When contributing photographer Danny Wilcox Frazier wanted recommendations for his project documenting the recession, we suggested Janesville, Wisconsin. Then we teamed him up with Pulitzer Prize winner and Detroit News writer Charlie LeDuff, and the result ("End of the Line") recalls the work of Walker Evans and James Agee. Except they have more fun. (See right.)

Anna Lenzer’s ("Spin the Bottle") last water investigation looked at New York City’s 27 billion gallons of sewage seepage. This article was reported in collaboration with the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute. Illustrator Gina Triplett has painted for Target, Converse, and Urban Oufitters. She’s now seriously considering changing her policy of cleaning her brushes with Fiji Water.

Shane Bauer ("The Sheikh Down") is based in Syria, where his Arabic fluency comes in handy. His story was funded by the Nation Institute, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and New America Media. Jack Unruh illustrated the Bronx Zoo’s Congo Gorilla Forest.

Contributing writer Robert Dreyfuss ("Still the Chosen One?") is the author of Devil’s Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam.

Charlie LeDuff

David Samuels

Jack Unruh

Rachel Morris

Anna Lenzer

Hank Willis Thomas

David Samuels ("The Spy Who Loved Hamas") is a Harper’s contributing editor and writes for The Atlantic and The New Yorker. He says he was once recruited by two spy agencies, neither of which would touch him now.

Bureau chief David Corn ("CSI: Watergate"), articles editor Rachel Morris ("Shock and Audit"), associate editor Daniel Schulman ("Dr. Evil’s Payday"), and assistant editor Nick Baumann ("Enter Stage Right") hold down the MoJo fort in Washington.

Lauren Sandler ("Code Pink") teaches cultural reporting at NYU. Her book, Righteous: Dispatches From the Evangelical Youth Movement, is just out in paperback.

Tim Shorrock ("Out of Service") wrote Spies for Hire: Inside the Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing. Contributing artist Steve Brodner pens our cartoon du jour.

Photographer Hank Willis Thomas’ ("Pride and Prejudice") latest project, "Black Is Beautiful," showcases black pinup models from the 1950s to the present.

The author of Farm City, Novella Carpenter ("The Retrovore’s Dilemma") teaches Backyard Chickens 101.

Emily Waltz ("Scum Artists") is a frequent contributor to the journal Nature Biotechnology.