Sara Wheeler:

Fearful of losing my bearings, I stopped to fish this map from my pack and spread it on the ice. Created by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in the 1980s, it represents part of the Antarctic continent on a 1:250,000 scale. I traced my route by topographical landmarks, including an especially pointy mountain which the glaciologists had called the Doesn't Matterhorn. My finger came to a zigzag drawn with a ruler marked "Limit of compilation". Beyond that, the sheet was blank. I had reached the end of the map.

That was where I wanted to be. Uncharted territory.

I like this map for its lack of human spoilage -- no cities or highways. In London, hunched in my office behind a rain-spattered window, I often unfurl it and trace the glaciers and valleys I once knew so well. But in my dreams, I always stand at the Limit of compilation.

Dexter Filkins:

The cooperation between the two countries lasted through the initial phase of the war. At one point, the lead negotiator handed Crocker a map detailing the disposition of Taliban forces. "Here's our advice: hit them here first, and then hit them over here. And here's the logic." Stunned, Crocker asked, "Can I take notes?" The negotiator replied, "You can keep the map." The flow of information went both ways. On one occasion, Crocker said, he gave his counterparts the location of an Al Qaeda facilitator living in the eastern city of Mashhad. The Iranians detained him and brought him to Afghanistan's new leaders, who, Crocker believes, turned him over to the U.S. The negotiator told Crocker, "Haji Qassem is very pleased with our cooperation."

Reuben Fischer-Baum:

Baby naming generally follows a consistent cycle: A name springs up in some region of the U.S. -- "Ashley" in the South, "Emily" in the Northeast -- sweeps over the country, and falls out of favor nearly as quickly. The big exception to these baby booms and busts is "Jennifer", which absolutely dominates America for a decade-and-a-half. If you're named Jennifer and you were born between 1970 and 1984, don't worry! I'm sure you have a totally cool, unique middle name.

Notably, the recession seems to have put a temporary damper on creative baby naming. In 2007, eight different baby names made the map -- including less-traditional names like Addison, Ava, and Madison -- and all carried at least two states. By 2012 the map has just five names, and 47 states went with either "Sophia" or "Emma." A yearning for simpler times?

Matt Weiland:

Names on the Land reflects a glorious union of two primal forces in the American mind. On one hand, Americanism: the inclination toward the large-scale and industrial, toward manifest destiny and the farthest shore, toward what a French critic a century ago called the American "worship of size, mass, quantity and numbers." On the other, Americana: the craving for the local and the lo-fi, for the inward heart of things, for the handcrafted and the homemade.