Longreads

Most Americans don't know who Gary Gensler is or the agency he runs. They should. It falls to him as the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to rein in the flood of speculative money flowing into financial markets that many experts fear is driving up the price of oil, gasoline and basic foodstuffs.

On the steamy first day of August 1966, Charles Whitman took an elevator to the top floor of the University of Texas Tower in Austin. The 25-year-old climbed the stairs to the observation…

Last May, US Representative Newt Gingrich stood in the well of the House to rebut charges made by Speaker Tip O'Neill. For months, Gingrich had been harassing the Democrats in evening speeches broadcast over C-Span, the cable channel that carries House sessions.

Before Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, Charity Hospital was the pride of New Orleans. A 1930s Art Decostyle icon built with WPA funds, Charity was one of the oldest continually operating public…

Read also: The rest of this special report and MoJo's complete BP coverage. WE'RE SWINGING ON ANCHOR this afternoon as powerful bursts of wind blow down through the Makua Valley and out to sea. The…

Mon Apr. 18, 2011 3:00 AM PDTA MAN WITH A CONVICTION is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he…