The New York Times Magazine: See America! Unusual Trips to the Usual Destinations

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, March 24, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( ‘‘I felt a rush of emotion that was not patriotism but awe: awe at human weirdness, at our capacity to create, in the actual world, such an improbable and unnecessary artifact as this. Why had humans done this? Why did Mount Rushmore exist?” writes Sam Anderson of his trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota. How should you feel visiting one of America’s iconic destinations? Often the answer seems to have been decided for us before we even arrive: [Mount Rushmore]( proud; [Hawaii]( relaxed; [New Orleans]( ready to party; [Florida by yacht]( luxurious; [Sierra Nevada]( awe-struck. For this week’s Voyages Issue, we sent five writers on unusual trips to these usual destinations. Their stories are anything but ordinary. Elsewhere in the magazine, Beverly Gage writes about how we call one another [un-American]( when we can’t agree what our nation even is. Gabrielle Hamilton shares [a recipe]( that celebrates the sophistication of restraint with just three ingredients. And Lauren Schenkman gives us our [final Lives column]( about a woman who pursued a career, defying obstacles and her own husband. As we close the column this week, be sure to check out [some of our favorite]( essays from the archive that illustrate the power of a simple story well told. Happy reading, Jake Silverstein Editor in Chief [George Washington’s profile at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, in the Black Hills of South Dakota.]( George Washington’s profile at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Giles Price/Institute, for The New York Times [The Voyages Issue]( [Why Does Mount Rushmore Exist?]( By SAM ANDERSON This gargantuan shrine to democracy has never felt so surreal. [A parade of the V.I.P. Ladies and Kids Social Aid and Pleasure Club earlier this month.]( Kirsten Luce for The New York Times The Voyages Issue [Wandering New Orleans After Seeing It From the Stage]( By DESSA After a decade of visiting the city on tour, I finally got to experience it as a tourist. [Titans in the fog in Sequoia National Park, California.]( David Benjamin Sherry for The New York Times The Voyages Issue [In the Land of Giants]( By JON MOOALLEM Communing with some of the biggest trees on Earth. Lives [The Best of Our Lives Column]( By THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE For more than 20 years, The Times Magazine has published Lives, a series of incisive personal essays or as-told-to accounts. Here are some of our favorites. On Money [Platform Companies Are Becoming More Powerful — but What Exactly Do They Want?]( By JOHN HERRMAN With enough success, these businesses go from enabling transactions to controlling entire economies. But these raised stakes also create tensions that are becoming harder to ignore. ADVERTISEMENT [Visitors at Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island.]( Visitors at Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. Dina Litovsky/Redux, for The New York Times [The Voyages Issue]( [The Hawaii Cure]( By WELLS TOWER A first trip to the island, in a desperate bid to escape the news. [A Saturday-night party on Let It Ride in Stuart, Fla.]( Rebecca Norris Webb for The New York Times The Voyages Issue [An Improbable 6,000-Mile Boat Trip Around the East Coast]( By JAMIE LAUREN KEILES Joining up with the Great Loop, an intricate route that transforms half the United States into an island. [The oddest thing about Kidz Bop’s defanged children’s versions of popular songs is that they have a much more perverse bite than their source material.]( Illustration by Matt Chase Letter of Recommendation [Letter of Recommendation: Kidz Bop]( By ZACHARY JASON The oddest thing about defanged children’s versions of popular songs is that they have a much more perverse bite than their source material. Well [The Best Exercise for Aging Muscles]( By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS Certain kinds of exercise may mitigate the effects of aging at the cellular level. Talk [Reza Aslan Thinks TV Can End Bigotry]( Interview by ANA MARIE COX The host of CNN’s “Believer” on converting from and back to Islam and why watching TV is so important. ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NYTimes [Twitter] [@nytmag]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's The New York Times Magazine newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018