Goodbye, My Brother
A former US Marine returns to cities in Iraq where he fought and lost friends, and assesses the situation on the ground today.
A Lot of What Is Known about Pirates Is Not True, and a Lot of What Is True Is Not Known
A piece reassessing the pirates of yesteryear and their impact on society, suggesting it was much more nuanced than is commonly understood. http://www.bit.ly/humanities-pirates
The Women Who Took on the Mafia
The tale of the prosecutor and witnesses who took on the corrosive power of the ÕNdrangheta. http://bit.ly/newyorker-mafia
The Rock Solid History of Concrete
The little considered history of the material that “made the modern world possible” and its roots in Roman civilisation.
Inside LAX’s New Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Unit
A new experimental in-house counter-terrorism unit is taking a different approach to security.
How To Hide $400m
A contentious divorce is the jumping off point for a deep dive into the murky world of offshore finance.
The Crimes of SEAL Team 6
A highly charged investigative piece, two years in the making, that alleges that one of the US military’s most celebrated units committed war crimes.
The Cold War Plan to Keep Soviet Hands Off Middle Eastern Oil
Papers accidentally declassified by the Truman Presidential Library revealed a plot of ‘denial’, stopping the Soviet Union from accessing resources, whatever the cost.
Confessions of a Gun Range Worker
The strange reality of a life spent on the gun range is encapsulated by the occasional need to lay cat litter to soak up pools of blood on the floor.
How The DNA Revolution Is Changing Us
Recent advances in genetic science bring with them huge opportunities – correcting mutations that cause cystic fibrosis, editing pig genes for organ transplant to humans or mosquito genes to remove dangerous viruses are all avenues being explored right now, amongst many others. They also present extremely thorny ethical questions that will need to be answered very soon.