cover_su19_frompdf
A rocket launches into the sky amidst clouds at night.
Cover Story

Our Fate Is in the Stars

Today’s space program still does amazing things, but nothing like Apollo. It’s time to begin again.

A rocket launches into the sky amidst clouds at night.
Cover Story

Our Fate Is in the Stars

Today’s space program still does amazing things, but nothing like Apollo. It’s time to begin again.

ARTICLES

The NASA You Never Hear About

No, the agency did not invent Tang or Velcro, but its discoveries have many applications in our day-to-day lives

The sun-kissed spires and roofs of a Mediterranean city viewed from the shore

Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea

In search of the places that inspired the Iliad—and the traces of upheaval, conflict, and migration that led to its creation

A group of people dressed in red and black hold protest signs beneath umbrellas. One reads "Sex work is work."

Sex Workers of the World United

Last year’s SESTA/FOSTA legislation aimed to limit sex trafficking—but it’s just the latest in a long line of policies designed to criminalize the oldest profession

A Border Patrol agent walks next to a man in handcuffs by the side of a patrol truck

Rape Trees and Rosary Beads

Field notes of a Border Patrol agent

Two etchings face one another: on the left, a man in 18th-century dress, and on the right, his daughter in same

Aaron Burr in Exile

Surviving against all odds, his journal tells the story of one of the most maligned figures in American history

The End of Driving

Yes, autonomous autos will make roads safer and more efficient, but what wonders will be lost?

The NASA You Never Hear About

No, the agency did not invent Tang or Velcro, but its discoveries have many applications in our day-to-day lives

The sun-kissed spires and roofs of a Mediterranean city viewed from the shore

Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea

In search of the places that inspired the Iliad—and the traces of upheaval, conflict, and migration that led to its creation

A group of people dressed in red and black hold protest signs beneath umbrellas. One reads "Sex work is work."

Sex Workers of the World United

Last year’s SESTA/FOSTA legislation aimed to limit sex trafficking—but it’s just the latest in a long line of policies designed to criminalize the oldest profession

A Border Patrol agent walks next to a man in handcuffs by the side of a patrol truck

Rape Trees and Rosary Beads

Field notes of a Border Patrol agent

Two etchings face one another: on the left, a man in 18th-century dress, and on the right, his daughter in same

Aaron Burr in Exile

Surviving against all odds, his journal tells the story of one of the most maligned figures in American history

The End of Driving

Yes, autonomous autos will make roads safer and more efficient, but what wonders will be lost?

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DEPARTMENTS

editor's note

tuning up

How to Be a Big-League Critic

Helpful hints from a professional

poetry

fiction

Bucksaw

Two boys pay a visit to their father

commonplace book

Book essay

Finding Your Voice

How one writer discovered his when he stopped looking for it and learned instead to listen

book reviews

Red rock formations in the desert are interspersed with cacti and brush

Bonanza of Greed

Myths and lies will, if we let them, spell the end of the public domain

Two women stand side-by-side in front of a stand of trees. The woman on the left is dressed in a light-colored coat., while the one on the right wears black.

Southern Secrets

Three very different women haunted by the past

A man in a suit with a red tie and sunglasses stands next to two soldiers in U.S. uniform. They are filmed by a third man.

The Difficult Diplomat

A highly flawed man who brought peace and controversy

Two women console one another one the footsteps of a church.

What Makes Us Better

Two books explore whether morality is innate or learned

An illuminated tunnel strewn with construction equipment

Plumbing the Depths

A writer explores the world beneath our feet

Myths of Memory

Our ability to recall is not an undiluted gift