Courtesy of Julie Ries

KENNETH MILLER became enchanted with Peru while visiting his brother Jon, a National Public Radio correspondent, six years ago. So he jumped at the chance to return to cover a dispute over how urban centers in the Americas first started for “Showdown at the O.K. Caral,” page 62. “There are a lot of rivalries in the world of archaeology,” Miller says, “but they seldom rise to this level.” A former editor at Life and People, he has also written for Time, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Elle, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, and Reader’s Digest.


Courtesy of John Balsom

Primarily a portraitist, British photographer JULIAN BROAD works in both color and black and white. Although he knew little about evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, he sensed that black and white was the better choice, a judgment that clearly proves itself in “Darwin’s Rottweiler,” page 50. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, and Playboy.  A contributor to the prestigious American Photography annual, Broad was also on an award-winning team recognized by the Society of Publication Designers.

Courtesy of Antrim Caskey

DARCY FREY didn’t know what to expect when he put three climate-change experts on rafts in Alaska for “Up a Creek,” page 42. But “the conceit turned out to be a genuine catalyst,” he says. The tired debate over global warming came alive as his guests, who had never met before, faced bugs, bears, and bad weather. A regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine, Frey wrote The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams (Houghton Mifflin, 1994).

Courtesy of Mary Young

Taking pictures in a hospital operating room is challenging under the best of circumstances. But photographer BRENT HUMPHREYS found himself facing greater-than-normal difficulties when shooting “Can Stem Cells Save Dying Hearts?” page 58. He had to wear a hefty lead apron for radiation protection. “You feel it after eight hours,” he says. Humphreys has photographed for Audubon, Field & Stream, Ski, Texas Monthly, Metropolis, and Premiere and is working on a study of the Tour de France.