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May 2017

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Features

New York Water Taxi

Wet and Wild

New York’s waterfront, once home to pirates and robber barons, fell into dangerous decline. But with a new wave of money and creativity the city is rediscovering its maritime spirit

Puzzle

Piece of Mind

At Ellis Island, a jigsaw challenge could seal an immigrant’s fate.

Mount Fuji

The Magic Mountain

Eternally mysterious Mount Fuji, as seen from Lake Kawaguchiko, remains a powerful force in Japanese culture and a must-do hike for truth-seekers despite the crowds and the looming threat of eruption.

early in my boyhood

Dreams of Argentina

The naturalist W.H. Hudson wrote one of the 20th century’s greatest memoirs after a fever rekindled visions of his childhood.

Tollund Man

The Living Dead

Brutally killed thousands of years ago, Europe’s famed bog bodies are starting to reveal their secrets.

Departments

Discussion

Reader responses to our April issue

Phenomena

Stampede

How the symbol of the frontier became a nuisance.

Phenomena

Altered State

Taking to the sky to show how industry shapes the earth.

Phenomena

Sugar Rush

The unsavory history of an insatiable American craving.

Phenomena

The People v. Jefferson Davis

A legal showdown 150 years ago laid bare the complexities of reuniting the States.

Why I Take Fake Pills

Surprising new research shows that placebos still work even when you know they’re not real

Robert Anthony Siegel, Photo Illustration by Gregory Reid

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