The Smiths

Georgiana Houghton claimed her artistic talent came from the dead. By Paul Gallagher.

Since 2008, body parts from American donors have been exported to at least 45 nations. Demand is highest where customs limit selling or dissecting the dead. By John Shiffman, Reade Levinson.

Introducing Hard to Swallow, a new column by Kayla Whaley about nourishment, disability, and living with a massive dietary restriction.

W. D. Snodgrass remembers seeing Robert Frost during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when Frost was rejoicing at the prospect of devastating nuclear war.

Suitable Films

I am lucky not for surviving the infection, but for being a member of a shrinking class of Americans whose lives can absorb a trauma of this magnitude. By Molly Osberg.

When pediatric surgeon Allan Goldstein entered the operating room to separate conjoined twins, he did so with the knowledge that one would have to die in order to save the other. He recalls the enormous surgical and ethical challenges.

Following the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami of 2011, selfless Japanese workers battled nuclear-reactor meltdown, and thousands of US troops provided disaster relief. Today, many are counting the cost to their mental and physical health. By Rob Gilhooly.

LarzRanda

Damien Jurado

They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum—and one of the trees has Stuckie the dog.

A Heartbreaking letter written by a dying young woman is going viral after she passed away last week.

Stanley Bing considers rooting for the bad guys in search of eternal life.

One Marine learned that you can’t outpace your demons or suicidal thoughts. But it doesn’t hurt to try. By Devon Heinen.

Cultural histories of unusual hues. By Katy Kelleher.

To fight for my son, I have to argue that he should never have been born. By Jen Gann.

Karen Brown recalls conspiring with her father in his final weeks to find some humor in the pain.

With the drug war’s “disappeared” numbering in the tens of thousands, some families take up the search for loved ones on their own. By Azam Ahmed.

Gallery 1957 celebrates the Ghana artist’s legacy with a collaborative exhibition. By Margaret Carrigan.