On getting weight reduction surgery.

A profile of environmental activist Tim DeChristopher.

What happened when a plane full of marijuana crashed in Yosemite Park.

A look inside Donald Trump’s portfolio of exclusive real estate properties.

A case of peafowl dividing a neighborhood.

“They played a game of chess with our lives and we lost.”

A profile of Spears at her nadir.

He was the best alpinist of his generation, a quiet, unassuming Canadian known for bold ascents of some of the world’s most iconic peaks. Four months ago, at the age of 25, he traveled to Alaska to join climber Ryan Johnson for a first ascent outside Juneau. They never came back.

How the People’s Temple tore one family apart, told in part via letters:

We have at long last opened our hearts to you, expressing the sorrow and agony which we have restrained over six long years. Any time you express the wish to resume normal relations and exchange with us, the past will be forgotten. For after all we do love you and the children more than any other persons. We shall continue to cherish you to our last day on earth. The peerless joy of raising you from childhood to youth is a unique life experience, indeed. Your father and mother

Memories of a lovely afternoon with a serial killer.

A profile of Stevie Nicks.

A profile of John Lasseter, chief creative officer at Pixar.

A profile of Ozzy Osbourne.

An investigation of Scientology.

How New York City responds to terrorism.

A profile of Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren.

A profile of Larry David.

A trip to an uncompromising cattle ranch.

Jaroslav Flegr and his theory about Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite found in cat feces:

If Flegr is right, the "latent" parasite may be quietly tweaking the connections between our neurons, changing our response to frightening situations, our trust in others, how outgoing we are, and even our preference for certain scents. And that’s not all. He also believes that the organism contributes to car crashes, suicides, and mental disorders such as schizophrenia. When you add up all the different ways it can harm us, says Flegr, "Toxoplasma might even kill as many people as malaria, or at least a million people a year."

How a once-lauded psychiatrist became a prolific prescriber of painkillers in one of Virginia’s poorest and most isolated counties.

A profile of CeaseFire, a group of “violence interrupters” attempting to prevent street shootings by treating them like an infectious disease.

Behind a financial fraud lay a secret plan to create a “mothership for con artists worldwide”:

Gamboa's tale involves secret ore deposits, hidden stocks of Soviet nuclear armaments, the Queen Mary ocean liner, portions of Antarctica, a new version of the Bible, allegations of fake deaths and miraculous resurrections, and a collection of some of the most colorful aliases ever to grace America's criminal and civil case dockets. (According to court documents, Korem also answers to the names Tzemach Ben David Netzer Korem and Branch Vinedresser.)

A 38,000-word answer.

The grim world of outsourced content moderation.

How the Caltech basketball team, losers of 310 straight conference games, figured out a formula for winning.