On the politics of North Carolina.

After a member of the Church of Wells abruptly left the group (which may or may not be a cult), many held out hope. A week later she went back, and the church’s elders are eager to explain why.

Previously: Sinners in the Hands

“Women are not abstaining from or delaying marriage to prove a point about equality. They are doing it because they have internalized assumptions that just a half-century ago would have seemed radical.”

Excerpted from </em>All the Single Ladies</a>.

How a landscape architect is enlisting nature to defend our coastal cities against climate change—and doing it on the cheap.

A war criminal’s life on the run.

The birthing of a conspiracy theory that the record holder for oldest person, Jeanne Calment, was actually her daughter Yvonne, who had “stolen her deceased mother’s identity to avoid paying inheritance taxes,”

Can casting away from established society to inhabit sea-based colonies save us from the problems of modern life—or are we bound to repeat our mistakes?

On a cruise with Syvlia Browne, the controversial psychic famous for telling distraught parents where their missing children are.

The body of a 38-year-old woman lay on her couch with the TV continuously running BBC for three years. Who was she, and why did it take three years for her to be discovered?

On the lonely life of a for-profit pageant queen.

On the skyrocketing number of Americans on disability—14 million at last count, with payouts topping those for food stamps and welfare combined—and what it means for the U.S. economy.

On the decades-long quest for a zero-calorie sweetener.

Mexicans on social media have their own hashtag for images of naked – and plainly impoverished – women.

A profile of the diva who is proving that drag is entertainment for everyone.

Patients say it feels like they’re drowning. Doctors say there’s nothing wrong. One thing is certain: medical professionals are finding they may not know as much about the nose as they’d thought.

On “the Incidents”, three shootings in a single month in a 1,300 person hamlet tucked inside the 12-year-old Nunavut territory. (The complete 4-part series.)

Last September, law enforcement officers were confounded by a murderer targeting prostitutes along the border. As the investigation intensified, they discovered that the killer had been hiding in plain sight.

Searching for the alleged Kazakh Bernie Madoff.

Robert Vicino helps the rich prepare for doomsday.

On September 11, 2001, three out of every four people who worked for Howard Lutnick died. The story of a recovery.

How divisions between Nigeria’s Muslim North and Christian South resulted in the birth of terror’s most ruthless movement.

A campaign diary of Luther Campbell’s (better known as Dr. Luke of 2 Live Crew) run for Mayor of Miami-Dade County.

On CEO Reed Hastings and the future of Netflix.

An analysis of online activity during the 2016 campaign makes the case that targeted cyberattacks by hackers and trolls were decisive.

On the anti-communist genocide known by the Indonesian Army as Operation Annihilation.