Relay races: Here for the long-haul?

Participation in overnight, long-distance relays like Ragnar and Reach the Beach is growing quickly. But is there room for everyone to compete?

By Daniel Roberts

FORTUNE -- Camaraderie-focused, adventure-style races have exploded in popularity and are taking the country by storm (or, in many cases, by mud). "We imagined this as a side gig, not our main job," says Tanner Bell, co-founder of Ragnar Relay Series, one of many overnight team MORE

Ex-judge says he was bribed by Ecuadorians' suing Chevron

A former Ecuadorian judge says that he and a colleague let plaintiffs lawyers write their own $18.2 billion judgment against the oil company in exchange for a promise of $500,000.

By Roger Parloff

FORTUNE -- Today new allegations of deceit and wrongdoing were leveled against the plaintiffs' lawyers bringing the already deeply troubled environmental suit against Chevron in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, which stems from Texaco's oil drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon MORE

Prime-time player

Sports fans have made ESPN the most profitable network on cable. Will its magic work in print? And can it withstand an assault on local sports broadcasting by Fox?

Editor's note: Every Sunday, Fortune publishes a story from our magazine archives. In the wake of the Manti T'eo scandal, sports network ESPN has taken some heat for not reporting the news that T'eo's dead girlfriend was a hoax. Instead, sports website Deadspin broke MORE

Helmets off, hats on

This season, New Era became the "official on-field cap" of the NFL. What does that mean, and can a cap-maker keep innovating on such a basic product?

By Daniel Roberts

FORTUNE -- In a September advertisement, New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks says into his phone, "I don't care about the money." He then asks the person on the other end of the line, "How many football caps they offering?"

The commercial MORE

Debunking the personal finance gurus

In her new book, Pound Foolish, Helaine Olen tears the stuffing out of the U.S. personal finance industry.

By Scott Cendrowski, writer

FORTUNE -- Managing your own retirement money stinks. I'm decades away from retirement, but every prospective move I consider for my 401(k) fills me with dread. Should I overweight small cap value stocks right now? Can I reasonably keep 20% of my assets in cash? Can I avoid bonds MORE

3 little letters GM is counting on now

The Detroit icon is betting on the so-called 'CUV'—also known as compact sport utility vehicles—to boost its fortunes.

By Doron Levin, contributor

FORTUNE -- Anti-SUV fervor has cooled since its peak in the late-1990s. The Hummer is no more and Ford's vaunted Explorer is now a crossover, rather than a truck-based model. Big vehicles like the Chevrolet Suburban and Nissan Armada still ply U.S. highways—though in smaller numbers. Meantime, a new breed MORE

Energy drinks brace for caffeine crash

Could an FDA investigation mean trouble for energy drink makers?

By Kurt Wagner, reporter

FORTUNE -- In October, parents from Maryland filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Monster Beverage Corp. after their 14-year-old daughter died of cardiac arrest. She had reportedly consumed two 24-ounce cans of Monster Energy within a 24-hour period. In mid-November, the FDA opened an investigation into 5-Hour Energy to determine if the energy shot was linked to a MORE

Congress's other last-minute fail: Chinese drywall regs

The final hours of the 112th Congress included more than a fiscal deal. We also got a watered down version of a bill to solve a dangerous and pervasive problem inside many homeowners' walls.

By Aaron Kessler

FORTUNE – For nearly four years, victims of contaminated Chinese-made drywall have sought help from the federal government to solve a problem that's wreaked havoc in thousands of homes across the country.

The tainted drywall MORE

The deeper shame of American cities (Fortune, 1968)

We were taught to despise our cities until they became despicable—for white as well as black. It will take all the nation's talents to repair the damage.

Editor's note: Every Sunday, Fortune publishes a story from our magazine archives. As the country prepares to celebrate Martin Luther King Day and inaugurate its first African-American president for a second term, we turn to this piece from November of 1968. In the wake of the bitterly MORE

An entrepreneur's long, strange trip

In Bend, Not Break, Geomagic founder Ping Fu describes her remarkable journey from victim of China's Cultural Revolution to success in the U.S. tech industry

By Jessi Hempel, senior writer

FORTUNE -- By all accounts, Ping Fu should not have survived. At eight, as a young victim of China's cultural revolution, she was wrenched from her home and sent to live in a dormitory as mother to her four-year-old sister. At MORE