The Man Who Broke Into Jail
In Nashville, Alexander Friedmann, a renowned criminal-justice activist, committed a baffling crime. Daron Hall, the county sheriff, had worked with Friedmann and still can’t wrap his head around it. James Verini chronicles a singular case of a man breaking bad.
Books
Why the World Cup Can Feel Like War
Soccer stadiums can be dominated by violence, tribalism, chauvinism, and near-religious fervor‚ animated by the memory of old hostilities and the power of ritual.
By Ian Buruma
The New Yorker Interview
What Mehdi Mahmoudian Saw Inside the Iranian Prison System
The activist and Oscar-nominated co-writer of “It Was Just an Accident” speaks about the abuses he’s witnessed and endured, war between the U.S. and Iran, and the true stories behind the film.
By Cora Engelbrecht
What We’re Reading
A chronicle of nine World Cup tournaments that captures the love, devotion and vengeance surrounding the matches, an absorbing book that documents attempts by Antifa activists to expose and sabotage far-right-wing groups, and more.
Annals of Inquiry
When Do We Become Adults, Really?
Scientists define the stages of life in biological, societal, and chronological terms—but none of them quite capture what it’s like to grow up.
By Shayla Love
What Makes an Object Sexy?
A book of reportage on kinky subcultures describes how “deviant desire” can be transcendent—and completely mundane.
By Lillian Fishman
Losing Faith in Atheism
I spent years searching for a livable secular world view, but none of them quite offered the value of belief.
By Christopher Beha
The Death of Book World
What the closing of the Washington Post’s books section means for readers.
By Becca Rothfeld
Is the Rat War Over?
In New York, a rat czar and new methods have brought down complaints. We may even be ready to appreciate the creatures.
By Rivka Galchen
American Chronicles
False Witness
Under pressure from interrogators, a teen-ager helped send three of his friends to prison for murder. How could he ever make amends?
By Jennifer Gonnerman
A Reporter Aloft
Buckle Up for Bumpier Skies
With climate change, the skies are becoming more turbulent. Can today’s planes still keep us safe?
By Burkhard Bilger
In Case You Missed It
That morning, on a Monday in mid-January, 2015, the traffic did not ease up until they were past Half Moon Bay. Lilian, looking back ten years later, from a New Jersey college town where Tesla Cybertrucks prowled, felt that the Bay Area before the 2016 election had been as innocent as the children in her minivan, as well-intentioned, as ill-prepared. But are we not all like children in Euripides’ plays, about to be murdered or sacrificed?Continue reading »