CURRENT ISSUE

October 2013

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Features

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Cabin Fever

One man’s historic mission to rediscover every former slave dwelling in America

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Existential Hero

On the centenary of his birth, Algerian-born novelist and philosopher Albert Camus is still a stranger in his native land

One frame of the Zapruder film has long been considered too graphic for public view.

Seeing Zapruder

Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris deconstructs the metaphysics of conspiracy

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The New Lincoln

How a former Disney Animator made the most provocative Lincoln photo find of the last half-century

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Mole Hunt

A Soviet spy’s tip set off one of the most self-destructive investigations in FBI history

Secure Speech Cipher System

A new poem by Linda Bierds

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Glory, Glory

New research may settle a family feud over the origins of an American icon

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Animal Intelligence

Some of the most highly trained operatives in the Cold War weren’t human. Ask the man who trained them

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American Enigma

A new biography of Norman Rockwell reveals the complex inner life of America's greatest and most controversial illustrator

Departments

Contributors

Contributors

Letters to the Editor

Discussion

Discussion

From the Castle

From the Castle

Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough previews a new exhibit at the American Art Museum

From the Editor

From the Editor

From the Editor

Phenomena

Conflict

Conflicts don’t build character—they reveal its true nature

Vendetta Nation

In Albania, the revival of a 15th-century code has trapped families in multigenerational blood feuds

Phenomena

Global Food Fight

The Conflict Kitchen is an experiment in mealpolitik

Phenomena

Hush!

Sleeping infants still know when mom and dad are fighting

Phenomena

Top Gun

How one clever species is winning an air war

Around the Mall

The Muppets Take the Mall

Twenty-one characters enter the SI collection

Around the Mall

Playlist

Uncommon Folk

Around the Mall

Ask Smithsonian

Your questions answered by our experts

Books

Books

Exploring alien microbes. Plus: the romance of hot air, Red Cloud’s feat and the science inside your cat

Fast Forward

NASA's time machine