(Sub)Culture Features

MOSCOW — In that moment, it hit me just how quickly things had gone wrong. Karen Shainyan, my most optimistic friend, whose eyes always reflected confidence and courage, had stayed optimistic on the darkest days—when members of the Chechen LGBT community were rounded up and tortured, when the authorities designated …

On his first full day representing himself in his federal trial against charges that he stole money from his former client Stormy Daniels, attorney Michael Avenatti got spectacularly upstaged by his own former lawyer and helluva showman Sean Macias, a witness for the prosecution. Wednesday’s proceedings began deep in money …

I n the middle of California’s Central Valley, in a modest milky-blue home on one acre of farmland, lives a small group of nuns. They wear habits and abide by a set of vows, but as the door opens, it’s clear that the Sisters of the Valley, as they’re known, …

The first week of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial in New York’s Southern District courthouse concluded on Friday. The jury has heard from nine witnesses so far, including Epstein’s former pilot and domestic employee; an alleged victim of Epstein’s and Maxwell’s who spoke under the pseudonym Jane; an expert on childhood …

God is dead. Or, at least, she has shed her physical vessel, ascending from this life to a higher plane of existence, one of pure love and enlightenment. So say the followers of Love Has Won, who believe that God is a 45-year-old woman. On April 28, 2021, Miguel Lamboy …

Kyrie Irving is living in the shadows of vaccine denial. The Brooklyn Nets superstar has also vanished from the opening of his team’s run at the NBA championship, apparently because he refuses to comply with a New York City law requiring proof of vaccination against Covid-19 at indoor sporting events, …

Last month, Wisconsin-based company LiftedMade launched a new kind of weed product: a THC-infused flavor-popping crystal candy, called Urb Rocks. Like most other THC products, it will get you high. Unlike other products, though, the THC in Urb Rocks is sourced from hemp, which means it’s technically legal for sale …

This piece originally appeared as part of Rolling Stone’s 2021 Hot List, in the July/August issue of the magazine. Weed edibles are more popular than ever. That’s because they’ve overcome a notorious problem: When marijuana goes through the digestive process, it can be hard to tell how high you’ll get …

When Dr. Thomas Beavers concluded Sunday service on March 15th, 2020, he never imagined that it would be the last time he’d see congregants fill the pews of theNew Rising Star Church— affectionately known as “The Star” in the Eastlake community of Birmingham, Alabama — for at least a year. …

Since May 2020, youth organizers across the country have been mobilizing against police brutality and working for systemic change in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. Some of them had organized for social justice before, but many of them took to the streets for the first time and without an …