How FPAQ, the Canadian group that controls 72 percent of the world’s supply of maple syrup, caused one of the greatest agricultural crimes in history.

After 17 years, the author of the trilogy “His Dark Materials” carries on the story of one of literature’s most indelible heroines.

A 12,000-word profile of recently departed Brazilian President Luiz Inácio da Silva, the “most successful politician of his time.”

A campaign diary of Luther Campbell’s (better known as Dr. Luke of 2 Live Crew) run for Mayor of Miami-Dade County.

Each year, thousands of people pay to play eighteen holes of golf at Angola, “the largest maximum-security prison in the country.”

Behind the tabloid story of the “murder orphan” in Queens.

On the culture of misogyny and abuse at one of the nation’s largest megachurches.

A self-published author of pick-up guides visits the “pacifist nanny state” of Denmark and finds the social safety interferes with his seduction strategies.

Exploring the vast underground world of New York City with three of the people who know it best.

On Baylor’s freshman basketball star Perry Jones and how the new era of one-season careers has changed the landscape of college basketball.

A study of the Mississippi River, its history, and efforts by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hold it in place.

A profile of Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Body and The 4-Hour Workweek.

On the battle between Shaquille O’Neal and his former IT guy, who’s in control of much of O’Neal’s archived (and often damning) correspondence.

The story of a deadly collision on the D.C. Metro, told from surviving passengers’ point of view.

Searching for the line between courage and humility on an expedition to Cirque of the Unclimbables, a remote ring of perfect rock-climbing mountains in Canada.

On the obsession with the sexual and social habits of American teenage girls.

The bloody reign of Rodrigo Duterte, who was elected President of the Phillipines in May.

After a cop walks into his station and confesses to murder, an investigation reveals the toll of lethal force on both sides of the gun.

How a dating app helped a generation of Chinese come out of the closet.

Many young South Koreans were beginning to live in isolation years before the rest of the world joined them.

Each year, California’s child protective services agencies remove thousands of kids from their homes. The story of how some parents decided to fight back.

An ambitious new system will track scores of species from space—shedding light, scientists hope, on the lingering mysteries of animal movement.

On the Google conundrum:

It’s clearly wrong for all the information in all the world’s books to be in the sole possession of a single company. It’s clearly not ideal that only one company in the world can, with increasing accuracy, translate text between 506 different pairs of languages. On the other hand, if Google doesn’t do these things, who will?

“Anna looked at the soul of New York and recognized that if you distract people with shiny objects, with large wads of cash, with the indicia of wealth, if you show them the money, they will be virtually unable to see anything else. And the thing was: It was so easy.”