CURRENT ISSUE
April 2009
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Features
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Iran's Hidden Jewel
Isfahan's artisans are striving to restore ancient Persia's capital city to its former luster
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The Dino Wars
Across the Great Plans and West, prospectors—and poachers—are excavating fossils in a cash-fueled free-for-all that often pits them against scientists and law
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Cook vs. Peary
A century ago, Frederick Cook and Robert Peary each said they discovered the North Pole. Now the question is: How did Peary's claim trump Cook's?
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Celestial Sleuth
What inspired Munch, van Gogh and Chaucer? What went wrong one terrible night in World War II? Astrophysicist Donald Olson probes historical mysteries with "forensic astronomy"
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What's So Hot About Chili Peppers?
A Gonzo botanist braves the back roads of wild Bolivia to find the roots of the world's most piquant spice
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The Writer's Eye
The photographs of Eudora Welty, born 100 years ago this month, hint at the sensibility that would mark her as a storyteller
Departments
Staying Power
Big skies and colorful characters bind the versatile writer to his adopted home
Buckle Up. And Behave
The three-point seat belt turns 50—and still has much to teach us about risk and recklessness
Wild Things: Life as We Know It
Wolves, hibernating animals, spitting cobras and more
A Good Reed
Late in his career, Benny Goodman favored a Parisian "licorice stick"
A Fish Tale
A curator discovers that whalefishes, bignose fishes and tapetails are all really the same kind of fish at different life stages