Longform

My old neighborhood used to be a nice little place to live. But since I moved back, rampant crime has made it a desperate, dangerous wasteland. It just took a botched burglary at a friend’s house for me to wake up and see it.

Celebrate longform journalism with us. From December 20 through December 31, we’re sharing our favorite longform pieces. Check IndianapolisMonthly.com every morning and afternoon for a new favorite from years past.

The details of her demise, revealed at the 1966 trial, defy belief. Here, a peek at the lives of the participants in the murder of Sylvia Likens 50 years later.

From the IM Archives: Abby Brinkman was an IU medical student working with impoverished children abroad. But then a tragic accident at sea cut short her promising life.

Michael Rubino reflects on his unique decision to go to all-male Wabash College and how it affected his life.

The Beecher house welcomed a wave of visitors, all eager to see the “supercow” on pace to break a record.

If nothing else, the doctor is guilty of hubris. “He’s a brilliant guy—obviously a very high IQ,” says Embrey. “He may have been a very good surgeon. But he’s shown he’s not a very good criminal.”

When Armando left, Maria worried about his journey. She worried about Liliana, who fell into fitful slumber every night, gasping for air between sobs. More than anything, Maria worried about the fragile ties holding her family together.

The playbook for understanding Oliver Luck and the NCAA.

“[Fame] was her survival strategy because she’s not able to survive in the wild. She could only survive in the age of the Internet.”

Where some of our more noteworthy state and local regulations fall on the pro-control–to–pro-gun spectrum

When you tune in, you are on Dakich’s team. He will teach you. Lecture you. Tell you to “sack up.” He will hang up on you and call you an idiot.

When Prohibition ended, the boozy, bawdy days of the Indianapolis Press Club began. Patrons favored a martini “so potent that on the third sip” their tongues would be “paralyzed,” according to one account.

Millennials might be a bigger threat to malls than online shopping, which the public assumes has hurt malls more than it has.

One year after the tragic death of her daughter, Nancy Comiskey reflects on Kate and their lives together.