In an elaborate FBI sting to expose corruption, four agents pose as futures traders in Chicago. The plan works–if you don’t count the hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars the agents lost in the process.

The evolution of cheating in chess.

Adventures in public speaking.

In defense of snark.

In the 1970s, Kelbessa Negewo was a midlevel administrator in Ethiopia’s brutal Red Terror regime. In the 1990s, he was a bellhop in an Atlanta hotel. Then someone he had tortured back home recognized him.

Jillian Lauren, wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, grew up middle class and now lives in a three-bedroom house in L.A. In between, she was a part of a royal harem in Brunei.

There are many explanations for the rise in killings in U.S. cities, including the pandemic and the choices made in response to it. In Philadelphia, the causes, the human costs — and the suffering — are particularly stark.

“In journalism just one fact that is false prejudices the entire work. In contrast, in fiction one single fact that is true gives legitimacy to the entire work. That’s the only difference, and it lies in the commitment of the writer. A novelist can do anything he wants so long as he makes people believe in it.”

“In an industry in which millions of people are invested in his success – in which he’s constantly being advised, praised and berated, often by total strangers – Revis’ tranquillity might be his greatest asset. He isn’t just an island. He’s a fortress.”

What a soldier finds in combat.

When a car careened onto a baseball field in Sanford, Maine, during a Babe Ruth game in 2018, it set in motion a true-crime mystery 50 years in the making.

The 20 soldiers in Second Platoon try in vain to hold down a strategic outpost in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, “among the deadliest pieces of terrain in the world for U.S. forces.”

A profile of Salvatore Strazzullo, who represents celebrities, whether major or minor, who get themselves in trouble in Manhattan after dark.

A field report from Electric Daisy Carnival, a three-night bacchanal in the Las Vegas desert attended by “100,000 wasted hedonists scantily dressed in furry underwear.”

Reverse engineering the details of a murder that took place in St. Louis on Christmas Night in 1895 from over a century of popular song.

“In some ways, joining the military is an act of faith in one’s country—an act of faith that the country will use your life well.”

In the Winter of 1964, the Fab Four rocket to superstardom in just six weeks.

In his first Major League at bat, Adam Greenberg was hit in the head with a fastball. He never made it back.

Life as a crime reporter in one of the most violent places in the world.

The ongoing question of forgiveness in Charleston, where Dylann Roof opened fire in a church on June 17th.

The Philippines is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist, especially if you’re in talk radio.

The EPA called it the most severe exposure to a hazardous material in American history. The only people in Libby, Montana, who didn’t see it coming were the victims.

The writer Alfred Chester, who died alone in a Jerusalem apartment in 1971 at just 37, was brilliant. He was also insane.

On conspiracy theories in sports, from the ‘85 NBA draft lottery to Michael Phelps’ gold medal performance in the 100-meter butterfly.