Yesterday, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post. This seems like as good a time as any to roll out a few more true stories from the Amazon warehouse workers who make the whole machine go. Jeff Bezos wouldn't be here without them.

Amazon is the future of retailing in America. Earlier this week, we asked the unseen Amazon employees who fill your orders to send us their stories. Here are five of their tales of life at Amazon.

As a standard part of hiring new workers, lots of businesses run background checks on applicants using the FBI's criminal databases. But those databases have serious problems.

One of these days— maybe sooner, maybe later, but definitely one of these days—Amazon will become the new king of retail consumerism in America. We know what it's like working for Wal-Mart and Target. But what is life like for the faceless workers that make Amazon go?

It's the American dream: start out as a wretched fry cook at McDonald's, and— with plenty of pluck and hard work— work your way up to owning your own McDonald's one day. A new study quantifies just how unrealistic this idea is.

In the past week we've run quite a few true stories from Wal-Mart workers— stories that have scared the hell out of Wal-Mart itself, with good reason. We haven't requested more stories, but our mailbox is still overflowing. Here are more tales of life in retail purgatory.

Last week, we brought you some true stories from Wal-Mart workers— stories that alarmed Wal-Mart so much that they (unsuccessfully) begged their employees to send us positive stories to balance them out. Since then, we've received many more, both good and bad. Here are some.

America's Part-Time Recovery, in which the regular jobs that were vaporized in the Great Recession are replaced with shitty part-time jobs, is working out beautifully for the noble job creators. Thanks to a combination of high unemployment, the looming Obamacare law, and greed, it appears that for many workers, part-time status is the new normal.

Wal-Mart, a $254 billion corporation, is so terrified of its employees sharing their true workplace stories with us that it's purchased ads on Google and Twitter expressly targeted at our readers. On its employee website, the company also asked workers to share positive stories. Here are the comments they got.

Brooklyn created nearly half of New York City's new jobs in the past 12 years— four times more jobs than in Manhattan. Could Brooklyn be the next "cool" borough where people with money go? You heard it here first.

Earlier this week, we published a new installment of our occasional series of true stories from Wal-Mart workers. The company was so displeased with its employees speaking publicly that they posted a plea on an internal website asking other employees to send us positive stories. We've gotten quite a few stories. But most aren't positive at all.

Our "Unemployment Stories" series went on for 40 volumes over the course of a year. You can read them all here. If you'd like a Cliff's Notes version of what we've learned about unemployment in America, a few thoughts are below.

A year ago, we began publishing true stories of unemployment, submitted to us by unemployed people across America. Hundreds of stories later, we are wrapping up the series. This will be our final regular weekly installment. This is what's happening out there.

This is perhaps not the most surprising news but, according to a new study, most Americans are unhappy at work.

Nearly 12 million Americans are officially unemployed. Millions more are chronically underemployed, or have dropped out of the work force. This week marks the next-to-last regular installment of our true stories of unemployment. This is what's happening out there.

How much are the kids on Reddit making in a year? A wide range, yeah, but generally: way more than you expect and certainly more than you did at their age and in many cases more than you are right now.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing two companies— BMW and Dollar General— alleging that their use of criminal background checks for employees violated the Civil Rights Act. Are criminal background checks, honestly, worth a shit?

America's official unemployment rate edged up to 7.6% in May; a more accurate measure is closer to 14%. Either way, millions of Americans are unable to find decent jobs. Each week, we hear from some of them in our "Unemployment Stories" series. This is what's happening out there.

Most of the new jobs in America pay below-average wages.

The official U.S. unemployment rate sits at 7.5%; a more accurate measure of those who can't find work is closer to 14%. Each week, we bring you true stories of unemployment, straight from the unemployed. This is what's happening out there.