He made his name in Chicago investigating racial violence, solving crimes, and exposing corruption. But America’s first Black private detective was hiding secrets of his own.
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The Feud Between a Weed Influencer and Scientist Over Puking Stoners
Regardless of certain recent viral tweets about “scromiting,” cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is a very real thing. But figuring out the root cause of the unfortunate condition gets a lot harder when a prominent CHS sufferer (and, yes, “weed influencer”) decides to waylay a burgeoning scientific study. Another banger from Amanda Chicago Lewis, queen of […]
Well Without Water
Haunted by a running tap in prison, a man grows obsessed with water waste and climate change, pushing him to the edge.
Unsettled: The Afghan Refugee Crisis Collides with the American Housing Disaster
Part of The Verge‘s Homeland series, this feature by Makena Kelly on resettlement programs in the U.S. shows what Afghan families are facing from day to day, particularly in communities of the San Francisco Bay Area where the housing crisis is dire. Ongoing support and aid comes from local nonprofits, overworked volunteers, and generous families […]
Breakfast with the Panthers
The Black Panther Party was founded in Oakland in 1966 as a way to address police brutality throughout the city, but its work expanded beyond the streets. In its early years, the Panthers did a lot of work in the community, with many women in leadership roles. At one point, writes Suzanne Cope, the author […]
Rocketland
“Worshippers of Elon Musk have flocked to the middle of nowhere in Texas to watch SpaceX’s attempts to build a space-worthy rocket — and to find friends.”
Finding the Way Home and The Week’s Top 5
“I explain my original plan to catch a ferry into Nova Scotia and ride the Cabot Trail on the province’s northern reaches. I don’t tell him that I can’t go home until I learn something. What, I don’t know. Nevermind how.” Hello and welcome to the weekend! We’ve got a new feature, an excerpt, and […]
How Three Sisters (and their Mom) Tried to Swindle the CRA out of Millions
“The Saker sisters seemed to be the model of rural ingenuity…upstanding community members and principled entrepreneurs.” In reality, they were fraudsters, grifting the Canadian government, all the while fooling the public with a veneer of success and a sniff of social responsibility in their food operations. Even the judge couldn’t resist the urge to respond […]
In Living Color: A Prismatic Reading List on Pigment, Paint, and Perception
Six stories celebrating color in all its beauty.

