She often writes about people who, by choice or by chance, have ended up on the outskirts of society. Her recent New Yorker feature, "Lone Stars," profiled a movement of renegade sheriffs who believe they answer to the Constitution alone. She's also written about anti-government extremists in Las Vegas, a community run by followers of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, a 36-day manhunt in California redwood country, and college students teetering on the brink of homelessness.