Field Notes: The Results of the Largest Machine Gun Event in the U.S.
Louisville, Kentucky: Gun enthusiasts examine the wreckage at the largest machine gun event in the United States, held at the Knob Creek Gun Range, just south of the city.
Letter From Sapelo Island, Georgia: The Last Surviving Gullah Community
Former slaves set up the community of Hog Hammock so that, separated from the mainland, they could farm, raise livestock, and preserve elements of their African heritage, including the English Creole/African Gullah dialect.
Field Notes: Racing Horses on Montana's Crow Reservation
Crow Reservation, Montana: In Big Horn County, people watch a horse race during the 99th annual Crow Fair, one of the longest-running Native American gatherings in the United States.
Letter From Pawling, New York: An Afternoon at Nuclear Lake
A secluded, Edenic lake just a mile off the Appalachian Trail was once the site of a fight in which locals tried hard to keep people away from what they believed to be an environmental menace. Were they right to?
Field Notes: A Makeshift Village Outside of a Major Tin Mining Site
Kabare Territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo: The settlements at the Kachuba mining site in South Kivu.
Letter From the Yukon Territory: A Rare Case of River Piracy Threatens an Entire Community
For the people who live along Canada's Kluane Lake, it doesn't matter whether the Slims River was the first or the 10th or the 100th river to be stolen by climate change.
Field Notes: Preparing for a Women's Soccer Match in Tanzania
Jumbi, Zanzibar, Tanzania: The Green Queens warm up ahead of a match. Men on the island have long resisted women's presence on the field, but a small cadre is challenging traditional gender norms.
Field Notes: Canteens Found Along the U.S.-Mexico Border
Ajo, Arizona: Heavy-duty, non-biodegradable canteens—occasionally insulated with clothing or blankets to prevent chafing—scatter the desert in the Tucson sector of the United States border with Mexico.
Letter From the Singapore Strait: Crossing Into Indonesia
Sindo Ferry passengers have their passports checked and their luggage x-rayed before they board, but they are divided about how meaningful national boundaries are.
Field Notes: Looking Over the Border Fence Outside San Diego, California
East of San Diego, California: In 2013, Border Patrol Agent Jacopo Bruni looks south over a border fence in the mountains.
Field Notes: A DEA Agent Inspects a Drug-Smuggling Tunnel Under the U.S.-Mexico Border
San Luis, Arizona: A United States Drug Enforcement Administration official aims a flashlight down a 55-foot-deep drug-smuggling tunnel that spans a distance of nearly 240 yards under the U.S.-Mexico border. Drugs ran north, and weapons and cash ran south.
Letter From Campo, California: Hiking the Route Border-Crossers Take From Mexico Into the U.S.
Twenty-four hours in rattlesnake country.
Field Notes: Outside a Soup Kitchen for Central American Immigrants
Hermosillo, Mexico: Central American immigrants walk to a soup kitchen for some much-needed sustenance after traveling by Mexican freight train—known among the caravaners as "the beast."
Letter From Boa Vista, Brazil: Exodus From Venezuela
In the Brazilian state of Roraima, newcomers arrive every day by car, bus, and bicycle.
Field Notes: Looking Out on the Gulf of Mexico After a Storm
Sarasota, Florida: A wedding guest takes a smoke break along the water after a late afternoon thunderstorm.
Letter From Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Inside a Safe House for Ethiopian Women
Set off of one of Addis Ababa's main streets is a secret, self-enclosed village. In that village, girls like Raissa—some as young as 11 years old—fleeing bride abduction, early marriage, and other harmful practices have found a refuge.
Field Notes: Outside a Rally for Myanmar's National League for Democracy
Yangon, Myanmar: In 2015, a week before general elections, people attend a rally for politician Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy.
Letter From Phantom Ranch: Meet the Man Who Lives at the Bottom of the Grand Canyon
Sjors Horstman has spent the last 30 years of his life at the bottom of the Grand Canyon as a volunteer for the National Park Service—one of the longest-serving volunteers in NPS history.
Field Notes: At the Scene of the Crime in Manila
Manila, Philippines: In 2016, police investigate an alley where a 37-year-old man was killed by two unidentified gunmen riding motorcycles.
Letter From Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: Nuns vs. Big Gas
The Adorers of the Blood of Christ, an order of Catholic nuns that define themselves as advocates of Earth, square off against the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline.
Field Notes: Sunbathing Among the Ruins of a Shipping Vessel
Zante Island, Greece: The remains of a cigarette ship that met its demise in October of 1980.
Letter From Morgantown, West Virginia: On the Ground at Bernie Sanders' Rally of the Sick
Even though a majority of West Virginians see government health care as fundamentally un-American, even evil, they know the Affordable Care Act is saving lives every day.
Letter From Minneapolis, Minnesota: Investing in the Muslim Community With Microloans
The city prides itself on working with those who are "un-bankable," and on evaluating loans based on individual stories instead of automated credit scores.
Field Notes: Practicing Self-Defense Outside an Ultra-Conservative Stronghold
Orania, South Africa: Niklas Kirsten, a former paratrooper in the South African Army, instructs Erik Du Pree on handgun self-defense in the fields outside an ultra-conservative, all-Afrikaner stronghold known as Orania.