On China’s modern-day Communist Party and why foundational myths can never be shed.

A veteran black Metro columnist, adrift in a rapidly shifting D.C., rankles an incoming generation of gentrificationists.

A Washington tribe expelled 306 of its members. They’re not going quietly.

A tour of a nonprofit that collects, warehouses, and donates perfectly good stuff hospitals throw away, from anesthesia machines to unopened surgical tools.

A statewide network of schools for disabled students has trapped black children in neglect and isolation.

More than 250 people have died since 2011 taking pictures of themselves in dangerous locations.

An interview with F. Lee Bailey about his 60 years of celebrity trials.

Medical examiners provide crucial insights into public health and safety. What happens when we don’t have enough of them?

In 1989, USC had a depth chart of a dozen linebackers. Five have died, each before age 50.

A mother’s fight to save a Black, mentally ill 11-year-old boy in a time of a pandemic and rising racial unrest.

Thousands of patients report lingering symptoms. Can research into another mysterious syndrome help?

A group of high school students try desperately to make it through an isolated and dire year.

More than 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education, New York’s schools remain separate and unequal.

A profile of Ken Regan, a computer scientist, chess master, and world champion at detecting cheaters in chess.

A 2011 profile of LeBron James, originally meant to run in Port, that was killed by Nike.

Elon Musk’s dreams of colonizing Mars.

How a herbalist who used to swim naked with Allen Ginsberg became one of conservative talk radio’s most vicious—and listened to—hosts.

On Friday Night Lights as book, film, and TV show.

Living with hypersomnia, a disorder marked by sleeping dozens of hours straight and still never feeling truly awake.

A profile of Red Bull’s Dietrich Mateschitz, who wants to make his drink a lifestyle. Mateschitz’s co-founder, Chaleo Yoovidhya, died March 17.

When members of China’s massive bulletin-board forums perceive wrongdoing, they form a “human flesh search engine” and seek out real world vigilante justice.

A profile of Vova Galchenko, teenage juggling virtuoso and early viral star.

On two gay men in Pennsylvania who tried, and failed, to build a commune of their own.

On Keith Richards’ autobiography.

There’s some very sensible advice on how to take drugs, too.