When America's deadliest serial killer went undetected

The Texas Ranger turned 'serial killer whisperer'

Texas Ranger James Holland earned a reputation for squeezing confessions from suspected serial killers, including the country's most prolific serial killer, Samuel Little. This reputation led the LA Times to declare him "a serial killer whisperer of sorts." With methods ranging from hypnotism to lies, this award-winning article dives into the question of whether this ranger's legal lasso ever ensnared innocents and diluted witness testimony.

Searching for a hate crime's unknown victim

In 2004, two federal agents heard a rumor: two white men, one under investigation for an unrelated crime, had gotten away with killing a Black man 15 years earlier as a requirement to join a white supremacist group. One of the men confessed to the crime, though he didn't know who was killed. This series dives into the search for the slain man and the justice he deserved.

The story of serial killer Ed Gein who inspired pop culture

The creators of antagonists from "Silence of the Lambs" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" took notes from this horrifying Wisconsinite's story, known for body-snatching and creating keepsakes from corpses.

The 1979 murder trial of Ted Bundy was the first nationally televised trial

Most of the world's known serial killers are made in America, a country with a seemingly bottomless appetite for true crime. Masses of viewers watched the trial of Ted Bundy, who admitted to killing 30 girls and women. "It was the first time serial murder and serial rape was made into live entertainment," says Joe Berlinger, director and "godfather of true crime."

Unraveling the Long Island serial killer case

Authorities investigating the disappearance of a woman from Long Island in May 2010 soon discovered four bodies that had been dumped nearby. Six more bodies were found in the same area in early 2011, and authorities announced later that year that all the deaths were the work of one person. This episode is the first in a seven-part series into Gilgo Beach slayings and their seemingly bungled investigation.

The Golden State killer case spotlights how genetic testing can affect your—and your relatives'—privacy

Police managed to use consumer DNA test results to close a case 32 years after a killer was believed to have committed at least 12 murders and 50 rapes. Their "smoking gun": They compared a DNA sample from the crime scene to genetic data relatives had shared on an open-source genealogy database. The suspect was caught after investigators explored family trees on this database and connected the dots from over 100 distant relatives who had some percentage of DNA that matched the killer. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Investigating 'the city that kills women'

For nearly three decades, thousands of women have disappeared near Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Some were mutilated in ways that led authorities to suggest it the work of a serial killer, some were trafficked into slavery, and others have never been found. Opening with a hail of bullets, this 10-part podcast series hopes to uncover those responsible for the femicides.

'Dr. Death' (4 Seasons)

Taking a unique angle on the true crime genre, this series explores medical professionals whose lust for fame and success stops at nothing—even others’ lives. Each season explores a different doctor and the systems that enabled them. Begin with the season one and the story of Christopher Duntsch, accused of maiming or killing several patients, including leaving one quadriplegic and another brain-dead.

The nebulous nature of parole

When Jacob Wideman was 16 years old, he fatally stabbed his summer camp roommate and briefly fled authorities before turning himself in and confessing. After spending 30 years in prison, he was released on parole. Nine months later, Wideman was back in prison, accused of violating parole for not booking a therapy appointment fast enough. This is the first episode in a seven-part series exploring Wideman's case and parole.

The devil went down to Georgia

For years, a mysterious figure preyed on gay men in Atlanta. People on the streets called him the Handcuff Man, but the police knew his real name. It wasn't until a dogged local news reporter interviewed the underground community of male sex workers that local officials were prompted to intervene in the killer's reign of terror.

Often dubbed the 'king of bank robbers,' George Leonidas Leslie stole an estimated $7M (equivalent to $200M today) and charged other criminals a $20K fee to evaluate their heist plans

Leslie studied architecture and used blueprints of safes and banks to execute meticulously planned bank heists across the Northeast between 1869 and 1878. Although Leslie was an infamous bank robber by night, he posed as a member of high society by day, providing critical intel on the institutions he'd rob and helping conceal his crimes. Months before his largest planned heist, where he planned to turn on his gang, Leslie's body mysteriously washed up along the Hudson River. His killer remains a mystery.

Inside the Sarah Lawrence College sex cult scandal

In late 2010, a middle-aged man, freshly released from prison, moved into his daughter's college dorm and created a group that had all the hallmarks of a cult. Over the decade that followed, he extorted millions of dollars from vulnerable young adults through violence, psychological torture, and forced sex work. Authorities credited his arrest to a magazine article published in 2019 detailing victims' allegations.

Florida man serving 400-year-prison sentence walks free after exoneration

A review found that Sidney Holmes and his car were likely misidentified at the time of his arrest and conviction. Read the full story on the case here.

The story of Susy Thunder, the female hacker who disappeared

Here's the story of Susan Thunder, a woman who entered the hacker underground scene in the late 1970s and one day disappeared completely. She had a troubled past, facing abuse and hardship, and found solace in manipulating phone systems and later computer systems. She became involved with prominent hackers and her ability to control systems mirrored her quest for personal control. Her story highlights the role of social engineering in hacking.

Who was behind the fatal 1982 Tylenol poisonings?

In 1982, an unknown suspect laced Tylenol packages with potassium cyanide in a Chicago pharmacy. Seven people were killed, and the case led to a nationwide panic, as well as the development of tamper-resistant packaging. No one was ever charged with the deaths, and the lead suspect died in 2023 after serving time in prison for trying to extort $1 million from a manufacturer to "stop the killing."

A murdered pastor had a penchant for life insurance fraud

In 1977, Robert Burns went to a funeral and shot the pastor, the Rev. Willie Maxwell, in the head in front of 300 people. Burns did this due to accusations Maxwell had murdered several people—including his wife—to collect their life insurance. Listen to the incredible story of a high-profile murder and life insurance fraud case with this podcast.

Before he was a famous novelist, John Steinbeck wrote a werewolf murder mystery.

Fast, cheap, and deadly: How fentanyl replaced heroin and hooked America

This interactive article details how fentanyl has largely replaced heroin in the drug trade, with fatal results. Fentanyl was first developed in 1959 as an anesthetic for pain relief, but the drug took hold in the US black market in 2014 and has since exploded in the intervening decade.

In 1996, King had 6 books on the New York Times bestseller list

Stephen King has been wildly popular for decades, but he was never more visible than in the 1990s—especially for one week in 1996. All six volumes of the serialized novel "The Green Mile" appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. Reading the article not only provides some context for King's ubiquity, but also hints at what would become a norm in publishing: a few big-name authors dominating the charts with their popular series. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image 'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) generated controversy, raised concerns about ethics in photography, and eventually led to the photographer's death.

Explore the gap in what Americans die from versus news coverage on death causes

Top killers like heart disease, stroke, and liver disease, though they represent a significant burden nationally, are not often extensively covered in the media.

The fabulous prison escapes of Japan's Yoshie Shiratori

Between 1936 and 1947, Japan's Harry Houdini escaped from prison four times, each more daring than the next. Even as the walls grew taller and the windows smaller, Siratori found ways to free himself from captivity.

Meet the hidden Americans

Who represents America? This stunning interactive photo essay by Dutch artist Robin de Puy reveals a world many in the mainstream US do not see. She traveled thousands of miles to document the stories of individuals across the country, compiling them in dozens of episodes spread across three parts, revealing the messy nuances of everyday life for everyday people. Search the index or click through episode to episode in this spectacular project.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

The Washington Post's Janet Cooke returned her Pulitzer

When Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke published her profile of a 8-year-old heroin addict named Jimmy in 1980, it created an instant uproar. Social workers, police officers, and even the mayor of Washington, DC all jumped into action to try to get the child help, but no one could find him. Within hours of Cooke receiving a Pulitzer for the piece, everything began to unravel as it was revealed that she had fabricated not just Jimmy's story, but her own as well. She eventually returned the award.

Why ‘Shoeless Joe’ Jackson was banned from Major League Baseball

Few baseball stars are more infamous than "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, one of the game's greatest hitters. Jackson was part of the Chicago White Sox team (notoriously dubbed the "Black Sox") accused of fixing the 1919 World Series. This resource breaks down the criminal trial that investigated those allegations. Curiously, Jackson and his teammates were acquitted, but Major League Baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis still banned them from the league for life.

Debunking the myth of Dickinson's antisocial seclusion

It's true that the poet largely kept to herself in her late-30s, spending nearly all her time at her father's house, and when she did venture out into the world, she'd wear white, facts that led American history to label her a strange, antisocial recluse. But, as this essay shows, that image is not entirely true, evident in the many relationships she maintained through her letters.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary,' the theme song for the Stephen King novel of the same name, was written while the band was admiring the writer's collection of horror memorabilia.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Between 10 million and 50 million people in the US develop rashes from poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak each year.

Scientists have struggled to pin down Ebola's natural reservoir species for decades, but the available evidence suggests that it's very likely fruit and insect-eating bats found in Africa.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.