In this issue, we follow the roots to find life in new soil:

Track deer across a poisoned landscape with Sandra Steingraber, the inaugural essay supported by Orion’s Fund for Woman Writers.

Read a short story by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Join the Ugly Club and embrace the beauty of imperfection.

Travel to Croatia to gather a most elusive white truffle.

Join Pulitzer Prize-finalist author Elizabeth Rush in Antarctica as she contemplates child-rearing in an age of melt.

Gaze into the milky sheen of pearls for a most dynamic history.