The Little Girl in Grave 1565
For 47 years after she died in a tragic circus fire, no one knew her name. This is the story of two people: one obsessed with finding out who she was, the other wanting only to forget what happened.
When Washington Took On Wall Street
Nearly 80 years ago, on Capitol Hill, Ferdinand Pecora forced J. P. Morgan Jr. and other “banksters” to reveal the corruption that had fueled the Great Depression—bringing shame on the financial industry and resulting in new laws to curb abuses. The author looks back at the Pecora Commission hearings, and asks why there is no comparable investigation now.
The Enemy Within
When the Conficker computer “worm” was unleashed on the world in November 2008, cyber-security experts didn’t know what to make of it.
Rage Machine
Andrew Breitbart’s empire of bluster.
What the War Did to Andy
In the Air Force special ops, my friend Andy Kubik was the best of the best, a true American hero. As much as any one man, he was responsible for breaking the Taliban’s control of Afghanistan. But now, back at home, he’s fighting just to stay sane.
Boss Kelly
The long-serving NYPD commissioner is autocratic, dismissive of civil-liberties concerns — and effective. Is that a reasonable trade-off to keep the city safe?
Cass Sunstein Wants to Nudge Us
In “Nudge,” a popular book that he wrote with the influential behavioral economist Richard Thaler, Sunstein elaborated a philosophy called “libertarian paternalism.” Conservative economists have long stressed that because people are rational, the best way for government to serve the public is to guarantee a fair market and to otherwise get out of the way. But in the real world, Sunstein and Thaler argue, people are subject to all sorts of biases and quirks.
The New Sheriffs of Wall Street
Letter to a Young Reporter
Ten years ago, Justin Heckert emailed Walt Harrington a few clips and asked for some advice.
Putting a Price on Words
This isn’t a lament about declining standards of quality or the rude incursions of amateur bloggers. In fact, thanks to the Internet, people probably read more good journalism than ever. That’s precisely the problem: the sheer volume of words has overwhelmed a business model that was once based on scarcity and limited choice.
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