Cover Story
A New Birth of Reason
Robert Ingersoll, the Great Agnostic, inspired late-19th-century Americans to uphold the founders’ belief in separation of church and state
by Susan Jacoby
Articles
On Friendship
The intimacies shared with our closest companions keep us anchored, vital, and alive
by Edward Hoagland
Our Imperiled World
It took billions of years to make the earth habitable for humans. A distinguished astronomer warns the United Nations how quickly that can be reversed.
by Owen Gingerich
Water in the Empty Part of the Map
The treacherous quest for the source of the Nile was the downfall of John Hanning Speke
by Sierra Bellows
Survival Skills at a School in LA
Street killings of students are so familiar in South Central that kids practice their own grim rituals
by Anne P. Beatty
A Song for Molly
In which I tell how I fell hard for a dog, why I have problems with women, and what I know about Ludwig Wittgenstein
by Jeremy Bernstein
Departments
Editor's Note
Letter From …
Tuning Up
Works in Progress
Commonplace Book
Book Essay
Happily Ever After
The folk tales gathered by the Brothers Grimm not only enchant us; they record the hardships European families endured for centuries
Wendy Smith
Book Reviews
Totalitarianism in Practice
Terror as a way of life in East Germany, Poland, and Hungary
