“We must be grateful for the smallest of blessings. Last week I saw and heard some things that provided a measure of hope and nuance in these grim and hysterical times.”

She keeps watch over one of the largest databases of missing persons in the country. For Meaghan Good, the disappeared are still out here, you just have to know where to look.

In 1802, horse rustler George Washington Loomis rode into Oneida County and built a mansion adjacent to an impenetrable swamp perfect for storing thieved goods. It was the beginning of the saga of the largest organized crime family in 19th century America.

In 2003, the destruction of one particular statue in Baghdad made worldwide headlines and came to be a symbol of western victory in Iraq. But there was so much more to it—or rather, so much less.

How a Mossad agent’s desperate bid to jumpstart his career led to the exposure of two top Hezbollah plants.

A trip to the French island of Réunion to report on a bloody battle between surfers and sharks.

The story of Kokie’s, and its gentrifying Williamsburg neighborhood.

On the hundreds of corpses that go unindentified every year along the U.S.-Mexico border.

After two tours in Iraq, the writer returns to a volatile region of Afghanistan as an embedded journalist.

A case for why race has been the real story of the Obama presidency all along.

A story of regret and the contemporary art market.

Exploring the relationship between cats and the Internet in Japan.

A profile of Griselda Blanco, aka the “Black Widow,” who pioneered the cocaine trade in New York and Miami.

The strange existence of the accused Internet pirate as he battles the U.S. government.

Why is an anti-virus software giant in the Belizean jungle surrounded by  gang members?

The story of a rookie clinging to his dream, as told by his uncle.

Profiles of people who live in their car after losing almost everything during the Great Recession.

Meet Alan Chambers, former leader of Exodus International–a “pray the gay away” ministry.

The author dives to the wreck of the Mohawk, where his uncle died in 1935.

On the “queer roots” of Disco, House, and beyond.

The stories of the 109 black men who have played quarterback in the NFL, from Fritz Pollard to Russell Wilson.

On the enduring appeal, both amateur and academic, of man vs. dinosaur.

Spending time with the residents of K6G, the only gay wing in the entire American penal system.