Alaska brims with stories of people who vanish and are given up for dead. Once in a while, the dead return.

Centuries later, the Flemish master’s works are still open to interpretation.

It’s worse than you thought.

Nannies and housecleaners have some of the hardest, least secure jobs in the nation. Now they’re organizing to change that.

On the brink of nuclear war, America’s bold response to the Soviet Union depended on an unknown spy agency operative.

They executed people for the state of South Carolina. For some, it nearly destroyed them.

Pinch-hitting for an ailing Ted Kennedy, the then-candidate honors the Kennedy’s life of service and implores graduates to wed their lives to others:

Ted Kennedy often tells a story about the fifth anniversary celebration of the Peace Corps. He was there, and he asked one of the young Americans why he had chosen to volunteer. And the man replied, ‘Because it was the first time someone asked me to do something for my country.’ I don’t know how many of you have been asked that question, but after today, you have no excuses.

“In fact, in private conversations, Obama rarely mentions Trump at all. Those who’ve visited the office he’s leased from the World Wildlife Fund in Washington’s West End say he’s eager to talk for hours about the world’s ills. When informed about the latest presidential tweetstorms aimed at him, he chuckles and changes the subject. One friend of Obama’s recalled that after a 45-minute meeting that avoided the subject of Trump entirely, the pair ducked into an aide’s office and saw on television that the president was claiming to have been absolved in the Russia inquiry. Obama’s eyes flicked toward the chyron and his face took on a decidedly bemused aspect for a beat before he turned back to their conversation as if nothing had happened.”

How a card-counting former meteorologist from Las Vegas made the first perfect Showcase bid in the 38-year history of The Price Is Right.

Visiting with the Christian fighters defending Iraq’s Nineveh Plains.

Rodeo bulls and the boys who ride them.

An interview with the author, who died Monday.

The 1826 kidnapping – and murder – that begat America’s obsession with Masons.

The search for an anonymous amateur philosopher.

Traditions, feuds, and controversies in British pest control.

When the U.S. Postal Service was a hotbed for innovation.

A woo-hoo heard around the world.

To the KGB and back.

At home with the beloved writer and illustrator.

On the world’s (then) largest online community.

Skiing and partying at the sport’s most dangerous race.

Retracing the writer’s life nearly 60 years after her death.

On the global money laundering conspiracy Liberty Reserve.

A small New Jersey town is world-famous among Orthodox Jews as a place to come ask for handouts.