Culpability and the Best of 2010

After compiling my selection of the best articles of 2010, I’ve concluded this past year’s theme was culpability. We’re guilty of being ignorant or worse, being complacent. We’re guilty of not knowing boundaries, or trusting—out of fear or passion—ourselves too much.

The New York Times

• World: “In Icy Tip of Afghanistan, War Seems Remote”
     by Edward Wong (Oct 27)
• U.S.: “Defectors Say Church of Scientology Hides Abuse”
     by Laurie Goodstein (Mar 6)
• New York: “Rangel Steps Aside From Post During Ethics Inquiry”
     by Carl Hulse and David M. Herszenhorn (Mar 3)
• Sports: “A Disgraced Rider’s Admissions, and Accusations”
     by Juliet Macur (May 20)
• Home: “The House Inherited Them”
     by Penelope Green (July 21)
• Travel: “My Own Private (Rental) Island, in the Bahamas”
     by David Carr (Nov 4)
• Magazine: “Tuna’s End”
     by Paul Greenberg (June 22)

The New Yorker: “The Hunted” by Jeffrey Goldberg (April 5)

Did American conservationists in Africa go too far?

The Atlantic: “The Wrong Man” by David Freed (May)

This is the story of how federal authorities blew the biggest anti-terror investigation of the past decade—and nearly destroyed an innocent man.