The Most Shocking Stories You Can't Miss This Week

The most iconic image of racist brutality in America would have looked different had James Cameron not survived a 1930 mob lynching in Indiana. He devoted the rest of his life not just to civil rights, but to memorializing the moment of his near death. Read it at BuzzFeed News.

Uber touts itself as a pathway to the American dream, based on its reportedly plump paychecks for drivers. But Caroline O'Donovan and Jeremy Singer-Vine's analysis of the company's internal data reveals otherwise. "Drivers in some markets don’t take home much more than service workers at major chains like Walmart when it comes to net pay." Read it at BuzzFeed News.

In this sweeping investigation, Shane Bauer learns the astonishing inner workings of an industry that holds nearly 10% of America's prisoners. "The only thing that's important to us is that we go home at the end of the day. Period. So if them fools want to cut each other, well, happy cutting." Read it at Mother Jones.

How did a twentysomething PR lackey with no political experience end up press secretary for the most controversial presidential candidate in US history? Olivia Nuzzi asks, but Hope Hicks won't tell. Read it at GQ.

Twenty-six years after Gender Trouble broke ground, Molly Fischer explores how Butler led a new generation to think beyond the binary. "What sage could have predicted that heteronormativity would eventually make its way into the vocabulary of teen magazines and shareable web content?" Read it at New York.

What happens when dozens of black bears besiege a small Russian town? Sarah A. Topol visits Luchegorsk, where residents reflect on a baffling summer. “It looks like a pogrom. Everything is broken, thrown around.” Read it at Outside.

In October, BuzzFeed News revealed Lycamobile’s “deeply suspicious” cash movements. Now, a police raid at the company's Paris headquarters has left nineteen people arrested, nine of whom are charged with money laundering. Read it at BuzzFeed News.

What do you learn from a lifetime of making movies for children? On the eve of The BFG's release, Jon Mooallem sits with the legendary director to find out. “I'm always mindful that a young person, innocent to our world, will never be innocent again after starring in a movie." Read it at Wired.

Nearly 40 years ago, nine men died when a fire broke out in a bathhouse in Manhattan. Doree Shafrir discovers what’s changed, and what hasn’t, in the interim. Read it at BuzzFeed News.