As abortion rights in the United States grew more and more tenuous this summer, Los Angeles Times reporter Brittny Mejia grew curious about the history of those rights. That led her to uncover a pivotal court … Read more
In the minority writing of last month’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, three justices delivered a dissent that was both lacerating rebuke and baleful elegy. Folded unexpectedy inside: a surprising reference to a popular game that … Read more
Great story ideas are everywhere, and Corinne Purtill spotted a gem on a family trip to the Los Angeles Zoo, where she learned the story of a celebrity with a checkered past. Purtill had just joined … Read more
Lauren Hough has been a bouncer and a barista, a cable guy and a member of the military. But in a recent piece for Texas Highways, the acclaimed essayist shows off another role: eagle-eyed excavator … Read more
These days, a conspiracy theory can burn through a population like a pathogen. And while these theories are built on top of untruths, the ripples they send out in the world can be very real. Jessica … Read more
Chris Gethard’s career may be the most zigzag-filled in comedy. He’s the author of several books, including “Lose Well,” on the importance of failure; an actor who’s appeared in high-profile TV … Read more
Atlantic editor and writer Jacob Stern can sum up in a single word, as flickering as a blurred jab, what he knew about boxing: “Nothing.” But when Stern embarked on a story about a boxer returning … Read more
In 1994, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun reversed his long-held, if ambivalent, support of the constitutionality of capital punishment. In an emotional dissent, the 85-year-old justice famously called the workings of “the machinery of death.” … Read more
For many Americans, COVID news has joined the thrum of everyday life. But Charles Pierce warned readers in a recent newsletter the crisis shouldn’t be allowed to be part of the wallpaper. It should shriek like a siren — … Read more
Stories about grief can shape themselves into as many forms as grief itself. And when grief is multiplied by several people and 20 years, it splinters and reforms again and again. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, people found … Read more
