What do the ISIS dead deserve? In the battle for Mosul, thousands of militants have been killed. While seeking answers for what should be done with their bodies, Kenneth R. Rosen unearths a terrible crime.

Writer Wells Tower traveled to the jungles of Peru to experience an ancient ritual. What happened next pushed him to his limits. 

South America's first luxury sleeper train, The Belmond Andean Explorer, runs one- and two-day sightseeing trips out of Cusco, Arequipa and Puno, Peru.

In this post, I'm not whining about foreign policy, economics or politics. This is entirely about my frustrations with day to day life in America. By Benny Lewis.

In this oral history, a former sheepherder describes the loneliness and medical hardship he experienced while tending sheep in California’s Central Valley. By Heraclio Astete, with journalist Gabriel Thompson.

In Damascus, shells explode in the Christian neighborhoods closest to the eastern front lines. In Aleppo, artillery batters opposition bases along the western frontier with Idlib province. Both cities’ exhausted citizens have cause to fear for their country’s uncertain future. By Charles Glass.

Part One: Miles of Ice Collapsing Into the Sea. Part Two: Looming Floods, Threatened Cities. Part Three: Racing to Find Answers in the Ice. By Justin Gillis. (May 18, 2017)

She lived with us for 56 years. She raised me and my siblings without pay. I was 11, a typical American kid, before I realized who she was. By Alex Tizon.

The US dropped 270 million bombs on Laos during the Vietnam war. More than 40 years later, the devices are still killing people. By Rosita Boland.

A 10-day journey through Russia’s terra incognita. By Anna Gruzdeva.

On the coast, nothing is permanent. By John Nova Lomax.

A closer look at the violent persecution of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, and their exodus to Bangladesh. By Simon Scarr, Weiyi Cai, Wen Foo and Jin Wu.

A primer for reconnoitering the unknown. By Robert Moor.

Predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years, Turkey’s stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization. By Andrew Curry. (Nov. 2008)

The ragged glory of female activism. By Leslie Jamison.

The Race to Save the Cougar Ace. By Joshua Davis (Feb. 25, 2008)

What happens when an African American woman decides to solo-hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine during a summer of bitter political upheaval? Everything you can imagine, from scary moments of racism to new friendships to soaring epiphanies about the timeless value of America’s most storied trekking route. By Rahawa Haile.

I visited Peru to find out more about an intriguing ayahuasca study – and to have my own experience with the psychedelic brew. By sland.

This gargantuan shrine to democracy has never felt so surreal. By Sam Anderson.

When Neighbors Turn on Each Other, It Happens Fast. By Aleksandar Hemon.