How Graffiti Became Gentrified
Two decades after Rudy Giuliani tried to rid New York City of graffiti, the art form is flourishing—with unexpected consequences.
Crime
The Judge and the Three-Strikes Convict
Michael Fox had no choice but to give Scott Wharton life without parole—then helped him win clemency. Now Wharton is back behind bars. Will Governor Jay Inslee set him free yet again?
The Audacity of Grief
On the mournful threads connecting Joe Biden’s half-century in politics
Joe Biden Is Going Back to the Clinton Playbook
The Democratic frontrunner’s campaign is pitched to white folks who have fled the party. Sound familiar?
Beyond Hard Time
What the disparate reactions to Manafort's sentence and California's death penalty ban reveal about our broken system.
With Michael Jackson, It’s Different
Why his fall from grace implicates all of us
A Database Showed Far-Right Terror on the Rise. Then Trump Defunded It.
Is the administration trying to thwart efforts to combat white supremacy?
Why Has the World Gone Easy on Cristiano Ronaldo?
The soccer superstar is under investigation in the U.S. for an alleged rape, but the case has been largely met with silence.
The Criminal-Justice Reform Bill Is Both Historic and Disappointing
It will make a real difference in Americans' lives, but fails to correct decades of overly punitive policies.
Why Does China Have So Many School Stabbings?
Knife or axe-attacks on children are distressingly common.
Yes, Trump Is Culpable
Republican leaders refuse to state the obvious: Trump's hateful rhetoric emboldens violent extremists.
Overdose and Punishment
When Chad Baker died from a lethal combination of cocaine and heroin, prosecutors charged Tommy Kosto, his friend and fellow drug user, with killing him—a tactic from the Reagan-era war on drugs that is gaining popularity around the country and making today's opioid crisis even worse.
TV’s True Crime Voyeurism Reaches Its Crude End
In each episode of Netflix's "I Am A Killer," a man on death row describes his crime. But for what purpose?
The 30-Year Manhunt for China’s Most Elusive Serial Killer
Why did Gao Chengyong rape and mutiliate 11 women—and why did he stop?
Arthur Conan Doyle, True Detective
How the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories fought for—and ultimately turned against—a man wrongfully convicted
In Ocean’s 8, Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend
The latest in the heist series pays lip service to women's equality, but the gang can't quite get its message straight.
Baltimore’s Lonely Fight for Police Reform
The trial of two crooked cops could mark a turning point for the broken department, despite Trump's indifference to the problem.
This Is the Real “American Carnage”
The most apocalyptic problem facing the nation is its mass-shooting epidemic.
Jeff Sessions’s American Crime Story
The attorney general's recent claims about crime rates don't hold up to scrutiny.
The New Domestic Horror
Leïla Slimani's Prix Goncourt–winning novel hangs some fine social observations on a thin, sensationalized plot.
