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Our annual anthology of finalists and winners of the National Magazine Awards 2014 includes Jonathan Franzen�s eloquent rumination in National Geographic on the damage we continue to inflict on the environment and its long-lasting consequences; William T. Vollman�s blackly comic reflections in Harper�s magazine on being the target of an extensive FBI investigation into whether he could be the Unabomber, an anthrax mailer, or a jihadi terrorist; and Ariel Levy�s account of extreme travel and great escape to a remote land�while pregnant�in the New Yorker. Other essays include Wright Thompson�s bittersweet profile of Michael Jordan�s fifty-something second act (ESPN); Jean M. Twenge�s revealing look at fertility myths and baby politics (The Atlantic); David Kamp�s poignant portrait of a small town recovering from one of the nation�s worst mass shootings (Vanity Fair); Janet Reitman�s controversial study of the Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Rolling Stone); Ted Conover�s eye-opening account of working undercover in a commercial slaughterhouse (Harper�s); and Wells Tower�s wild tale of bonding with his father at a notorious art and music festival (GQ). The collection also features a short story by the critically acclaimed author Zadie Smith (The New Yorker). Other contributors: Steven Brill (Time) Emily DePrang (Texas Observer) Kyle Dickman (Outside) Steve Friedman (Runner�s World) J. Hoberman (Tablet Magazine) Stephen Rodrick (New York Times Magazine) Witold Rybczynski (Architect) Matthew Shaer (The Atavist)