(Sub)Culture Features

What would’ve been Lauren Smith-Fields’ 24th birthday celebration was instead a day of protest to demand answers and justice in her mysterious death. Today, approximately 100 family, friends, and activists gathered together in front of the Bridgeport, Connecticut, police department to march to the Margaret E. Morton Government Center, where …

The true crime podcast genre reached the point of parody this year, with Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building depicting obsessive listeners who bungle their way through an ill-advised amateur murder investigation. As demand for the genre continues to boom, it seems like every day brings a new “investigation” promising …

With the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus now detected in 24 countries including the United States, questions are mounting about its potential impact, including how — and whether — existing Covid-19 vaccines will hold up against this latest iteration of the virus. Though much is still unknown about the …

Red, white, and blue tents filled with student protesters sit perched outside the Howard University Armour J. Blackburn Center. For almost month, demonstrators have gathered to bring attention to concerns about the health and safety of those living on campus. Complaints about housing insecurity, mold in the residence halls, and …

I n 2016, newlyweds Marco and Karissa moved to Los Angeles, seeking sunny skies and the chance for a happy life together. The couple had just gone through a miscarriage, and Marco hoped the pleasant climate would help Karissa’s depression. “She was very weather dependent,” he says. “She needed always …

Much like the bad guy in a slasher film, author Grady Hendrix had one book idea that just kept coming back. He wanted to take on the horror movie trope of the final girl — the last character standing at the end of the flick — and bring it into …

In the early hours of a September morning last year, Nicolas Morales Besanilla, a 37-year-old farmworker, woke his 12-year-old son and namesake, Nicolas Jr., from sleep in their home in Immokalee, Florida. He told his son he was seeing “spirits and creatures,” and shortly thereafter climbed through a back window …

T he YouTuber David Dobrik is driving his white Tesla through the verdant hills of suburban Los Angeles, explaining the challenges of selling thin-crust-style pizza in L.A., his assistant Natalie texting in the back seat and Billy Joel on pause on the stereo, when he abruptly stops talking. “I got …

This column is a collaboration with DoubleBlind, a print magazine and media company at the forefront of the psychedelic movement. Psychedelic reform isn’t exactly President Joe Biden’s top priority. But as his administration and the new congress gets underway, advocates are hopeful that the next four years will continue to …

This story was originally published by ProPublica. Sarah Johnson spent her entire life taking care of people — the six children she raised, mostly alone, and the hospital patients she served in her 25 years as a nurse. But at 86, she was the one who needed care. She was …