Features
A collection of Vox's longreads and feature reporting projects.
The age of monsters
In the ’80s and ’90s, kids’ media was full of murder and mayhem. What changed?
The morbid appeal of “botched” plastic surgery
Cosmetic procedures are on the rise. So is our voyeuristic fascination with how they go wrong.
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The rise of the influencer sex worker
Platforms like OnlyFans let people with big followings online earn money. What about the sex workers who were there first?
Can a haunted house even scare us in 2021?
When a pandemic rages just outside our doors, maybe escapism is all we can hope for.
House isn’t selling? Blame the ghosts.
Realtor? Check. Appraiser? Check. Ghostbuster? Check.
The horror century
From the first morbid films a hundred years ago, scary movies always been a dark mirror on Americans’ deepest fears and anxieties.
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Every version of the Monica Lewinsky story reveals America’s failure of empathy
Twenty-three years later, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal is a tale of cultural sadism.
Apple picking is a bizarre imitation of hard work
Oh, the performative faux labor of it all.
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How mental health became a social media minefield
Social media is now basically WebMD for mental health.
The sad, predictable limits of America’s “economic recovery”
Officially, the Covid-19 recession lasted just two months. So why are so many still suffering?
How your favorite jeans might be fueling a human rights crisis
Cotton’s connection to forced labor by Uyghurs in Xinjiang ought to have you rethinking fast fashion.
A vacation town promises rest and relaxation. The water knows the truth.
On the Georgia coast, leisure and a grim history of slavery co-exist.
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Caring for the elderly has never been more expensive, exhausting, or invisible
As millions "age in place," millions more must figure out how to provide their loved ones with increasingly complex care.
The story of amusement parks is the story of America
With all of its sparkle and chipped paint.
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The long road to India’s unparalleled pandemic catastrophe
India’s health system was broken. Then the delta surge arrived.
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Trading cards are big business now. Blame the adults.
Pokémon cards, baseball cards, even Magic: The Gathering cards can all be worth thousands.
America isn’t taking care of caregivers
48 million people provide unpaid care to their loved ones in the US. Here’s how to help them.
The best four years of your life?
Dropping out helped me see the lies we’re sold about the college experience.
The ballad of the Chowchilla bus kidnapping
In 1976, a school bus carrying 26 children and their driver disappeared from a small California town. Forty-five years later, we revisit the story.
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The harrowing new reality for Alzheimer’s patients
Alzheimer’s patients and families live in a cloud of uncertainty. It’s about to get worse.
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Undersea volcanoes are home to more life than we know
Yet the threats these castles of biodiversity face are mounting.
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Why won’t American radio play more K-pop?
BTS was supposed to usher in the K-pop invasion. Where is it?
Whitney Houston’s story shows the danger of being America’s sweetheart
Why America embraced Whitney Houston, and how it destroyed her.
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What the American dream looks like for immigrants
Upward mobility is common for the millions who come to the US. But there’s a lot more to the story.
The doctors are not all right
Doctors need mental health support. Here’s why many aren’t getting it.
Free the wrinkle
The pandemic could help Americans finally embrace aging skin.
Is there a housing bubble?
Houses are getting more and more expensive. There’s a simple fix for that.
Harry Reid’s most valuable advice to future Democratic leaders
"I think the biggest lesson is never trust Republicans," says one of Reid’s former staffers.
“Friends” and the illusion of perfect adult friendships
The TV show sold us an idealized vision of these relationships. For young adults, the real thing is far harder to find.
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The bubblegum misogyny of 2000s pop culture
How we destroyed girls 20 years ago — and why we’re just starting to second-guess it.
Who pays?
As dating and marriage evolve, so is the way couples tackling the uncomfortable question.
The battle for the future of “gig” work
Ride-sharing companies are pushing to make a third category of "independent" worker the law of the land. Drivers say the notion of independence is little more than a mirage.
Can sports ever really be “fair”?
Anti-trans bills, women’s sports, and the misguided pursuit of an even playing field.
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Who deserves a book deal?
As former Trump officials and other polarizing figures seek book deals, publishing is caught in a generational battle that’s becoming an existential crisis.
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The right-wing effort to derail Biden’s conservation plan
A small but vocal opposition could obstruct an initiative to conserve 30 percent of US land by 2030.
National Geographic faced up to its racist past. Did it actually get better?
Inside the reckoning at an American media institution.
The US is in danger of learning the wrong lessons from Covid-19
America is already missing its chance to prepare for the next pandemic.
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An oral history of the Dawson crying GIF and its outsized legacy
How Crying Dawson ascended to "the Mount Rushmore of GIFs."
The Pandemic Playbook
Vox explores the successes — and setbacks — in six nations as they fought Covid-19.
Joe Manchin wants to save Democrats from themselves
But is his love for the filibuster dooming the country to dysfunction?