What the sensation of an uncontrollable itch can tell us about how the brain operates.

The shared life of Tatiana and Krista Hogan.

How some scientists are turning to connectomes—maps of the brain’s neural circuitry—to make the case for brain preservation, mind uploading, and eternal life.

Susie Mc­Kinnon cannot hold a grudge. She is unfamiliar with the feeling of regret and oblivious to aging. She has no core memories. And yet she knows who she is.

Is there really such a thing as brain death?

Eagleman, a neuroscientist, describes how groundbreaking advances in the science of brain have changed our understanding of volition in criminal acts, and may erode the underpinnings of our justice system.

Edna Kelly’s brain goes under the knife.

On one of the great final acts in sports history.

On the self-inflicted torture of Rick Barry.

On the brilliance, and elusiveness, of the great Knicks point guard.

The most successful player in league history, Bill Russell, was also its most candid.

A rare glimpse of Kobe Bryant’s nonstaged private life.

The story of Billy Ray Bates, who had the talent to be an all-time great, but drank himself out of the league and ended up playing in the Philippines, where he had a few wild years before booze ended his career for good.

A father and his daughter’s brain tumor.

How Marv Marinovich’s plan to engineer his son into the greatest quarterback of all time backfired.

The writer on his father’s religious devotion to personal style. Among the maxims: “the turtleneck is the most flattering thing a man can wear”; “there is nothing like a fresh burn”; and “always wear white to the face.”

Paul Wayment made a profound mistake, left his 2-year-old son alone in his truck as he tracked deer in the wilderness. The boy was gone when he returned. The story of a collective struggle to find a just punishment.

Swept out to sea by a riptide, a father and his 12-year-old autistic son struggle to stay alive. As night falls, the dad comes to a devastating realization—if they remain together, they’ll drown together.

On the talent, ego, and late father of Bryant Gumbel.

Talese never got an interview with Ol’ Blue Eyes, but, as he told his editor, after three months of reporting he may have gotten something more elusive: “the truth about the man.”

Searching for the hermetic media giant.

Four years after a disastrous MTV performance had led him to avoid the public, Rose was back on stage—Asian guru and secret oxygen chamber in tow.

A pilgrimage to J.D. Salinger’s New Hampshire home.

Searching for Kirk Johnson, whose ass was one of the Internet’s earliest memes.

The story of a small town just outside Pittsburgh that has suffered through a half-century of economic decline, racial tension, and endless crime. Despite that trajectory, or perhaps because of it, Aliquippa has also produced an astounding number of NFL players.

On accent, culture, and a legendary football announcer.

On the impact of steel giant, Andrew Carnegie.

The possible resurrection of a Pittsburgh borough.

A profile of one of Mr. Rogers, who got his start at Pittsburgh’s WQED station and filmed there from 1968 until his final show.