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January/February 2016

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Features

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Unearthing the World of Jesus

In and around Galilee, surprising archaeological finds are breaking new ground in our understanding of Jesus’s time—and the revolution he launched 2,000 years ago

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Bombs Away

Seventy years after World War II, German experts are racing time to defuse tons of U.S. ordnance that hasn't exploded—yet

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Waste Land

With their habitats disappearing, thousands of white storks are nesting at landfills in Europe. Now the birds face a new threat—junk food is disrupting their ancient life cycle

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The Awakening

The discovery of the world’s oldest representational paintings in remote caves in Indonesia has scholars rethinking the origins of art—and of humanity

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Lone Star

In Texas, an unheralded World War II soldier and prisoner of war struggles to recall the past, a solitary member of an American generation that is quietly fading away

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Love, Frida

Musician and author Patti Smith reads a love letter from Frida Kahlo

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Autism in Early America

It's considered a 20th-century phenomenon—but a surprising new historical analysis suggests that a pioneering doctor was examining people with autism before the Civil War

Departments

Discussion

Reader responses to our December issue

Phenomena

An Echoing “Silence”

So softly sung, the surprise hit still resounds

Phenomena

Reef Madness

Aesthetics meets ecology in a new sculpture about our imperiled sea life

Phenomena

Sticking Points

Researchers have wiped away long-held thinking about insect feet

Phenomena

Into the Wild

Robert Redford honors America’s national parks in an Imax adventure

Phenomena

Letter from a New York Jail

The earliest memoir by a black inmate will be published this month, 150 years after his release

The Dreyfuss Affairs

The versatile actor opens up about his close encounters with Bernie Madoff, sharks and space aliens

Rocking the House

Long before Spotify and iTunes, the phonograph revolutionized the way we experience music

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