Cult classic

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02.23.25

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Zizian masks lined up together with Ziz revealing themselves.

Cult Classic

Why do magazines exist? I mean as a medium. They’re not newspapers (though I’d put our recent DOGE coverage up against any newspaper’s in all the land). They’re not books. They’re something in between, or both at the same time. They break news and storify it. They’re perishable and forever. They exist, in other words, for moments like this. The moment being: the violent explosion onto the scene of the Zizians.

Maybe you’ve heard of them. Maybe you haven’t. Doesn’t much matter either way. We’ve been following them for years, and here, now, is the definitive version of events, in the hands of a master writer. It’s also 14,000 words, so I won’t waste more here. Mine are cheap, compared to what’s in store. A Shakespearean prologue. Shocking reveals. Murder. It’s storytelling as only magazines can do. Happy reading.

READ THE BIG STORY ➔

Jason Kehe, Features Editor

Image may contain: Adult, Person, Laboratory, Clothing, and Glove

Metals Crucial to Clean Energy Are Getting Caught Up in the US–China Trade War

BY MADDIE STONE | 6-MINUTE READ

After a Chinese export ban, can the US get gallium and germanium from Canada—or will tariffs get in the way?

This New Algorithm for Sorting Books or Files Is Close to Perfection

BY STEVE NADIS | 6-MINUTE READ

The library sorting problem is used across computer science for organizing far more than just books. A new solution is less than a page-width away from the theoretical ideal.

Photo illustration of a cat knocking a small US flag off a table

The Incompetence of DOGE Is a Feature, Not a Bug

BY BRIAN BARRETT | 4-MINUTE READ

A series of mistakes by DOGE shows just how arbitrary and destructive this slash-and-burn strategy can get.

A photo illustration of a melting crypto coin.

Chokepoint 2.0: An Investigation Promises the Truth About Crypto’s Biggest Conspiracy

BY JOEL KHALILI | 7-MINUTE READ

Did bureaucrats in the US plot to cut the crypto industry out of the banking system? An investigation begins.

A woman's figure against a peaceful sunset containing psychedelic patterns, flowers, faces wearing ties and sleeping masks, candles, syringe, and teddy bears.

The Ketamine-Fueled ‘Psychedelic Slumber Parties’ That Get Tech Execs Back on Track

BY ELANA KLEIN | 4-MINUTE READ

Can stuffed animals, rose petals, and injections of an Elon Musk–approved dissociative drug help Silicon Valley leaders out of a rut? These women say yes.

It’s been a busy few weeks at WIRED, and we’re just getting started.

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