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One of this issue's questions is about the starfish's namesake shape.

Why Are Starfish Shaped Like Stars and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Poe coined the phrase “the imp of the perverse” in an 1845 story of that title about an almost perfect murder.

How Edgar Allan Poe Became Our Era’s Premier Storyteller

Fans of the mystery writer have no shortage of ways to pay homage to the scribe behind “The Raven” and so much more

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Introducing Our Special Issue on America at War

The nation’s epic, expanding fight against terrorism overseas

Previously deployed service members raise their hands at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.

America at War

New Poll of U.S. Troops and Veterans Reveals Their Thoughts on Current Military Policies

In a new Smithsonian poll, conducted with the help of Stars and Stripes, current and former members of the armed forces take aim at conventional wisdom

Aaron Wixson, a Marine field artillery radar operator in Oceanside, California, transitioned from female to male in 2016. His biggest challenge was getting everybody to change the pronouns they used for him. “Some of them said, ‘We’ve been calling you “her” for so long.’”

America at War

The Faces Behind Transgender Troops’ Struggle for Acceptance

Meet some of the servicemembers at the center of one of the most controversial matters facing the U.S. military

Kristi Casteel holds her son Joshua Casteel's dog tags.

America at War

The Priest of Abu Ghraib

Inside Iraq’s most notorious prison, an Army interrogator came face to face with a shocking truth about the war—and himself

A patrol returns to Forward Operating Base Tillman, in eastern Afghanistan. It was closed in 2012, the year after this double exposure was made.

America at War

The New Archaeology of Iraq and Afghanistan

The once-fortified outposts that protected U.S. troops are relics of our ambitions abroad

A dog-tag memorial at Old North Church in Boston, which has honored service members killed in the Iraq and Afghan wars since 2006, making it the oldest such memorial in the country

America at War

How Should We Memorialize Those Lost in the War on Terror?

Americans have erected countless monuments to wars gone by. But how do we pay tribute to the fallen in a conflict that might never end?

Drawing of a helicopter on a wall of a house located at the first American helicopter crash site in Mogadishu. The Somali word on the helicopter's side, kulva, is an attempt to spell the word "Cobra," which was one kind of helicopter used to attack the village.

America at War

The Legacy of Black Hawk Down

Twenty-five years after the battle chronicled in the best-selling book, the author argues that we’ve learned the wrong lessons about fighting terrorism

Army Reservist Xiao Meng Sun, who left China six years ago, believes that military training teaches one to meet challenges.

Fighting to Be American

For centuries immigrants who served in the military could become American citizens. But are the women and men pictured here among the last?

For the First Time in More Than 20 Years, Copyrighted Works Will Enter the Public Domain

A beloved Robert Frost poem is among the many creations that are (finally) losing their protections in 2019

Col. Manuel Jimenez stands on patrol in Afghanistan

America at War

A Warrior Comes Home

Corporal Jimenez was on patrol in southern Afghanistan when a mine exploded, changing his life forever

Dyngo served three tours in Afghanistan before retiring to Washington, D.C.

America at War

The Story of Dyngo, a War Dog Brought Home From Combat

I brought a seasoned veteran of the conflict in Afghanistan into my home—and then things got wild

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Readers Discuss Our November 2018 Issue

Your reaction to our package of stories about the Holocaust

In 1963, Herbert A. Gilbert filed a patent for “a safe and harmless means for and method of smoking.”

Plans for the First E-cigarette Went Up in Smoke 50 Years Ago

Herbert A. Gilbert invented his “Smokeless” in 1963, but he couldn’t convince any companies to bring the device to market

If Light Can’t Escape Black Holes, How Do We Get Photos of Them… and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

About 65 percent of Americans will send Christmas letters or cards this holiday season.

The History of Our Love-Hate Relationship With the Christmas Letter

How the “Dear Friends” missive started and how it has survived the Facebook age

Ida O’Keeffe created seven abstract paintings of Cape Cod’s Highland Light (pictured: Variation on a Lighthouse Theme V). The first in the acclaimed series has been lost.

Who Was Ida O’Keeffe, Georgia’s Lesser-Known, But Perhaps More-Talented, Sister?

The painter who toiled in the shadow of her celebrated sibling is the subject of a new, major exhibition

What the Popularity of ‘Fortnite’ Has in Common With the 20th Century Pinball Craze

Long before parents freaked over the ubiquitous video game, they flipped out over another newfangled fad

The breakthrough propeller, its blades shaped by hatchet and drawknife from two-ply spruce, was sheathed in linen and sealed with aluminum powder mixed into a heavy varnish.

Why Wilbur Wright Deserves the Bulk of the Credit for the First Flight

A new book advances a controversial theory about the singular contribution that went into the brothers’ pioneering achievement

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