The National Geographic Magazine, later shortened to National Geographic, is the official journal of the National Geographic Society . It published its first issue in 1888, just nine months after the Society itself was founded. It has become one of the world's best-known magazines and is immediately identifiable by the characteristic yellow border running around the edge of its cover

ANNALS OF INNOVATION
Elizabeth Kolbert: The visions of Buckminster Fuller.
FAITH AND DOUBT
Essays by Uwem Akpan, Edwidge Danticat, Mohammed Naseehu Ali, Allegra Goodman, George Saunders, and Tobias Wolff.
A REPORTER AT LARGE
Lawrence Wright: An Al Qaeda mastermind questions terrorism.
THE POLITICAL SCENE
Jeffrey Toobin: Campaign tips from the man who has done it all.
COMMENT
Philip Gourevitch: The intertwined agonies of South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Hendrik Hertzberg: Hillary’s sad endgame.
Jeffrey Toobin: Decoding a judicial speech.
Hendrik Hertzberg: Hillary’s wrong course.
THE TALK OF THE TOWN
Joan Acocella: A four-day conference on “The Sopranos.”
Nick Paumgarten: The irresistible charm of Big Brown.
Mike Peed: Archaeologists weigh in on the new “Indiana Jones.”
Dana Goodyear: An anti-hippie protest, at Berkeley.