Zaranj: the bloody border of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“The main characteristic of Diane was courage.”

How the Library of Congress failed to adapt to the 21st century.

On the evolving design and industrialization of the American outdoors.

Analysis of the trial from future Supreme Court justice.

How one of the greatest mathematicians in the world thinks.

A tale of British gangsters who were determined to be famous.

With the suburb’s teens a year after the death of Michael Brown.

On the plight of the baobab tree.

On the cutthroat dealings of the porta-potty business.

John Singleton at the release of Boyz n the Hood.

According to the movie version, they died side by side, guns blazing, in the crosshairs of half a Bolivian regiment. It’s a great Hollywood ending that happens to be true, mostly: they left America… then died in Bolivia. What Hollywood didn’t know is that Butch and Sundance escaped.

The disappearance of the mysterious “Pakistani asset” that helped the CIA zero in on Bin Laden.

The first article in a two-part history of the Educational Testing Service, the institution behind the SAT.

A profile of the greatest checkers player of all time.

How climate change is altering food in Greenland.

Dr. Drew has turned addiction television into a mini-empire, offering treatment and cameras to celebrities who have fallen far enough to take the bait.  His motivations, he insists, are pure:

Whether the doctor purposefully cultivates his celebrity stature for noble means or wittingly invites it because he himself likes being in the spotlight, he is operating on the assumption that his empathetic brand of TV will breed empathy instead of the more likely outcome, that it will just breed more TV.

“Charlize Theron is anxious. Not greatly anxious, not distraught, but still. Anxious.”

Michelito Lagrevere is a 12-year-old Mexican matador sensation.

“Any North Korean knows that escaping their nation is nearly impossible.”

On body horror, ‘Attack of the 50 Foot Woman,’ and the growing pains of being the tall girl.

To make sense of the Special Counsel, you have to revisit some of the bloodiest battles of Vietnam.

How the bulk of the cocaine entering the U.S. ends up cut with a cattle dewormer.

The real question is this: can I love the art but hate the artist? Can you? When I say we, I mean I. I mean you.

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.