Getting Bin Laden
Nicholas Schmidle, The New Yorker
“Nine years, seven months, and twenty days after September 11th, an American was a trigger pull from ending bin Laden’s life. The first round, a 5.56-mm. bullet, struck bin Laden in the chest. As he fell backward, the SEAL fired a second round into his head, just above his left eye. On his radio, he reported, ‘For God and country—Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo.’”

The Setup
Peter Crooks, Diablo
“‘Between you and me,’ Butler said, ‘that wasn’t nearly as crazy as some of the stuff that goes on during cases.’ ‘So, that’s it,’ I said. ‘Case closed?’ ‘Case closed,’ said Butler. Except, it wasn’t.”

Crush Point
John Seabrook, The New Yorker
“The transition from fraternal smooshing to suffocating pressure—a ‘crowd crush’—often occurs almost imperceptibly; one doesn’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late to escape. At a certain point, you feel pressure on all sides of your body, and realize that you can’t raise your arms. You are pulled off your feet, and welded into a block of people. The crowd force squeezes the air out of your lungs, and you struggle to take another breath.”

Anthrax Redux
Noah Schachtman, Wired
“It’s been 10 years since the deadliest biological terror attack in US history launched a manhunt that ruined one scientist’s reputation and saw a second driven to suicide, yet nagging problems remain. Problems that add up to an unsettling reality: Despite the FBI’s assurances, it’s not at all certain that the government could have ever convicted Ivins of a crime.”

Dr. Don
Peter Hessler, The New Yorker
“Don talked about all three subjects—neglecting his dying brother, offering credit to the townspeople, and helping Mr. Brick and receiving his gift—in different conversations that spanned more than a year. Don saw connections of a different sort: these people and incidents were more like the spokes of a wheel. They didn’t touch directly, but each was linked to something bigger.”