“Why did James Whitehead—poet, fiction writer, and onetime college football player—fail to complete a successor to his celebrated first novel?”
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Posted inEditor's Pick
They Played Football as Children. Now Their Families Mourn.
They gave up the game after high school, but the damage seemingly was already done. Now, their families mourn and look for answers.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Turfin’ Safari
“Growing grass for the 2026 World Cup has been a years-long science project. Here’s how it’s going, from B.C. to Tennessee.”
Posted inFeature
The Wayfinders
The Marshall Islands’ first national soccer team discovers what “home” can mean—on a field in Arkansas.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Sour
“I looked up and down at my reflection. And I wished for the same thing I’d wish for every morning, of every day, for the next almost 15 years. To be absolutely anyone else.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Life, Death, and Total Football
“My Dutch friend Lars taught me to appreciate the most radical team in World Cup history—and how their tactics could be meaningful far beyond the pitch.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘The Forest Had Gone’: The Storm That Moved a Mountain
“On a small ledge in the Swiss mountains, 200 people were enjoying a summer football tournament. As night fell, they had no idea what was coming.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Sense of Scents
“The annual olfactory rush of cedar pollen is a sign of home.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Inside Story of the Athens Music Scene
“How did the college football town spawn the B-52s, R.E.M., and Widespread Panic, to name just a few? The maestros and misfits who led Athens’s rise to one of the world’s most influential and improbable music towns tell all.”
