Longform

WORLD OCEAN FLOOR PANORAMA, BRUCE C. HEEZEN AND MARIE THARP, 1977. COPYRIGHT BY MARIE THARP 1977/2003. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF MARIE THARP MAPS, LLC 8 EDWARD STREET, SPARKILL, NEW YORK 10976

Without ever setting sail, Marie Tharp mapped the ocean floor and made a discovery that shook the foundations of geology. So why did the giants of her field dismiss her findings as “girl talk"?

For Rod Serling, TV was the perfect landscape to battle bigotry and corporate censorship. But was the nation ready for it?

H.P. Lovecraft keeps getting name-checked in pop culture. Here's why he matters.

Inspired by a flubbed prison escape, the Barkley Marathon is a ludicrously challenging 100-mile race only a handful of runners have completed. Finishing it twice? That's next to impossible.

How an architect revolutionized the basketball shoe.

PECK: AF ARCHIVE/ALAMY ; WHALE: STEPHEN FRINK COLLECTION/ALAMY

Herman Melville had everything a young author could dream of. Then he wrote Moby-Dick and ruined everything.

To save an endangered species, scientists have to play the part.

Patricia Highsmith's most memorable supervillain was inspired by a chance encounter. But how fictional was he really?

All it took to locate the bones of Richard III was 500 years, a psychic vision, and a grassroots movement.

The long-running game show is adored by millions. But there was a time—and another time, and one more time—when questions swirled around its survival.