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Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, September 2014
islands

Wonder Is Everywhere: A Giant Burger, a Missing Warhol, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.
April White April 12, 2024
An adaptation of Banksy’s “Flower Bomber,” this image shows a librarian throwing Margaret Atwood’s <em>The Handmaid's Tale.</em>
libraries

6 Badass Librarians Who Changed History

They will not be shushed.
April White April 5, 2024
Okavango Delta, Botswana - August 2, 2022. Western Tourists travelling in a mokoro, along the delta. This type of travel is traditional among the locals of the delta.
museums

Wonder Is Everywhere: Harlem Renaissance, the Return of the Ruby Slippers, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.
April White March 29, 2024
Rose Mackenberg believed in something beyond the world we see—but she didn't believe the mediums who said they were in touch with it.
crime

The Ghost-Busting 'Girl Detective' Who Awed Houdini

As an undercover investigator, Rose Mackenberg unmasked hundreds of America’s fake psychics.
Nina Strochlic March 14, 2024
crime

Podcast: The Grave of XYZ

A bank robber’s burial site is still six feet deep with mystery.
The Podcast Team March 11, 2024
The latest version of clue includes a more diverse cast that some observers have noted codes as queer.
games

From Family Game to Cult Film to 'Thirst Trap,' Clue Has Been Through It

The latest glow-up of the iconic board game draws on a wealth of cultural touchstones.
Adrienne Raphel March 5, 2024
Hot Springs, Arkansas

Gangster Museum of America

Mobsters came for a soak in the hot springs, and stayed for the illegal gambling and bootlegging.
crime

Podcast: GALS Gone Wild

Hear what happens when a man tried to smuggle in 22 giant African land snails into the United States.
The Podcast Team March 5, 2024
Norval Morrisseau's <em>Migration</em> (1973), at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.
libraries

Wonder Is Everywhere: Ancient Lipstick, Darwin’s Library, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.
April White March 1, 2024
The man known as Monsieur de New York sort of kept his identity secret, as executioner was not exactly a position of renown.
crime

The Mystery of Monsieur de New York, Celebrity Hangman

Considered an artist of the gallows, his true identity is shrouded in myth and hyperbole. 
Nina Strochlic February 28, 2024
This diagram from <em>Modern Swindles</em> shows how card cheats work—and what happens to them when they're caught.
objects of intrigue

A Peek Inside a 'Scam Manual' Written to Help Immigrants Avoid Becoming Victims

Early 20th-century migrants from Europe had to be on their guard against marriage brokers, card sharps, ghost mediums, and more.
Nina Strochlic February 20, 2024
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 02: An aerial view of graffiti spray painted by taggers on at least 27 stories of an unfinished skyscraper development located downtown, with Cryto.com Arena visible (LOWER R) on February 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Construction of the $1 billion Oceanwide Plaza luxury real estate development stalled in 2019 after a China-based developer ran out of funding leaving the three-tower project uncompleted. The project is located across the street from the Crypto.com Arena where the Grammy Awards will be held on February 4. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
abandoned

Wonder Is Everywhere: Vanilla Queens, an Ancient Arcade, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.
April White February 16, 2024
The Middle Ages were rife with murder tales, such as the murder of seventh-century King Candaules of Lydia (shown here in this 15th-century illustration by Maître François).
murder

How a Medieval Murder Map Helped Solve a 700-Year-Old London Cold Case

It all started as a Cambridge criminologist’s macabre hobby.
Sofia Quaglia January 25, 2024
Bill G.B. Pallot, pictured here in his Paris home in 2017, has been at the center of a storm over counterfeit antique furniture.
crime

The Furniture Fraud That Threw the French Antiques World Into a Furor

Was it an elaborate scam or a highbrow battle of wits?
Nina Strochlic January 8, 2024
Boltaşlı, Cyprus

Panagia Kanakaria

This abandoned church was the site of one of the biggest art heists of the past decades.
Hanover, Germany

Der goldene Leibniz-Keks (Golden Leibniz Cookie)

This gilded emblem was once stolen by a Cookie Monster impostor, who demanded a charitable ransom for its return.
List

14 Heists, Robberies, and Other Great Capers

Who stole Dorothy’s ruby slippers?
Diana Hubbell December 29, 2023
Tacoma, Washington

'Top of the Ocean' Monument

This waterfront restaurant was the life of the party until a crime syndicate burned it to the ground.