CURRENT ISSUE
July/August 2015
Features
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The Fall and Rise and Fall of Pompeii
The famous archaeological treasure is falling into scandalous decline, even as its sister city Herculaneum is rising from the ashes
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Return of the Mockingbird
Traveling back in time to visit Harper Lee's hometown, the setting of her 1960 masterpiece and the controversial sequel due within the month
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The Mad King & Magna Carta
How did a peace treaty signed-and broken-800 years ago become one of the world's most influential documents?
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Flashes of Genius
An outspoken Harvard neuroscientist, a mind-blowing experiment on a transparent minnow, and the wondrous challenge of understanding the workings of the brain
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Past and Presence
The shattering nature of violence. The resilience of the human spirit. The power of photographs. A Smithsonian special project
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Past and Presence: American Requiem
Walking far-flung battlefields to picture the nation's defining tragedy in a modern light
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Past and Presence: The Endless Exile
As children, they escaped ruthless state-sponsored violence. Now, a century later, these Armenian women and men visit the aching memory of what they left behind
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Past and Presence: The Vigil
The protests sparked by the killing of young Michael Brown gave rise to a new civil rights movement that's still growing
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Following in the Inca's Giant Steps
A rocky rollicking journey to Machu Picchu along the Inca Road, one of the greatest engineering feats in the Americas
Departments
The First Flight Plan
A fossil found in China is the oldest known bird with a modern appearance
The Next Pipe Dream
Pneumatic tubes once zapped messages across cities. Could a hyperloop do the same for people?