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July/August 2024

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Features

Opener

Trading Places

In Egypt’s eastern desert, wondrous new finds from the ancient port of Berenike are challenging old ideas about the makings of the modern world

Photographs by Roger Anis

Opener

The Next Big Wave

In the wake of Hurricane Ike, engineers have been crafting a $34 billion plan to protect Galveston. Will it be big enough for Texas?

Photographs by Trevor Paulhus

Enos Mafokate holds reins next to a horse

Handing Over the Reins

In South Africa, an unlikely champion offers lessons in riding and in life

Photographs by Karabo Mooki

Morrison's Bumblebee

Plight of the Bumblebee

As numbers of these key pollinators decline, conservationists are eyeing new federal protections for one vulnerable species

Photograph by Clay Bolt

large trees stand tall in swampy waters

Mapping the Mississippi

Thomas Jefferson imagined it as the heart of his “empire of liberty.” How America laid claim to the mighty river

Photographs by Ashleigh Coleman

Opener

The Wild Harvest

In Maine, an unusual convergence of farmworkers renews an ancient and increasingly threatened agricultural practice

Photographs by Greta Rybus

OPENER - A hippo crosses a rural road near Doradal, Colombia. Experts say that left unchecked the hippo population could grow to 1,400 by 2040.

The Strange Afterlife of Pablo Escobar’s Hippos

Decades ago, the drug baron smuggled the beasts into Colombia for his private menagerie. They’ve been multiplying ever since. Now officials are taking extreme measures to counter the problem

Photographs by Gena Steffens

Departments

Discussion

Your feedback on lava tubes, scenic routes and diet history

Thirty Years Ago, a Smithsonian Exhibition in Japan Told the Whole American Story

The choices we made then still resonate today

Changing the Game

The wizardry of Dungeons & Dragons sparked a revolution in how we play just about everything

Here Be Dragons

The mythical beasts have fired up cultures around the globe. Here are their (alleged) origins from east to west

Knotable Works

The ornate series of woodcuts that transformed printmaking

Around the World in 113 Days

Congressman Peter F. Mack’s soaring diplomatic ambitions made aviation history

A Jolt to the Union

How the North’s fruitful partnership with Liberian farmers fueled a steady supply of an essential beverage

Uncommon Threads

The gaudy shirt went from practical necessity to vintage treasure

A Style All Her Own

What made Libba Cotten one of the most distinctive guitar players in American music

First Tango in Paris

Breaking is making its debut at this summer’s Olympics—a century after another dance rocked the city

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