Sins of the Fathers and Mothers
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On war, settlement, and collective responsibility

Rip Tide

Trouble at a Spanish beach

Tunneling for Daylight

All hail the miraculous, tenacious carpenter bee

Black Cleopatra

How a recent Netflix series infuriated Egypt—and raised questions about color stratification and the social construct of race

Hey Siri, Call Webster

When it comes to learning new words, it’s not where you look them up that’s important

Bicentennial Beginnings

Learning to write and learning to live, with Richard Wilbur as a guide

The Days After

Remembering Samantha Smith, the girl who dared to dream of peace at a time when so many feared a global war

A Clean, Well-Ordered Place

An ode to the grocery store

Lionized

The life and death of a celebrity puma—and what it really means to be wild  

This Is Not the Zombie Apocalypse

Is a new form of methamphetamine really to blame for a host of urban problems?

Verde

Learning a foreign language isn’t just about improving cognitive function—it can teach us to sense the world anew

In the Endless Arctic Light
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A journey to the far north of Norway means confronting our changing climate

The Wonder of It All
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In search of awe

Tobi Gaulke/Flickr

Words Matter
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An opera can succeed only if libretto and score are in concert

Vital Signs
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What happened when my husband became a paramedic

The Patron Subjects

Who were the Wertheimers, the family that sat for a dozen of John Singer Sargent’s paintings?

A Giant of a Man

The legacy of Willie Mays and the Birmingham ballpark where he first made his mark

Adventures With Jean

Striking up a friendship with an older writer meant accepting the risk of getting hurt

Feels Like Coming Home
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The wonders of the coastal redwood

Free
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The knowledge of approaching death may allow some of us to experience time in new and liberating ways

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