More migrants than ever are crossing the Colombia-Panama border to reach the U.S. Five days inside the Darién Gap, one of the most dangerous journeys in the world.

“Which is the largest country in the world, economically speaking? It’s America, the United States. Do you know why? Because way back—this is history, you can look it up on the Internet—the colonization was done by men who believed in the word of God. And they were tithers. That’s why you see on the dollar bill: ‘In God we trust.”

He sawed out the bottom. Nailed the crate to the telephone pole out in front of the house. New hoop. ... I’d be out there shooting until 10 at night. That’s when I started getting really good. The pole was round so you couldn’t bank the ball in. And you weren’t getting a friendly bounce on a square rim. You had to hit it dead-on, wet.

“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.”

The rise of the Night Wolves, a Kremlin-backed biker gang, and what it says about the Russian political condition.

The case of Gilberto Valle, “The Cannibal Cop,” and the line between criminal thoughts and action.

The Giants' miraculous 1951 comeback wasn't all that it seemed.

Previously: The Longform Guide to Cheaters.

The story of the 1969 murder spree by Charles Manson and “Family” as told by those close to the case.

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 rise of the long-haul trucker/serial killer, as excerpted from Ginger Strand’s book Killer on the Road.

The controversy surrounding the death of Uche Okafor.

The playground, the Ivy League, the triangle offense,  and how we dreamed up a “black basketball” and “white basketball.”

The untold story of the world’s most infamous sex tape, and how the Internet spread it faster than anyone expected.

The shooting death of the last wild Passenger Pigeon, atomic energy, mastodon watering holes, and other footnotes in Ohio history.

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.”

On the utter brutality of life in the tent cities, one year after the earthquake.

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

On the outsized pleasures of the very small.

At age 22, the author went undercover at his old high school. An excerpt of the book that became the film.

Kurdish revolutionaries helped the U.S. expel the Islamic State from its capital city. Will we soon abandon them?

The wondrous—and occasionally weird—relationship between the children’s-music superstar, his fans, and the man he used to be.

The roots musician is inspired by the evolving legacy of the black string band.

A speech on the value of being alone with your thoughts, delivered to the plebe class at West Point.

The veteran music publicist and radio host is also the indefatigable voice behind the most viral prompt questions on Twitter.