Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu
On the retirement of Ted Williams.
Famous Stories
Secrets of the Little Blue Box
How phone phreakers, many of them blind, opened up Ma Bell to unlimited free international calling using a technical manual and a toy organ.
The Storm
Six young men set out on a dead-calm sea to seek their fortunes. Suddenly they were hit by the worst gale in a century, and there wasn’t even time to shout. The article that eventually became The Perfect Storm.
Consider the Lobster
A trip to a lobster festival leads to an examination of the culinary and ethical dimensions of cooking a live, possibly sentient, creature.
The Curious Case of Sidd Finch
A profile of a previously unknown rookie pitcher for the Mets who dropped out of Harvard, made a spiritual quest to Tibet, and somewhere along the line figured out how to throw a baseball much, much faster than anyone else on Earth.
Death of a Pig
On the grief that comes with losing livestock.
Friday Night Lights
On the start of the high school football season in Odessa, Texas. An adaptation published alongside the release of Bissinger’s 1990 book of the same name, which led to the movie and the show.
The American Man at Age Ten
A profile of a suburban New Jersey fifth-grader named Colin Duffy.
Barbara's Backlash
A profile of then-First Lady Barbara Bush, published just before the 1992 presidential election. The lede: “Even Barbara Bush’s stepmother is afraid of her.”
The Silent Season of a Hero
The complicated post-retirement life of Joe DiMaggio.
Angels & Demons
On June 4, 1989, the bodies of Jo, Michelle, and Christe were found floating in Tampa Bay. This is the story of the murders, their aftermath, and the handful of people who kept faith amid the unthinkable.
Director's Cut: The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved
The first piece of gonzo journalism, annotated.
The Toughest Coach There Ever Was
“Robert Victor Sullivan, whom you’ve surely never heard of, was the toughest coach of them all. He was so tough he had to have two tough nicknames, Bull and Cyclone, and his name was usually recorded this way: coach Bob “Bull” “Cyclone” Sullivan or coach Bob (Bull) (Cyclone) Sullivan. Also, at times he was known as Big Bob or Shotgun. He was the most unique of men, and yet he remains utterly representative of a time that has vanished, from the gridiron and from these United States.”
John D. Rockefeller: A Character Study
A two-part write-around of the world’s only billionaire.
He was a silent boy — a silent young man. With years the habit of silence became the habit of concealment. It was not long after the Standard Oil Company was founded, before it was said in Cleveland that its offices were the most difficult in the town to enter, Mr. Rockefeller the most difficult man to see. If a stranger got in to see any one he was anxious. "Who is that man?" he asked an associate nervously one day, calling him away when the latter was chatting with a stranger. "An old friend, Mr. Rockefeller." "What does he want here? Be careful. Don't let him find out anything." "But he is my friend, Mr. Rockefeller. He does not want to know anything. He has come to see me." "You never can tell. Be very careful, very careful." This caution gradually developed into a Chinese wall of seclusion. This suspicion extended, not only to all outsiders but most insiders. Nobody in the Standard Oil Company was allowed to know any more than was necessary for him to know to do his business. Men who have been officers in the Standard Oil Company say that they have been told, when asking for information about the condition of the business, "You'd better not know. If you know nothing you can tell nothing."
Hollywood’s Information Man
As editor-in-chief of Variety, Peter Bart was one of the most powerful people in the entertainment industry. This piece got him suspended.
Atchafalaya
A study of the Mississippi River, its history, and efforts by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hold it in place.
Insider Baseball
On the 1988 presidential election and the boys on the bus.
“American reporters ‘like’ covering a presidential campaign (it gets them out on the road, it has balloons, it has music, it is viewed as a big story, one that leads to the respect of one’s peers, to the Sunday shows, to lecture fees and often to Washington), which is one reason why there has developed among those who do it so arresting an enthusiasm for overlooking the contradictions inherent in reporting that which occurs only in order to be reported.”
Confessions of a Car Salesman
An investigative reporter goes undercover at a dealership to learn the tricks of the trade, of which there are many.
Playing Doc's Games
Surfing San Francisco with a true believer.
The White Album
“I am talking here about a time when I began to doubt the premises of all the stories I had ever told myself, a common condition but one I found troubling.”
Southern Horrors: Lynch Law In All Its Phases
An exposé of extralegal killing.
Nickel and Dimed
On (not) getting by in America.
The White Negro
On jazz and the hipster psychopath.
A Journey Into The Mind of Watts
On life in Los Angeles, and the specter of a second riot.
The “Me” Decade And The Third Great Awakening
Americans learn to love themselves.
