Gawker’s Moment of Truth
A discussion of the future of Gawker Media. Employees recently voted to unionize—”the first at a major digital media company” to do so—and a $100 million lawsuit from Hulk Hogan is looming over the company.
James Is a Girl
Jennifer Egan’s 1996 New York Times Magazine profile of a teenage model.
SEAL Team 6: A Secret History of Quiet Killings and Blurred Lines
Navy SEAL Team 6 is one of the U.S.’s most mythologized military organizations. It has been in charge of carrying out clandestine intelligence operations, including the killing of Osama bin Laden, but the group has also had very little oversight.
The Agency
Adrian Chen takes a trip to Russia to search for a massive army of internet trolls—who then turn their sights on him.
In Europe, Fake Jobs Can Have Real Benefits
Unemployed Europeans can work fake jobs at thousands of fake companies, all of which make up an elaborate training network that effectively operates as a parallel economic universe.
A Choice for Recovering Addicts: Relapse or Homelessness
A New York Times investigation into a system of housing called “three-quarter homes” run by a company called the “Back on Track Group,” which profits off the poor and desperate.
Judy Blume Knows All Your Secrets
A profile of the author of “Deenie,” “Forever…” and many other books that conveyed the emotional experiences of adolescence for multiple generations of readers.
A Life in Motion, Stopped Cold
Brazilian gymnast Laís Souza had already competed in the Olympics twice when she was recruited into the relatively new sport of aerial skiing. Souza took on the new sport at warp-speed, qualifying for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games just seven months after she began her aerials career. But then disaster struck.
The Last Day of Her Life
Sandy Bem discovered she had Alzheimer’s and resolved to end her life before she lost her mind.
Where Would the Kardashians Be Without Kris Jenner?
The matriarch of reality TV’s most famous family has done more than just create a strange new form of family business—she’s changed the nature of celebrity.