The FBI’s counterterrorism unit recruited Billy Reilly to infiltrate terror and criminal networks as a part-time confidential source. Part of a wave of workers recruited post-9/11, Billy did not receive the training, protections, or compensation of a full-time agent. After he went missing during an operation in Russia in 2015, no one inside the FBI […]
2019
Posted inEditor's Pick
In the Rush to Harvest Body Parts, Death Investigations Have Been Upended
Organ procurement companies can harvest body parts before medical examiners have a chance to examine a dead body and rule on a cause of death. Does that seem problematic? Yes, yes it does.
Posted inBooks, Essays & Criticism, Highlight, Nonfiction, Quotes
Same Sh*itty Media Men, Different Day
Rebecca Traister asks how NBC can possibly change its misogynist culture if it keeps the same bad actors at the top.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Las Marthas
Society of Martha Washington Colonial Pageant in Laredo, Texas, is a debutante ball featuring teenagers in multi-thousand-dollar Martha Washington cosplay. Mostly Mexican teenagers. But it wasn’t always that way — towns shift, and so do identities.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story
Old Dudes On Skateboards
The death of his life-long skateboarding friend prompts Aaron Gilbreath to get back on his board — at 44, with his toddler daughter in tow.
Posted inStory
‘Writing This Book Was a Weird Séance ’: An Interview With Deborah Levy
“If you have the depth, the surface can be as light as it’s possible to make it…I don’t mind that ‘Swimming Home’ is sometimes described as a ‘beach read’ — actually that’s a triumph.”
Posted inFeature
Under the Knife
Margot Harris grapples with guilt following a labiaplasty procedure.
Posted inArts & Culture, Essays & Criticism, Story
Happiness is Fleeting
Good grief, adolescence is difficult. Luckily Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell found solidarity and guidance from The Peanuts Gang.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Ronan Farrow Depicts a Chilling Cover-up at NBC
Rebecca Traister reads Ronan Farrow’s new book, Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, and realizes that those at NBC who colluded to obstruct Farrow’s ground-breaking reporting on Harvey Weinstein remain in charge.
Posted inFood, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
The Thriving eBay Cheeto Community
Uniquely shaped Cheetos go for big bucks online, but is anyone really buying?