The trucker blew a stop sign and hit a bus full of teenagers. Now the families of the dead grapple with their capacity to forgive.

Intended for cremation, 244 bodies are instead harvested for organs and tissue. The story of the families of the dead, the men who profited off the scheme, and the unwitting recipients of black market body parts.

On the rapid disintegration of the ecosystem in Las Vegas.

A profile of law professor Dan Kahan, “one of the best-known unknown academics in the country,” who wants to close the communication gap between scientists and the public.

Three decades ago, Mohamed Siad Barre, commander of the Supreme Revolutionary Council, head of the politburo of the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party and the last ruler of a functional Somali state, built vast concrete buildings all over Mogadishu. The beautiful city on the coast of the Indian Ocean, with its Arabic and Indian architecture, winding alleyways and Italian colonial-era villas, was dominated by these monuments. They were Third World incarnations of Soviet architecture, exuding power, stability and strength. The buildings – like the literacy campaigns, massive public works programmes and a long war against neighbouring Ethiopia in the late 1970s and early 1980s – were supposed to reflect the wisdom and authority of the dictator.

The longtime editor of the London Review of Books on editing, the “fussed” people on Twitter, and “preferential treament” for women.

Inside Rebecca West’s vast Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, an eerily timeless travelogue of the Balkans written on the eve of WWI.

Taibbi on the Tea Party. “After lengthy study of the phenomenon, I’ve concluded that the whole miserable narrative boils down to one stark fact: They’re full of shit.”

A murder involving one of the India’s celebrity couples has mesmerized the country and exposed some of its darkest fears.

On the Dancing Dolls of Jackson, stars of the reality show Bring It! and part of a long Southern tradition of majorette dancing.

The lingering psychological effects of being one of the greatest crime reporters of all time.

A working definition of ‘net neutrality’, a bestiary of the major players, and why the issue isn’t a cut and dry case of good vs. evil.

A profile of Afghanistan’s outgoing president.

A journalist’s memories of covering the great Baltimore fire of 1904.

A profile of Amar Bose, founder of the Bose Corporation.

Inside the multibillion-dollar business of keeping foreigners out of America.

A survivor of conversion therapy gets the wedding of her dreams.

The history of a color.

A profile of Google’s new CEO, “the most powerful tech giant you’ve never heard of.”

The death of a Russian dissident and how radioactive poison became a tool of assassins.

The complicated process of ghostwriting Julian Assange’s autobiography.

On the particular genius of Tolstoy.

A profile of Doc Johnson, “the Procter & Gamble of sex toys.”

A profile of the chairman of Fox News.