When the Desert Pushes Back Against Human Engineering
Five landmarks in the American Southwest illustrate the limits of engineering the environment to human favor.
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Features
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Editor in Exile
One of her reporters disappeared, a machete was lodged in her office door. Then came the death threats. As the top editor at the Maldives Independent, Zaheena Rasheed fought for the truth even as those in power worked against it.
The Empowered Women of Little Mogadishu
A look at the Somali-American women who have risen to political power in Minnesota.
A Look Inside the Coal Communities in the Illinois Basin
In the first half of the 20th century, coal communities across the Illinois Basin boomed. In 1990, new regulations set off an industry implosion, and the vitality of the region went with it.
Houston’s Diversity Is America’s Future
Influxes of African, Asian, and Latino Americans helped Houston's metro area avoid economic stagnation. Could an expected demographic shift on the national level end up reviving other troubled cities?
The Stories Behind Some of the World’s Most Iconic Photographs
How nine photographers navigated floods, rubble, and suspicions of espionage to capture some of the most striking images of the last half-century.
June Eric-Udorie’s Appetite for Fighting Injustice
At 18, Eric Udorie's written about gender rights-related topics for major publications including the Guardian, New Statesman, Fusion.
Revolutionary Objects: The Surprising Origin of the Cell Phone
The technology has its roots in 1950s Soviet Russia.
Anthony Lee Zhang’s Stock of Human Knowledge
"Being an academic requires the courage to stand behind good ideas despite opposition," says Zhang, who is on our list of the top 30 thinkers under 30.
Thomas Tasche’s Steady Inquisitiveness
Tasche's work directly challenges a lot of the reductionist narratives that swirl around politics and, by extension, the media that covers it.