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November 2012

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Features

Daniel Day Lewis as Abraham Lincoln

Mr. Lincoln Goes to Hollywood

Steven Spielberg, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Tony Kushner talk about what it takes to wrestle an epic presidency into a feature film

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Lights! Camera! Lincoln!

The 16th president has been a Hollywood star and box office attraction since the earliest days of Hollywood

"Confederates Try to Burn New York"

A new poem by George Green

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Primal Instinct

Two photographers ventured deep into the forests of central Africa to capture touching photos of a 33-year-old wild silverback and his clan

Theodore Roosevelt speech

Assassination Foiled

Campaigning for president, Roosevelt was spared almost certain death when 50 pieces of paper slowed an assailant’s bullet headed for his chest

Dongdaemun Design Plaza

Seoul of a New Machine

The once poor South Korean city has bloomed into a cultural capital with high-profile architecture, top museums and an influential arts scene

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The Gospel According to King

When a divinity scholar unveiled a papyrus fragment that she says refers to Jesus’ “wife,” our reporter was there in Rome amidst the firestorm of criticism

Malibu

Breaking Point

Local politics take a dramatic turn in southern California over a plan to clean up an iconic American playground

Doctors with Ebola patient

The Hunt for Ebola

A CDC team races to Uganda just days after an outbreak of the killer virus to try to pinpoint exactly how it is transmitted to humans

Lewis Lapham

The Last Renaissance Man

With his erudite Quarterly, the legendary Harper’s editor aims for an antidote to digital-age ignorance

Departments

Contributors

Contributors

Letters to the Editor

Discussion

From the Castle

From the Castle

Phenomena

Beauty

Is the rise of secularism behind the general malaise in the fine arts?

Phenomena

In Living Color

The white marble statutes we revere were originally dressed in eye-popping pigments

Phenomena

Beauty by the Numbers

The Geometrization Theorem may not sound the sexiest, but it reveals geometry’s innate splendor

Phenomena

Catching Rays

Unprecedented images from space capture the Sun’s true beauty

Phenomena

The Price of Beauty

For men and women, looking good can mean extra cash in your bank account

Phenomena

Hard-Wired for Art

New imaging techniques are mapping the locations of our aesthetic response

Around the Mall

Face Time

A new exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery unmasks the titans of modern American poetry

Around the Mall

Playlist

Listen to the Elizabeth Mitchell Experience

Around the Mall

Did the Pilgrims Really Land on Plymouth Rock?

Where do hurricanes start, the Big Bang, sea gulls and other answers from the Smithsonian’s experts

Around the Mall

Spotlight

Books

Books

Fast Forward

Fast Forward

When completed in 2013, this series of 170,000 mirrors will power 140,000 California homes