A pair of gamblers and a glitch too good to last.

Vivien Thomas was paid a janitor’s wage, never went to college, and still became a legend in the field of heart surgery.

The “insane playfulness, deliberate infantilism, nutty haikus, naked stripteases, free-form chants and literary war dances of the beats” and their leader.

A New York gossip reporter makes her way in the wilds of European bureaucracy.

On the wandering career and sweet baritone voice of Art Laboe, the DJ behind the phrase “oldies but goodies.”

On mirror-touch synethesia, the power (or curse) of knowing exactly how others feel.

Pennsylvania is on the verge of saying yes.

On the underground economy of full-service Southern California apartment complexes marketed to Chinese birth-tourists.

The search for an Iraq veteran on the brink of suicide.

How an entire industry built itself convincing lead-paint poisoning victims to sign over settlement payments for a fraction of what they’re worth.

The struggles of Xavier University, a tiny, historically-black school in New Orleans, to train students for medical school.

Who was Ashraf Marwan working for when he fell to his death from the balcony of a London flat?

Explaining a radical shift in the way some of New York’s best restaurants do business.

The making of the drone.

The final days of the last Navy SEAL to die in Afghanistan.

A civil trial of Officer Marco Proano, who shot Niko Husband in 2011, finds him not guilty. By accident.

The unexpected evolution of Olympic medalist Debi Thomas.

The definitive story of a ubiquitous software. PowerPoint’s origins, its evolution, and its mind-boggling impact on corporate culture.

The story of the 2010 NCAA championship game between Duke and Butler, and what would have been greatest shot in college basketball history.

“The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads.”

Early last year, 10 churches were torched in East Texas. The culprits? Two Baptist teens having a crisis of faith.

How automated ‘execution algorithms’ are taking the world’s markets on a wild ride that few economists can even understand, much less control.

The story of a college town and the most devastating tornado in Alabama history.

A profile of under-fire Goldman Sachs Ceo Lloyd Blankfein.