CURRENT ISSUE

June 2006

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Features

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Below the Rim

Humans have roamed the Grand Canyon for more than 8,000 years. But the chasm is only slowly yielding clues to the ancient peoples who lived below the rim

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An Assassin's Final Hours

John Wilkes Booth, cornered in a Virginia barn, wanted to go down fighting: "I have too great a soul to die like a criminal"

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Learning from Tai Shan

The giant panda born at Washington, D.C.'s National Zoo has charmed animal lovers. Now he's teaching scientists more than they had expected

Andrew Wyeth

Wyeth's World

In the wake of his death, controversy still surrounds painter Andrew Wyeth's stature as a major American artist

Since Berliners toppled the wall, construction has reshaped the city.

Beyond the Wall: Berlin

Nearly 17 years after the wall came down, Berliners are still trying to escape its shadow

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Time and Again

In 1984, Peter Feldstein set out to photograph everyone in Oxford, Iowa. Two decades later, he's doing it again, creating a portrait of heartland America

Vision of St Maria Magdalena di Pazzi from the Museo de Bellas Artes, Granada

Who Was Mary Magdalene?

From the writing of the New Testament to the filming of The Da Vinci Code, her image has been repeatedly conscripted, contorted and contradicted

Departments

Indelible Images

Coal Miner's Daughter

"I'm 15. I'm getting married. My mother doesn't want me to get married." But that's just the beginning of the story

Phenomena & Curiosities

The Sound of Hoofs

In a breathtaking spectacle, wildebeest by the millions are on the move this month in the Serengeti

The Object at Hand

Object at Hand: Dead End

Fans of a battery-powered emissions free sedan mourn its passing

What's Up

What's Up

Orchids, Ice Floes and Kids with Cameras

From the Editor

Ruins and Secrets

Probing the Grand Canyon's mysterious prehistory

Wild Things

Wild Things: Life As We Know It

From chimpanzee communication to paper wasps and humans fleeing Vesuvius

Interview

Neil Shubin, Paleontologist, University of Chicago

The "missing link?" At least a step in a new direction

The Last Page

Land of the Wee

Where else can you decorate the bordello and exercise godlike powers?