How do you escape Joseph Stalin? In June 1945, Soviet naval mechanic Valeri Minakov slipped away from the coast of Siberia in a small, homemade walrus-skinned boat, intent on reaching Alaska. He suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. His six-year-old son, Oleg, was sitting in the bow.
The Atavist
Edited by Jonah Ogles
Stories Geopolitics
- Adventure
- Africa
- Arts and Letters
- Asia
- Backpacker
- Bicycling
- Bloomberg Businessweek
- Business
- Canada
- Environment
- Essays
- Family
- Geopolitics
- Gilmanton
- Harper’s
- History
- Latin America
- New England
- Outside
- Pacific Northwest
- Politics
- Profiles
- Religion
- Runner’s World
- Sports
- The Atlantic
- The New York Times Magazine
- The Washington Post Magazine
- Travel
- Uncategorized
The Price of Gold
What happens when your neighborhood is demolished to make way for the Olympic Games? A visit to Vila Autodromo, a favela in Rio de Janeiro.
The Washington Post Magazine
Edited by David Rowell
Read this story »…
Sh*thole World Tour
A deep dive into the culture and magic and pain of three countries that Trump maligned with an obscenity–Haiti, El Salvador, and Liberia.
The Washington Post Magazine
Edited by David Rowell
Taking Aim On The New Cold War
A backcountry ski journey through the minus 30 degree chill of the Arctic, in the company of nine U.S. military men training to face down Vladimir Putin’s Russian warriors.
Ski
Edited by Sam Berman. Photo by Heath Sandall.
Read this story »…
Refugee Runner
Yiech Pur Biel was born amid a civil war in South Sudan. Soldiers burned down his village, his parents left him, he grew up in a refugee camp. Now he’s readying to compete in the Olympics.
ESPN
Edited by Vic Seper. Photographs by Georgina Goodwin.
Read this story »…
Refugees, Inc.
Two Norwegian brothers are cashing in on the refugee crisis.
Bloomberg Businessweek
Edited by Brad Wieners. Photos by Espen Rasmussen.
Read this story »…
The Hero’s March
Searching for the ghost of Russian novelist Mikhail Lermontov (1814-41) in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia.
The Washington Post Magazine
Edited by David Rowell. Photographs by Oleg Gritskevich.
Read this story »…
Letter from Abkhazia
A journey through a Russian client state on the Black Sea.
Harper’s Magazine
Edited by Christopher Cox. Photographs by mirzOyan.
Read this story »…
Mongolia Rising
Mongolia strikes it rich on gold and coal.
The Washington Post Magazine
Edited by David Rowell. Photograph by Lauren Knapp.
Read this story »…