Finding a Lost Strain of Rice, and Clues to Slave Cooking

Historians of African-diaspora cooking have considered hill rice a mythical, long-extinct staple. Then, one of them stumbled on it while walking in the Trinidadian countryside.

Published: Feb 13, 2018
Length: 8 minutes (2,017 words)

Jimmy Buffett Does Not Live the Jimmy Buffett Lifestyle

The beach-bum version of Jimmy Buffett has become a huge brand® with financial interests in foodstuffs, hotels, casinos, and even adult living communities. Buffett is the original escapist who has long escaped his original slacker identity. A businessman wrapped in a Hawaiian shirt, he’s worth more money than Bruce Springsteen. (Not bad for a guy who only had one top ten song, compared to Springsteen, who has had 12.)

Published: Feb 8, 2018
Length: 17 minutes (4,474 words)

Is ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ the Most Radical Show on TV?

In her first cover piece for the New York Times magazine, Jenna Wortham profiles RuPaul, making note of the ways in which he — and his 9-year-old reality competition TV show — have had to evolve along with shifting understandings of gender, and the politics around it.

Published: Jan 24, 2018
Length: 24 minutes (6,234 words)

Why Are Our Most Important Teachers Paid the Least?

Many preschool teachers earn around just $10 an hour in programs that are chronically understaffed and underfunded. And that’s just the beginning of the problems they face.

Published: Jan 9, 2018
Length: 31 minutes (7,923 words)

How I Learned to Look Believable

Possibly the most powerful piece the Times’ Style section has ever produced, this interactive story beautifully illuminates how self-consciously women must move through the world, especially after they dare to be audacious enough to speak out about their victimization.

Published: Jan 3, 2018
Length: 9 minutes (2,383 words)

She Broke Japan’s Silence on Rape

Shiori Ito reported her rape to the police, who were prepared to arrest her alleged assailant, a journalist named Noriyuki Yamaguchi, after conducting a two-month investigation. Then prosecutors suddenly dropped the case.

Published: Dec 29, 2017
Length: 10 minutes (2,643 words)

How Tough Is It to Change a Culture of Harassment? Ask Women at Ford.

A multi-media expose of the ongoing sexual harassment and misconduct toward women at Ford Motor Company. Despite numerous lawsuits filed and settled in the 1990s, a threatening culture has persisted and led to a new round of litigations. Reporters Susan Chira and Catrin Einhorn investigate whether that culture can survive the #MeToo revolution. What will it take to bring down male auto workers, managers and union leaders who have harassed or violated women, in the way that they are being taken down in Hollywood, media, and the food world?

Published: Dec 19, 2017
Length: 21 minutes (5,368 words)

Deliverance From 27,000 Feet

In May 2016, four Bengali mountaineers attempted to achieve a lifelong dream: to summit Mount Everest. After an egregiously late start to their summit attempt, they were abandoned by their guides and left to die on the mountain. Only one survived. John Branch reports on the ill-fated expedition and how a team of sherpas recovered the frozen bodies of Goutam Ghosh and Paresh Nath from 27,000 ft above sea level.

Published: Dec 18, 2017
Length: 55 minutes (13,823 words)

Road to Recovery

After his son died of a heart condition at age 5, James G. Robinson planned a month-long road trip across America to help his family begin to heal. What they discovered was that despite all the amazing monuments and curiosities America has to offer, the best times were spent in the car as a family, enraptured by Harry Potter audio books, quintessential sing-along road trip songs, and a playlist curated for each state.

Published: Dec 7, 2017
Length: 10 minutes (2,745 words)

Weinstein’s Complicity Machine

Harvey Weinstein built and relied on relationships with prominent politicians, talent agencies, and media companies to protect himself from abuse allegations. He forced some of his employees to keep him supplied with erectile dysfunction drugs, which were delivered to him before his meetings with women, and threatened their careers if they spoke out.

Published: Dec 6, 2017
Length: 32 minutes (8,000 words)