A history of The New Yorker and its editors, from founder Harold Ross through Tina Brown.

Police and scientists investigate an outbreak.

What became of Annie Moore, the first person to arrive on Ellis Island?

Three years after her gold-medal performance – and amidst rumors of a fall from grace – the author travels to Transylvania to track down gymnast Nadia Comaneci. He also enjoys several drinks with her coach, Bela Karolyi.

Part of our Olympics primer, on the Longform blog.

A profile of the man behind the “7 Habits.”

Meeting Nick Drake, London, 1970.

How did the gambling magnate and prolific super PAC donor amass his billions?

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

A personal reflection on bird-watching and relationships.

The author interviews her mother about life as a secretary at Playboy in 1960s New York City.

What happens when a complete stranger becomes convinced you’re the Zodiac killer.

For days I've been slogging through a rain-soaked jungle in Indonesian New Guinea, on a quest to visit members of the Korowai tribe, among the last people on earth to practice cannibalism.

The psychic benefits of leaving New York.

The director on Obama, the state of black cinema, the Knicks, the Nets, the tragedy of public education in America, gentrified New York and why he lives on the Upper East Side.

A veteran critic reviews 32 shows in 30 days.

The sewer hunters, or “toshers,” of 19th century London.

Knowing where to find the most valuable pieces of detritus was vital, and most toshers worked in gangs of three or four, led by a veteran who was frequently somewhere between 60 and 80 years old. These men knew the secret locations of the cracks that lay submerged beneath the surface of the sewer-waters, and it was there that cash frequently lodged.

An investigation into sexual violence on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The evolution of currency as “a complete abstraction.”

On New York City’s “Young Turks of radical urban playground design.”

The story of booze and Bangalore.

On life in Los Angeles, and the specter of a second riot.

“Good espresso depends on the fourM’s: Macchina, the espresso machine; Macinazione, the proper grinding of a beans; Miscela, the coffee blend and the roast, and Mano is the skilled hand of the barista, because even with the finest beans and the most advanced equipment, the shot depends on the touch and style of the barista.”

On collecting books.

I have lived in books, for books, by and with books; in recent years, I have been fortunate enough to be able to live from books. And it was through books that I first realised there were other worlds beyond my own; first imagined what it might be like to be another person; first encountered that deeply intimate bond made when a writer's voice gets inside a reader's head.

Growing up with Charlie Brown.