A JOURNEY DEEP INTO THE CAVERN OF DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, A UTOPIAN, PROFOUNDLY DORKY AND INFLUENTIAL GAME THAT, LACKING CLEAR WINNERS OR AN END, MAY NOT BE A GAME AT ALL.

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When Bruno Zehnder froze to death in July 1997 near Russia’s Mirny base in desolate Antarctica, a legend was born—and a mystery created. Obsessed with penguins since childhood, the tall, handsome adventurer had made pilgrimage after pilgrimage to the remote breeding grounds of the emperor penguin, winning acclaim for his anthropomorphic photographs. The author investigates Zehnder’s secretive, playboy life in New York City; rumors of C.I.A. or K.G.B. ties; and the questions surrounding his icy grave.

on the turing test

on the large scale hydraulic model of the Mississippi River Basin, located in Clinton, Mississippi

Dan Savage, the brilliant and foul-mouthed sex columnist, has become one of the most important ethicists in America. Are we screwed?

Profile of Julian Assange

HERE’S THE CONCEIT: Build a single wood fire and, over the course of 30-plus hours, use it to roast, braise, bake, simmer and grill as many different dishes as possible — for lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch again. 

Profile of the 2010 senate race in nevada. Harry Reid and Sharron Angle

In September 2009, the second platoon of Charlie Company arrived in Afghanistan with 42 men. Ten months later, nearly half had been killed or wounded, mostly in the Arghandab Valley—a key to controlling southern Afghanistan. Now these 82nd Airborne troops were getting ready to leave the Arghandab behind. They had one more dangerous job to do: a joint mission with the untried artillery unit that would replace them patrolling the fields, orchards, and villages they called the Devil’s Playground.

Going fishing is called, in dialect, “fær på sjøen.” It was something boys in Norway did when society couldn’t hold them anymore. I took it for granted I should be allowed to do it too.

After two months, kids hated the new meals, milk consumption plummeted, and many students dropped out of the school lunch program altogether.