In 1836, Arkansas became the 25th state in the United States. Today, more than 3 million residents live in the state’s diverse terrain, from the rugged Ozark mountains to the plains along the Mississippi River. Here are a few glimpses of the landscape of Arkansas and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.This photo story is part of Fifty, a collection of images from each of the United States.

As president and chancellor of the country’s largest Christian university and the son of one of the founding fathers of the religious right, Jerry Falwell Jr. has come to serve as a stand-in for American evangelicals. But to those inside the Liberty University community, Falwell’s leading role has lately seemed more like a liability than an asset. On Friday, the executive committee of the school’s board announced that Falwell will take an indefinite leave of absence.

Underlying ConditionsIn America, George Packer wrote, the coronavirus has revealed a sick and unequal society incapable of self-government (June).I shall chew on this article for several days. The taste is bitter. However, it should be swallowed and digested; hopefully its nutrients will be absorbed.Ian McHughMattapoisett, Mass.As I read this excellent article, I was struck by the clarity of the writer’s vision.

Illustration by Arsh Raziuddin; Fox Searchlight Pictures; GettyThe child and the writer are born at the same moment, to the same mother, each to his separate destiny. The child’s is to see everything, feel everything, be everything, and live in the scraps and sparks of language by which he understands everything; the writer’s is to wait, and hide, and grow, until the day when he steps in—pen in hand—to take possession.

Photo illustration by Miki LoweYusef Komunyakaa’s love for poetry began with his grandparents. They were dedicated churchgoers, and he’s said that “the Old Testament informed the cadences of their speech.” Komunyakaa spent his childhood at home in Louisiana, reading and rereading the Bible—and listening to jazz and blues on the wooden radio in his mother’s living room.