Alana Semuels
I Delivered Packages for Amazon and It Was a Nightmare
Amazon Flex allows drivers to get paid to deliver packages from their own vehicles. But is it a good deal for workers?
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Matt Rourke / AP What Happens When Gig-Economy Workers Become Employees
Drivers for cannabis companies in California now have to be classified as employees, rather than independent contractors. But has that been a good thing?
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B.K. Bangash / AP The Online Gig Economy’s ‘Race to the Bottom’
When the whole world is fighting for the same jobs, what happens to workers?
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Gene J. Puskar / AP ‘We Are All Accumulating Mountains of Things’
How online shopping and cheap prices are turning Americans into hoarders
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Matt Whittaker / Reuters Can Philanthropy Save a City?
The cash-strapped city of Stockton is hoping so, courting millions of dollars from private investors to solve a whole host of social problems.
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Mega Pixel / Stas Malyarevsky / Shutterstock / ... How Silicon Valley Has Disrupted Philanthropy
Local nonprofits are having trouble attracting money from tech donors. The solution? Talk like a start-up.
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Tsering Topgyal / AP The Authors Who Love Amazon
The e-commerce giant has finally made self-publishing lucrative. But does its dominance come at a cost?
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Jenny Kane / AP Despite the Glitches, Shoppers Can’t Quit Amazon
The company’s website continually crashed during its much-touted Prime Day event, but sales were still higher than ever.
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J. Scott Applewhite / AP Is This the End of Public-Sector Unions in America?
Despite a crippling decision by the Supreme Court, unions say they have a plan forward.
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Ross D. Franklin / AP Will a New Supreme Court Decision Change Online Shopping?
The Court just ruled that a state can collect taxes from a retailer that doesn’t have a physical presence in the state. Here’s what that means.
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Elaine Thompson / AP How Amazon Helped Kill a Seattle Tax on Business
A levy on big companies to fund affordable housing awakened the ire of corporations.
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Alana Semuels / The Atlantic The Radical Preacher of Palo Alto
A pastor who resigned after tweeting scathing criticisms of liberals in Silicon Valley proved too leftist even for California.
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John Bazemore / AP Reverse Migration Might Turn Georgia Blue
More black people from the Northeast and Midwest are moving to Atlanta. That could help elect the nation’s first black female governor.
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Ted S. Warren / AP The Problem With Buying Cheap Stuff Online
Sites like Wish.com are taking out the middleman in retail. Will customers like this new dynamic?
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Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP The 'Black Hole' That Sucks Up Silicon Valley's Money
A fast-growing type of charitable account gets big tax breaks but little oversight.
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Rich Pedroncelli / AP Free Shipping Isn't Hurting Amazon
Sending packages is expensive. But the retailer isn’t afraid to spend.
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Julio Cortez /AP Amazon May Have a Counterfeit Problem
The company is facing multiple lawsuits from brands who say it does not do enough to prevent fakes from being listed on its website.
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Alana Semuels / The Atlantic A House You Can Buy, But Never Own
African Americans in the same neighborhoods decimated by subprime lending are now being targeted with new predatory loan offerings, a lawsuit argues.
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J. Scott Applewhite / AP Trump’s Complaints About Amazon Have a Historical Precedent
The fraught history of government-subsidized package delivery
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Kiichiro Sato / AP Chicago’s Awful Divide
Americans are flocking to big cities to find good jobs—opportunities that remain disproportionately out of reach for the poorest residents already living there.
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Charlie Riedel / AP A Small Town Kept Walmart Out. Now It Faces Amazon.
How can local businesses compete with a company so local it lets people shop from their couches?
