The Mother Wave
Before the days of GPS, sailors navigated using the feel of the waves. On a mission to learn the ocean's secret rhythms, a researcher discovers a coded message in a ship logbook.
history
A collection of 158 issues
The Kings of Simcoe County
At an Elvis festival in rural Canada, scores of tribute artists (not "impersonators") pay homage to the King. When searching for the meaning of it all, try not to overthink it.
Terrapin Station
All the magic of the Mojave Desert, or the Amazon rainforest, can be found in the salt marshes of New Jersey.
A Brief History of Bloggering
Even a fake history of blogging—going back to the Old Internet, when HTML templates were so raw—offers insight into how we reached today’s web and survived comments.
Remnants of the Underground Railroad
The Thirteenth Amendment passed 150 years ago, abolishing slavery. Today, little of the Underground Railroad still remains. A painter hits the road to discover what’s intact.
This Is How I Post
Over the past decade, social media has made us all big communicators, but we’re giving off more noise than signals. An argument for the handwritten note.
The Bill of the Century
The Civil Rights Act, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, changed the shape of American society. The story of how it finally passed is just as remarkable.
Who Goes There
The Heartbleed Bug exposed a well-known secret: Passwords suck. But that’s really nothing new—just ask the Romans. Explaining the password’s past and future.
Demolish Me
The present-day lust for ruins is nothing new. In fact, it’s nearly as old as any ruins themselves. From a flattened Louvre to Percy Bysshe Shelley, a journey to the dawn of ruin porn.
One Small Store
Two men, separated by more than 150 years, discover the folly of attempting Western-style capitalism in Micronesia.