International

How Learning a Foreign Language Reignited My Imagination

Pardon my French

Big in Japan: Steve Jobs

An American icon finds immortality

In Defense of Henry Kissinger

He was the 20th century's greatest 19th-century statesman.

How Do You Celebrate the Birthday of a Great Composer Who Inspired Hitler?

Germany grapples with the bicentennial of Richard Wagner's birth.

A Thousand Years of Sex Talk in Arab Culture—in 1 Paragraph

Language doesn't necessarily get less prudish over time.

My Hyperinflation Vacation

A trip to the Iranian resort island of Kish illuminates the strange consequences of economic sanctions.

The Day the Secret Service Almost Shot Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

The intelligence brief on the apparent accident was three sentences long, and it scared the hell out of White House officials.

The Skeptic’s Guide to the South Pacific

How I learned to stop worrying and love vacation

The Modern King in the Arab Spring

Can Jordan's Abdullah II, the region's most pro-American Arab leader, liberalize his kingdom, modernize its economy, and save the country from capture by Islamist radicals?

Moscow Under Terror

In 1937, the city was both a world capital of artistic ferment and a slaughterhouse.

Six Degrees of Sally Oren

Just one woman links Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Bibi Netanyahu.

Why Priests?

The New Testament mentions only a single priest: Jesus. A very short book excerpt.

Enter the Dragons

In the hottest year of the Chinese zodiac, how’s a mother-to-be supposed to find a hospital bed in Shanghai?

A Supposedly Stupid Thing I’d Totally Do Again

There are easier ways to see India than pinned inside a tiny rickshaw. But to truly experience the country, that’s the way to go.

My Conversion Will Not Be Televised

How I ended up on TV debating Salafism with an Egyptian cleric

Being There

Put down your smartphone—the art of travel demands the end of multitasking.

Tea and Kidnapping

In the desert with the world’s friendliest hostage-takers

Swamped!

An island nation confronts rising sea levels—and the related flood of foreign aid.

Can EuroVegas Save Spain?

Sheldon Adelson goes scavenging in the euro zone.

Talk Like an Iranian

As the author learned in Tehran, yes sometimes means no.

Finding the Perfect Wave in Liberia

Its old war scars healed, the West African coast beckons surfers of all varieties.

World’s Worst Traffic Jam

How a 40-mile trip to Lagos took 12 hours

Intrigue in the South China Sea

A close look at the fiercely contested South China Sea

Hard Laughs

Out of a brutal military crackdown comes a taste for gallows humor.

In the Forests of the Night

Along the Bay of Bengal’s wild tidal basin, the scorpions and crocs can seem relatively harmless.

Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

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A Brief History of Romantic Comedies

From The Atlantic's Chris Orr

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Life in 'the New Arctic'

A moving portrait of a fading landscape

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The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

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What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

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NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

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Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

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Is He Cheating? A 1950s Guide

'That little blonde secretary from the office?’

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New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

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The DIY Piano-Bicycle

Everybody needs a hobby

Writers

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