, depending on who you ask) tenure as NFL commissioner.

A visit with Ai Weiwei, Laura Poitras, and Jacob Appelbaum, three people who live in justifiable paranoia of government surveillance.

After decades of failed revitalization strategies, a town of 10,000 tries another.

Mary Ellen Johnson, a 48-year-old author, befriends a teenager convicted of murdering his parents.

Romney’s former Bain partner makes a case for inequality.

Police and scientists investigate an outbreak.

A survey of sex on a Saturday night in New York City.

In 1916, a down-on-its-luck traveling circus hung its star elephant.

How Madden NFL went from a programmer’s childhood dream to a $3 billion business.

A critique of Davis Guggenheim’s Waiting for ‘Superman’.

A profile of A.J. Daulerio, editor of Deadspin and procurer of, among other things, cell phone pics of Brett Favre’s penis.

A year-long investigation of America’s coroners and medical examiners reveals a deeply flawed, deeply troubling system.

A profile of Republican Eric Cantor: six-term congressman, new House majority leader, highest-ranking Jewish elected official in American history.

A profile of Alex Jones, who draws a bigger online audience than Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh combined.

Over a million people are buried in a potter’s field on Hart Island. Here are some of their stories.

Who was Omar Mateen?

Scientist George Price discovered an equation for altruism. First he let go of his possessions. Then he took his own life.

Activists hoped President Obama would fight for stronger regulation. Eight years later, they’re still waiting.

Controversy following a climbing disaster that killed eight.

We know that certain programs can help prevent gun deaths among black men. No one in Washington seems to care.

No one knew her secret. Until they did.

Inside “a surreal world of pseudo-scientific methods and jargon, traumatizing psychodramas and nude cuddling with counselors.”