Delta Dawn

“There was no Delta blues before there were cheap, readily available steel-string guitars. And those guitars, which transformed American culture, were brought to the boondocks by Sears, Roebuck & Co.”

Everest, the Grandaddy of Walking Adventures

Eco-tourism in the Himalayas.

The valley is everything you'd want and more. An icy milky river thunders over rocks and below steep wooded slopes are lush fields where people are working the land, oblivious to the Gore-Tex procession. Oblivious but not unaffected: the houses are smart, the prayer wheels freshly painted, just about everyone has a mobile phone, it seems, and is on it, and there are very few places you can't get a signal around here. This is not really the place to come if you're looking for peace and quiet.

2012 National Magazine Awards Winners

  1. Paper Tigers [Essays and Criticism] Wesley Yang • New YorkWhat becomes of Asian-American overachievers after the test-taking ends?

  2. Joplin! [Feature Writing]Luke Dittrich • EsquireThe stories of two dozen strangers who survived the Joplin, Mo., tornado by hiding in a walk-in beer cooler.

  3. Italian America [Leisure] John Mariani • SaveurItalian immigrants took pride in feeding their families sumptuously.

  4. The Secret That Kills Four Women a Day [Personal Service] Liz Brody • GlamourWhy is relationship violence still so frighteningly common in 2011?

  5. Barrett Brown is Anonymous [Profile Writing]Tim Rogers • D MagazineOn the young man who helped overthrow the government of Tunisia from a Dallas apartment.

  6. The Invisible Army [Public Interest] Sarah Stillman • New YorkerFor foreign workers on U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, war can be hell.

  7. The Apostate [Reporting] Lawrence Wright • New YorkerA screenwriter flees Scientology.