FOLLOWING THE TRAIL
The Accidental Crime Novelist
Laura Lippman never meant to become a bestselling author. But when the former newspaper reporter began considering life as a private investigator, the stories began to flow.
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FRESH LEADS IN YOUR AREA
The Cold Case Factory
Forensic genealogists at Parabon NanoLabs are using DNA databases to solve cold cases faster than anyone could have imagined. But how will their techniques hold up in court?
WELL WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?
Scenes From A Small-Town Crime Blotter
Reading police reports can tell you a lot about a place. But you might find out more about residents' paranoia than you do about actual crime.
INEDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS
In Bad Taste
When President Trump was seen applying ketchup to steak, the world gasped. But who says what is wrong — and right — to eat?
THE BREAD SPLITTERS
Love, Marriage And The 'Wife Allowance'
Nothing ruins a romance faster than a power struggle over money. How a new generation of couples is moving past 20th-century norms and reconsidering the relationship between feelings and finances.
WHO CAN RESIST A BIG BULKY DOOR
Safe Spaces
These days, a bank vault is as likely to hold cocktails — or gym equipment, or a condo lobby — as cash. And who can blame people for repurposing the rooms? They look great on Instagram.
FOLKLORE JACKPOT
Who Owns Buried Treasure?
In 1904, two boys found a tin can filled with gold coins in an old henhouse, putting in motion a legal quandary — are finders really keepers?
AN ILLUSTRATED RANT
The Woman Directors Were Robbed
Oscar voters — are you forgetting anyone? Like, half the population?
HERE COMES THE BOON
15 People On How A Financial Windfall Changed Their Lives
Topic asked over a dozen people how gifts, insurance payouts, the MacArthur Genius Award, book deals — ranging from $8,000 to over $1 million — were spent.
THE CURRENCY OF CONTROL
The Hidden History Of Holocaust Money
When the Nazis confiscated money from Jews, they replaced it with worthless currencies that could only be used in ghettos or concentration camps.
WHO'S REALLY WINNING?
An Itch You Can't Scratch Off
Adam Osmond lived and lost the American dream by gambling on lottery tickets that often promise to take players from rags to riches.
CANNABIS COUNTRY MONEY
The DIY Currency Of California's Lost Coast
What would it take to break away from US legal tender? When one resident of an isolated Northern California town proposed a new type of currency, it challenged how alternative his neighbors were willing to be.
LATITUDE AND SOLITUDE
The Most Depressing Place Names On Earth
No sweetheart in your life? Tired of feeling rejected and confused? Maybe you need a vacation. Luckily for you, the world is full of places that were made for wallowing.
DOLLARS AND SENSE
Cashpocalypse Now
As America creeps toward a cashless future, we make some wildly uneducated guesses about what might help the greenback stay on top.
BIG MONEY TIME
Happy 18th Birthday. Here's $100,000
As soon as they turn 18, members of North Carolina's Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians become eligible to receive a check that can reach into the six figures. What do you do when you're young and suddenly flush with cash?
PAPER THIN AND THICK
In Case Of Emergency, Print Money
When Germans started printing their own cash during World War I, they were trying to overcome wild inflation, outsmart currency hoarding — and shift the blame for their economy's collapse.
MUSCLE MASS APPEAL
How Did Protein Bars Become So Popular?
How the military, a marathoner and the relentless march of capitalism turned protein bars into an unlikely American staple.
JUST BE CAREFUL WHILE LAUNDERING IT
The Eternal Allure Of Wearable Wealth
Throughout human history, money hasn't just been used to buy clothing — it's been incorporated into the very fabric of fashion itself.
AN IDEA BEFORE ITS TIME
The Man Who Thought He Could Get Rich With A Space Travel Rewards Program
Twenty years ago, one man got a crazy idea: what if he started a loyalty program... for space travel? But it turns out that space tourism is an industry perpetually on the brink of actually happening.
'I'M A LIT UP TELEPHONE BOOTH'
Visions Of The Afterlife
For the mediums of the Lily Dale spiritualist community, the frontier between the living and the dead is easily entered. The only difference is how they open the door.
