Longreads

The call from Guatemala put Oscar on edge.

Prosecutors came looking for you, relatives in his rural hometown told him. Big shots from Guatemala City. They want to talk to you.

Oscar Alfredo Ramírez Castañeda had plenty to lose. Although he was living in the United States illegally, the 31-year-old had built a solid life. He worked two full-time jobs to support his three children and their mother, Nidia. They had settled in a small but cheerful townhouse in Framingham, Mass., a blue-collar suburb of Boston.

Jennifer Bogo journeys to Antarctica to report on what it's like to live and work in the frozen continent:

"Penguins are engineers. Each spring, they meticulously build nests of rock—some comically high—then take turns lying atop them for weeks. I didn't fully appreciate this until I stepped out of a zodiac onto Torgersen Island with the Birders—the only group that never changes its name. The three Birders weave among colonies of Adélie penguins, careful to steer clear of the occasional elephant seal.

"Unlike the other scientists, the Birders work outside Palmer's main lab building in a faded red tent stuffed with Clif Bars and yellow weatherproof notebooks. When they arrive at study sites, on islands near Anvers, they strip off their orange Mustang suits to reveal head-to-toe khaki. After stripping off my own Mustang suit to reveal more neon orange, I learn why: Khaki doesn't scare the birds. "

After losing her Florida home to foreclosure in 2009, Sheila Ramos has made a home for her family on a patch of rural land on Hawaii's Big Island. (Paul Kiel/ProPublica) Note: This story is not…