The Roller Rink Origins of N.W.A.

A brief history of Skateland, the Compton roller rink where N.W.A. hung out and performed early shows.

Author: Sam Sweet
Published: Aug 14, 2015
Length: 10 minutes (2,575 words)

ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape

Twenty-one women and girls from the Yazidi religious minority escaped the Islamic State and revealed how they were systematically raped by their captors. The Islamic State uses a selective reading of the Quran to argue that they have a religious right to enslave and rape those who practice a religion other than Islam.

Published: Aug 13, 2015
Length: 16 minutes (4,011 words)

Swiss Freeports Are Home for a Growing Treasury of Art

From July 2012: a look at the tax-free, treasure-crammed Switzerland warehouses known as freeports, which are “the closest thing to the Cayman Islands that the art world has to offer.”

Published: Jul 22, 2012
Length: 12 minutes (3,111 words)

The Kansas Experiment

Suellentrop, a nephew of Kansas Rep. Gene Suellentrop, looks at how Republicans struggled to balance the state budget while trying to wean itself off of income tax revenue.

Published: Aug 5, 2015
Length: 26 minutes (6,687 words)

Training Officers to Shoot First, and He Will Answer Questions Later

William J. Lewinski has become the go-to expert when it comes to defending police shootings in court, despite drawing conclusions that are unsupported by data.

Published: Aug 1, 2015
Length: 10 minutes (2,737 words)

A Dream Undone

Why do Americans have less voting rights today than they did 50 years ago? Rutenberg examines how the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was passed to prevent the disenfranchisement of black Americans, has been gutted.

Published: Jul 29, 2015
Length: 43 minutes (10,975 words)

You Just Got Out of Prison. Now What?

Mooallem follows two ex-convicts who pick up inmates the day they are released and help then navigate through their first day of freedom.

Published: Jul 16, 2015
Length: 26 minutes (6,606 words)

The Mixed-Up Brothers of Bogotá

The story of how a hospital error led to two pairs of identical twins being raised as two pairs of fraternal twins—one pair in the country and the other in the city—and what happened after the four men discovered the mistake.

Published: Jul 10, 2015
Length: 47 minutes (11,800 words)

Arianna Huffington’s Improbable, Insatiable Content Machine

A profile of Arianna Huffington and the rollercoaster ride The Huffington Post has gone through in the last decade.

Published: Jun 30, 2015
Length: 18 minutes (4,712 words)

‘I Don’t Believe in God, but I Believe in Lithium’

Jaime Lowe writes about her bipolar disorder, which has been managed by lithium pills for most of her adult life. She fears what will happen when she stops taking it.

Author: Jaime Lowe
Published: Jun 25, 2015
Length: 17 minutes (4,419 words)