If you walk into New York’s best restaurants without a reservation, what does it take to get a table?

A profile of Rahm Emanuel, written during his first congressional campaign in Illinois. Emanuel was running to fill the seat vacated by Rod Blagojevich.

A writer struggles to defend his arbor vitae trees from a pack of hungry deer—“an episode of great vexation and buffoonery.”

Taibbi on the Tea Party. “After lengthy study of the phenomenon, I’ve concluded that the whole miserable narrative boils down to one stark fact: They’re full of shit.”

Four years after a disastrous MTV performance had led him to avoid the public, Rose was back on stage.

A report from Camp Hope, the tent city that’s sprung up next to the Chilean mine where 33 men have been trapped since early August.

James Frey is starting a publishing company, paying young writers (very poorly) to reverse engineer a Twilight-esque hit.

On the mysterious life story of blues icon Blind Willie Johnson and a half-century of attempts to fill in the blanks.

On boot camps designed to break kids of their web addiction.

A young girl is reported missing. The detective assigned to her case quickly discovers she’s been gone for years. The story of his search for justice.

A reporter heads to Istanbul, where Iverson is playing minor league hoops in a 3,200-seat arena and hanging out at T.G.I. Friday’s.

In an upscale Denver condo, twice-a-month they convened from Thursday to Sunday with 95 percent-pure Shabu.

The detective work that led to the recovery of a trove of stolen Nazi art.

Overcrowding in prisons leads to doubling up inmates in solitary confinement, regardless of their homicidal intentions or mental health.

There’s software used across the country to predict future criminals. It’s racist.

More and more Americans are trying to survive on less than $2 a day.

How a 27-year-old went from PR underling to gatekeeper.

“Private prisons are shrouded in secrecy. I took a job as a guard to get inside—then things got crazy.”

Making bio-diesel is hard. Getting paid $100 million to not make it is surprisingly easy.

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

Inside the chaotic race to build Elon Musk’s hyperloop.

A reporter learns to slice lox—and digs into a Los Angeles landmark’s millions in debt.

Tracing the path of one of the world’s most in-demand minerals from deadly mines in Congo to your phone.

How modern slot machines develop a nearly unbreakable hold on the brain, leading around one in five pathological gamblers to attempt suicide.

An investigation into 62 incidents caught on video shows how cops are incentivized to lie — and why they get away with it.