Magdaluna

Magdaluna is Anwar Accawi's Jordanian hometown. He fondly recalls the tightly knit community and laments its dissolution.

The Silk Parachute

John McPhee uses the silk parachute to symbolize his mother. He notes how both always came back to him, no matter how hard he threw them away.

The World Trade Center

The World Trade Center is the group of buildings constructed during the 1970s in Manhattan. Philippe Petit famously tightrope walked between them. They were destroyed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

E-mail

Anne Fadiman laments the fact that e-mail, because it is free and easy, has reduced communication to the lowest possible quality.

The Quechan Stone Horse

In "The Stone Horse," Barry Lopez travels into the California desert to see a stone intaglio built by the Quechan Indians.

Cuba

In "Ali in Havana," Gay Talese recounts Muhammad Ali's historic trip to meet Cuban president Fidel Castro.

The First Amendment