On Graham Greene, the master of “ethical ambivalence.”

The odyssey of Kim Jong-il’s personal chef.

High school debate and the demise of public speech.

The life and last days of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

A few days in the life of Miley Cyrus.

An essay on gynobibliophobia and the critical reception of women writers.

The origins of Lagunitas are laced with THC.

Rise of the wonk.

Profiles of Vietnam veterans several years after returning home.

On the “unfair significance” of Jeremy Lin.

A personal history of “America’s most misunderstood religion.”

On dirty laundry and the meaning of freedom.

A profile of the designer, who died on February 19, 2019.

The story of Theranos.

Is the Chinese government behind one of the boldest art-crime waves in history?

The story of the most secret underground society in Paris.

Clarence Thomas, then-chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, profiled by Juan Williams:

He agrees with Reagan's characterization of the civil-rights leaders as old men fomenting discontent to justify their own "rather good positions." "The issue is economics—not who likes you." Thomas has told me. "And when you have the economics, people do have a way of changing their attitudes toward you. I don't see how the civil-rights people today can claim Malcolm X as one of their own. Where does he say black people should go begging the Labor Department for jobs? He was hell on integrationists. Where does he say you should sacrifice your institutions to be next to white people?"

“What I do is not magical realism. I do realistic magic. Look, whenever someone does something new, people have to compare it with things they already know. So even if you innovate, you end up being connected to the past. When I began making movies people linked me to Fellini or Buñuel. Now new filmmakers are called ‘jodorowskian.’”

Promise kept.

But his greatest presidential stumbling block may be right under his nose. At home, Newt's second wife, Marianne Ginther Gingrich, tells me she doesn't see herself in the First Lady's job. "Watching Hillary has just been a horrible experience," commiserates Marianne. "Hillary sticking her neck out is not working." What happens if Newt runs?, I ask. "He can't do it without me," she replies. "I told him if I'm not in agreement, fine, it's easy" --she giggles at her naughtiness. "I just go on the air the next day, and I undermine everything..."

Gamers, celebrities, military veterans, and publicists populate a capitalist future.

“I believe that all the survivors are mad. One time or another their madness will explode. You cannot absorb that much madness and not be influenced by it.”

An attempt to figure out why, and how, a young pilot named Andreas Günter Lubitz deliberately plunged an airliner into the remote French Alps, killing himself and the other 149 people on board.

Their boss allegedly committed sexual assault and abuse. He denied everything. They had to decide: Who do I believe? What do I do?

On Feb. 19, 2020, a right-wing extremist murdered nine young people in Germany. Because the gunman shot himself, there will be no trial. But those left behind have questions for the country they call home.

He brought Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Cabbage Patch Kids to our living rooms. He made and lost fortunes. Can Al Kahn stay in the game?