Reported Features

What Really Happened To Baby Christina? Twenty-six years ago, Barton McNeil called 911 to report that his three-year-old daughter had died in the night. It was the worst thing that could ever happen to any parent. Then a new nightmare began. By Matthew Bremner, Esquire

The Cult Leader Of Staten Island When he was 19 Jeff Gross fell under the sway of the charismatic, fifty-one-year-old Mildred Gordon and spent more than half his life in an "intentional community" they built together. It turned out to be much, much more than that. By David Gauvey Herbert, Esquire

The Land Beyond The Drug War Every state in America has a fentanyl problem, but only Oregon has decriminalized drugs and sent hundreds of millions in legal-weed tax dollars to organizations that are trying to heal people. In Portland and a rural county nearby, there is both chaos and hope. By Jack Holmes, Esquire

Inside Youth Baseball’s Most Notorious Dad-On-Dad Rivalry On the Long Island Inferno, two fathers, both with complicated pasts, took it all too far. Neither man was ever the same. By David Gauvey Herbert, Esquire

The Rise And Fall Of Planet Hollywood Thirty years ago, the biggest celebrities on earth opened a chain restaurant. For a few years, it was the hottest ticket in town. Then it went bankrupt. Twice. The brains behind this pop-culture phenomenon explain how it happened. By Kate Storey, Esquire

The Ballad Of Ron And Dorinda In 1986, two lovebirds busted out of a coed prison in a hijacked helicopter. They’ve been trying to escape ever since. By David Gauvey Herbert, Esquire

The Curious Tale of the Salish Sea Feet To date, 21 disembodied feet have washed up on the shores of Seattle’s Salish Sea. What at first looked like the work of a serial killer turned out to be something even more unsettling: A message from the ocean about who we are. By Kea Krause, Longreads

The Hunt For Planet Nine.What will it take to find the biggest missing object in our solar system? By Shannon Stirone, Longreads

Profiles

The Confessions Of Andrew Garfield The actor has big ideas about life and death—even a theory about the nature of time. Over an afternoon at one of his favorite New York City haunts, the actor let us into his world. By Rachel Dodes

Kid Kudi Is All Right Not all that long ago, the now-38-year-old was in rehab and at a mental health low-point. Now he's got new music, a new tour, and a new Netflix show—and he says exactly what he needs to say, exactly when he needs to say it. What a difference a couple years makes. By Clover Hope

The Charm (And Grit) Of Tom Holland Can your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man convince movie audiences he’s a heroin-addicted bank robber? To his mum’s horror, the answer is yes. By Allie Jones

The Idris Elba Effect The coolest man on the planet won’t be shaken from his master plan. But after a bruising 18 months, the multitalented Englishman, who acts, deejays, and podcasts, and this month stars in the all-Black Western, The Harder They Fall, wants to clear up a few things. By Tim Lewis

The Weeknd: A Pop Star For The Demon Hours Even as he enters a new phase of who 'The Weeknd' is, Abel Tesfaye remains the modern bard of our most fucked-up times. By Allison P. Davis

Essays + Criticism

How To Talk Like A Man A trans guy’s quest to figure out what makes a dude sound like a dude. By Sandy Ernest Allen

The Prisoner And The Pen Writing from a cell at Sullivan Correctional Facility, the author is part of a renaissance of prison journalism. But if prison authorities had their way, no one would be writing from the inside at all. By John J. Lennon

Politics

The Cynic and the Two Nations It’s been twenty years since then-state senator Obama assured us there was not a liberal America and a conservative America. In that time, a new country has been building with fearful momentum. Can anything be done to stop it? By Charles P. Pierce

Happy Birthday, Senator! Now Please, Retire We’ve always had a minimum age to serve in Congress. How about a max? By Jack Holmes

Inside the Battle For North Dakota’s Bookshelves The culture war over what kids and teens should be allowed to read has reached a flash point in North Dakota. But this time, the battleground isn’t school–it’s the public library. By Abigail Covington

Seven Mayors, Three Crises, One Text Thread A brotherhood of Black mayors, mostly from the South, talk to one another on a group chat. As COVID-19, a cratering economy, and mass demonstrations sweep the nation, they’re finding that these conversations are a lifeline. By Jack Holmes