Aug 28 2018
The Secret Garden
A near-unexplored wilderness was found on top of a mountain in Mozambique, and a dream team of scientists scaled the rock face to study it.
Aug 28 2018
The Secret Garden
A near-unexplored wilderness was found on top of a mountain in Mozambique, and a dream team of scientists scaled the rock face to study it.
Aug 19 2018
The Fire at Eagle Creek
Last fall, a massive blaze ripped through Columbia River Gorge. One year later, it still haunts locals’ dreams.
Aug 11 2018
The Business of Blending In
For soldiers in the field, becoming one with the environment is a matter of life or death.
Jul 28 2018
This Is My Nerf Blaster, This Is My Gun
A soldier-turned-war-reporter on how child’s play is starting to look more like real combat—and vice versa.
Jul 21 2018
If I Was a Gamer, I’d Join the Army!
The US Army was looking for a new kind of recruit—someone with dexterity, skill, and patience. So it released a video game.
Jul 14 2018
A Few Good Mutants
A father and his sons melt, smoosh, carve, and reshape little green army men into “Super Soldiers.”
Jul 07 2018
It Takes a Fake Military Village
Deep in the Mojave Desert, the US military lets tourists play soldier in a camouflage Disneyland.
Jun 29 2018
Japan’s Vegetable-Eating Men
A nation of suit-wearing salarymen educates its first generation of stay-at-home dads.
Jun 22 2018
Dad Material
After choosing a sperm donor instead of a partner, a mother discovers a new kind of genetic family.
Jun 17 2018
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After her child is born, a mother learns that equal parenting means giving dad a chance.
Jun 13 2018
The Snip Trip
Rob and Marcos are friends who share everything, including getting a vasectomy.
Jun 03 2018
The Penguin That Loved Too Much
When a Humboldt penguin living in a Japanese zoo bonded with a cardboard cutout, his obsession became an internet sensation.
May 31 2018
The Penis Poster That Rubbed People the Wrong Way
In the late 1980s, an ad selling a poster of the “Penises of the Animal Kingdom” started appearing in magazines. It promised to educate, but where did it come from?
May 24 2018
Valley of the Ragdolls
They’re floppy, relaxed, and they come when you call them. Is the Ragdoll a genetic miracle, or just one very cool cat?
May 17 2018
American Eagle Outfitter
How Challenger the bald eagle became the most in-demand bird in America.
May 10 2018
Hooked on the Taste of Freedom!
They perform daring escapes from slaughterhouses, zoos, and laboratories. But animals on the run are only as free as we want them to be.
May 03 2018
The Dognapping of Kid Boots Ace
A champion Boston terrier disappeared during a victory lap at a Chicago dog show in 1934. Then came the phone call demanding money.
Apr 24 2018
Where Spring Breaks Eternal
Five days at the Lani Kai, a resort in Fort Myers, Florida where spring break has been going strong for over two decades.
Apr 12 2018
Born Again
“Rebirth therapy” was meant to help a troubled girl start over, but it ended her life instead.
Apr 05 2018
Fit to Be Tied
From swipe to submission, or how I learned to stop worrying and go to a dom.
Mar 30 2018
When a Woman Falls From the Sky
In the 1950s, the male-dominated sport of skydiving found itself upended by a group of flamboyant, female daredevils.
Mar 22 2018
Tales of Glory from the 2018 Paralympics
After the Winter Olympics, a new set of elite athletes take to the playing fields of ice and snow.
Mar 09 2018
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Inside the world of socially-conscious board games.
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Notes on Being Very Tall
The plagues and pleasures of an unusual identity.
Feb 26 2018
The 75-Year (and Counting) Christian Interracial Farm Experiment
Inside the fascinating Koinonia Farm, whose fierce anti-racist past feels even more relevant today.
Feb 16 2018
The Forgotten Zine of 1960s Asian-American Radicals
In the late ‘60s, California university campuses were teeming with new ideas. This group of UCLA students put them in a magazine called Gidra.
Feb 10 2018
The Punk Rock Church That Could Be a Cult
A radical pastor and a very disgruntled flock.
Jan 26 2018
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Inside the laboratories that are making the universe safe from human exploration.
Jan 20 2018
Can You Arrest People Before They Commit Crimes?
How the fantasy of preventing criminal acts before they happen is becoming a reality?
Jan 12 2018
The Limits of Empathy
Virtual reality was supposed to open up the range of human emotions. But does it work?
Dec 28 2017
The 62-Year-Old Child Genius
The adult life of a very smart kid.
Dec 27 2017
Where Big Bows Come From
One company dominates the market.
Dec 20 2017
On Being ‘Young, Gifted, and Black’
The twisting journey of an iconic phrase through 20th century America.
Dec 06 2017
‘Their Spirits Were Trapped in Those Masks’
No one wants these faces of Native American POWs—not the Smithsonian, not Harvard—because of how they were made.
Nov 29 2017
The Mesmerizing World of Homemade Weapons
Get in the proverbial ring for Death Matches, where people compete with some of the most insane (and creative) weapons imaginable.
Nov 23 2017
Holiday Food Through History, Explained
Holiday food has always been special but how did we get our specific ideas about eating turkey at Thanksgiving or ham at Christmas?
Nov 16 2017
What Happened to Putin’s Face?
Vladimir Putin and the growing field of male plastic surgery.
Nov 09 2017
The Twisting History of Blood on Film
The surprisingly fascinating question of what, exactly, is movie blood.
Nov 03 2017
Faces of Death (And Larry David)
If you find a wax head in the closet, you might be in a funeral director's house. All about the art and science of facial reconstruction.
Oct 27 2017
The True, Twisted Story of Amityville Horror
The true story behind the “true story” of the notorious Long Island home, the site of a terrible murder and then the basis of scores of books and movies.
Oct 19 2017
The True Crime Story Behind a 1970 Cult Feminist Film Classic
The only film that Barbara Loden ever made, Wanda, is now considered to be a masterpiece. Here is the true story behind the fiction.
Sep 21 2017
Panic at Penn Station
This past spring, a panicked crowd streamed out of Penn Station because of a terrorist threat. Except there was no terrorist.
Sep 13 2017
There’s No Such Thing as a Free Watch
An artist goes deep, in all directions, on the where, what, when, how and why of a free watch.
Sep 06 2017
‘Rashomon’ and the Problem with Truth
We use the title of a 1950 Japanese classic as a shorthand for the difficulty with objective reality. But are we misunderstanding the film?
Aug 25 2017
Female Bank Robbers
Halter Long Simple Gown Dresses Prom Bridesmaid JAEDEN Party Chiffon Jade A peak into a mysterious Instagram full of women (allegedly) robbing banks.
Aug 18 2017
The Female Condition
Being a woman in 2017 is incredibly confusing. To get insight into the experience, we asked a collection of interesting women what their gender means to them.
Aug 04 2017
There Were So Many Women Who Paved the Way
America was built in part by truckers, the people who move goods and products from place to place. Writer Mary Pilon explores the history of women whose contributions to the trucking industry are often overlooked.
Jul 20 2017
How to Get Away with Spying for the Enemy
The wild story of one lawyer, two men and some very unlikely defenses for espionage against America.
Jul 07 2017
Notes on Detention Camp
Office parks, island nations, private prisons—all immigrant detention centers. Here are six examples of how American government officials have been both metaphorically and literally hiding these bureaucratic nightmares from view.
Jun 29 2017
Conduct Yourself
Why do subway conductors point? It’s a whole secret language underground.
Jun 24 2017
Letter From the Editor
Welcome to Topic.