CURRENT ISSUE
January 2009
Features
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Samarra Rises
In Iraq, the restoration of the shattered Mosque of the Golden Dome brings together Sunnis and Shiites in an unlikely alliance
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Commander in Chief
A self-taught strategist with no combat experience, Abraham Lincoln saw the path to victory more clearly than his generals
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Winging It
Dangling from a paraglider with a propeller on his back, photographer George Steinmetz gets a new perspective on Africa
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Gene Therapy in a New Light
A husband-and-wife team's experimental genetic treatment for blindness is renewing hopes for a controversial field of medicine
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The Spotted Owl's New Nemesis
An battle between environmentalists and loggers left much of the owl's habitat protected. Now the spotted owl faces a new threat
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Night Visions
For Vincent Van Gogh, fantasy and reality merged after dark in some of his most enduring paintings, as a new exhibition reminds us
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Mining the Mountains
Explosives and machines are destroying Appalachian peaks to obtain coal. In a West Virginia town, residents and the industry fight over a mountain's fate
Departments
With Santa, the More the Merrier
Photographer Neal Slavin captures the night some Santas bent the rules
Teaming Up
University partnerships are key to the success of the Smithsonian Institution's education initiatives
Intelligent Designer
Charles Harrison, former industrial designer at Sears, Roebuck and Company, created practical innovations that touched many lives
Hail to the Chief
Franklin Roosevelt's fourth inaugural, which was less than 600 words long, focused on the perils of isolationism
There's No Place Like Home
The newly reopened Smithsonian National Museum of American History boasts a rare pair of Judy Garland's legendary ruby slippers
Q&A: N. Scott Momaday
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Kiowa Indian N. Scott Momaday runs a nonprofit organization working to preserve Native cultures
Easy Rider
What's Up
Frost, Nixon and Me
Author James Reston Jr. discovers firsthand what is gained and lost when history is turned into entertainment