Award-winning author James Bamford spent three days interviewing Edward Snowden in Moscow. He emerged with an indelible portrait of the elusive whistleblower, one that sheds new light on exactly what led Snowden to decide to leak tens of thousands of top-secret documents. Also in this month's issue: A new scientific effort to understand nutrition and health plus a riveting profile of Sin City auteur Frank Miller.

From the final moldings to the last paint job, find out how the design team added character and life to the giant creature in under two weeks.

We go inside the latest addition to a fleet of lighter-than-air vehicles—the most advanced blimp in the air.

It can print, scan, and copy, but can it fly? Find out, when we put an HP all-in-one printer through three extreme destruction tests.

Find out how the tech, aviation, and design of Goodyear's new airship stack up to its predecessors.

Blimps have come along way from the Zeppelin days; find out what's in store for the future of Goodyear's new airships.

Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig calls for a mayday on democracy and explains how he plans to do so with an innovative Kickstarter campaign.

Thanks to 40 years of increasingly cheap and tiny processors, new software, cheap sensors, and digital manufacturing, we can build products that seemed impossible a decade ago. WIRED has dubbed this new design renaissance Silicon Modern. Our editors collected 10 great exemplars of this movement, encompassing big ideas, inspiring projects, and new forms of expression. Silicon Modern is here, and design will never be the same. Original Composition by Nico Bergmann Recorded at First Voice Studio

Apple recently announced its new timepiece, but the tech giant was hardly the first to make a foray into smartwatches. In the early '80s Casio debuted a dual watch-calculator, paving the way for multipurpose, wearable gadgets.

Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and game developer Dong Nguyen join author David Kushner to talk about the ingredients for a successful video game and how the industry has transitioned from being a hobby to a full-blown business.

Released in 2006, the Microsoft Zune was intended to be a competitor to Apple’s iPod. It didn’t stand a chance then and it doesn’t stand a chance now. See what happens when we go medieval on this week’s gadget, as recommended by Mark and Todd from Barely Political.

The latest victim in the movie studios' quest to take stories we know and love and destroy them with tedious pre-history? Dracula: Untold, which provides us with the unnecessary origin story on how the original vampire became a thirsty bloodsucker, long before the days of Twilight.

Angry Nerd is sick of the latest crop of cliché killer movies. Do we really need Michael Bay bringing another Hasbro product to life with “Ouija"? Who asked for the new wannabe “Blair Witch Project” called “Exists”? Angry Nerd explains why the only frightening thing this Halloween is the surplus of crappy horror flicks.

Can a flatscreen withstand a vicious potato gun and a flying soda can? Find out as we put the 40” LED T.V. to the ultimate spuds test.

Designer Ethan Imboden at WIRED by Design, 2014. In partnership with Skywalker Sound, Marin County, CA. To learn more visit: live.wired.com

The original came out nearly 20 years ago, yet now is when we’re finally getting the follow up to “Dumb and Dumber.” Angry Nerd explains why the new Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels release has already missed the mark in terms of historical relevancy, and why it’s destined to fall victim to the curse of the long-delayed movie sequel.

Few Hollywood directors can match Christopher Nolan’s ambition, skill, and mind-bending story sense. For our December issue, the man behind Memento, Inception, the Dark Knight trilogy, and Interstellar brings his formidable talents to WIRED as our guest editor.

Why turn one book into one movie, when you can turn it into two? Despite “Mockingjay” being the weakest book in “The Hunger Games” series, movie execs have decided to translate it into a two-part film. Angry Nerd explains why the stretch from one to two is a terrible trend that needs to end.

From the incredible helicarrier crash in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” to the realistic motion-capture-driven apes in "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," this year brought us some unbelievable special effects. Mike Seymour from fxguide counts down the top 10 design FX from 2014.

Christina Tosi at WIRED by Design, 2014. In partnership with Skywalker Sound, Marin County, CA. To learn more visit: live.wired.com

Dan Winters at WIRED by Design, 2014. In partnership with Skywalker Sound, Marin County, CA. To learn more visit: live.wired.com

Ije Nwokorie at WIRED by Design, 2014. In partnership with Skywalker Sound, Marin County, CA. To learn more visit: live.wired.com

Ian Bogost at WIRED by Design, 2014. In partnership with Skywalker Sound, Marin County, CA. To learn more visit: live.wired.com

During a shoot Jeff can't seem to get his lines quite right. It’s two simple words, but with so many different ways to convey the emotion behind them Jeff and co-star Summer Glau are left pondering the philosophical meaning behind “human alert!"

Summer Glau has to attend her ex-boyfriend’s art gallery opening and who better to accompany her than a ten-foot tall robot? Jeff agrees to go and is tasked with one job, but things go haywire when he meets the ex—David Arquette.

YACHT at WIRED by Design, 2014. In partnership with Skywalker Sound, Marin County, CA. To learn more visit: live.wired.com

Can’t make it to the WIRED store in person? Take an exclusive tour of this year’s gadget haven and check out everything the store has to offer with Erik and Justin from Battle Damage.

Justin and Erik ask fans for their picks on upcoming items to smash.

The 1995 sci-fi flick “12 Monkeys” is about to become a TV show. This worries Angry Nerd—movies-turned-TV-shows don’t have the best track record. Sure, “Fargo” turned out fine, but let’s not forget the short-lived tragedy “Ferris Bueller”…

Comic-book legend Stan Lee sits down with Steve Aoki to talk about the future, science, the origins of Marvel, and why the world just might blow itself up one day.

SpongeBob Squarepants is about to upgrade from a television cartoon to a movie cartoon—alongside real, non-cartoon people. It’s a tough combo to pull off. For every “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” there’s a “Space Jam.” Or “Chipmunks.” Or “Smurfs.” Actually there’s more in the red column. Anyway, Angry Nerd is cautiously optimistic—for now.

Honestly, Angry Nerd probably won’t see Fifty Shades of Grey. But he gets it. He does. Because poorly-written “romance” novels are right in geek culture’s wheelhouse. “Fifty Shades” is just fan-fiction—erotic and “Twilight”-derived and not in space, but fanfic nonetheless. Nerd’s built fan fiction from the ground up, and fan-fiction is what’s behind today’s biggest blockbusters.

Go inside Erik’s workshop to find out how he created a drop-o-matic device for the iPhone Battle Royale challenge using a 3D printer and a whole lot of creativity.

Neill Blomkamp's new dystopian sci-fi thriller "Chappie" stars a fully digital A.I. robot as the title character, acted out by Sharlto Copley. Mike Seymour goes behind the scenes of the CG robots.

There’s a tech incubator popping up, but it’s not in Silicon Valley—it’s inside San Quentin State Prison. The Last Mile program teaches inmates entrepreneurship skills with the goal that each participant founds a socially conscious, tech-forward company. Award-winning filmmaker Ondi Timoner goes inside the innovative non-profit and follows inmates as they work to craft a business plan, pitch their ideas in front of venture capitalists, and then, transition back into society.

Varys and Tyrion On 'The War to Come'

Designer and JimmyJane Founder Ethan Imboden at The 2015 Adult Novelty Expo, Las Vegas

In the April issue of WIRED, senior writer Andy Greenberg explores how North Korean dissidents are trying to undermine Kim Jong-un—with bootleg copies of Titanic and old episodes of Friends. Also this month: Reimagining the iconic Tucker Torpedo, What’s Inside: Jell-O, inside China’s toxic gadget factories, resurrecting the LA river, the biggest crowdfunding campaign ever, and more. Music - "By The Roots" - YZ

Go behind the scenes to see how Justin and Erik used nine cameras to film 36 gadgets over two days for season two’s total destruction.

Learn how to use light and position your subjects for stunning smartphone images. Retouch your photos with VSCO Cam, one of the best free photo editing apps.

Ellie is the world’s first virtual therapist. Designed to read and analyze body language, vocal patterns, and facial expressions, we introduced her to a few comedians to see if she could handle their sarcasm, jokes, and self-deprecating humor.

Ekso Bionics, known for its powered therapeutic exoskeletons, is getting into the construction business with a new exoskeleton suit that makes hefting heavy tools a breeze. WIRED's Adam Rogers suits up for a test drive.

Jessi Hempel interviews Megan Smith, Chief Technology Officer of the United States, about the historic role women have played as coders, her personal history, and goal for her time in Washington.

Wired Senior Editor Peter Rubin and his wife Kelli love TV, movies, and games but don’t always see eye to eye. They both think Amy Schumer’s feminist comedy is bold and important but Peter wants to see her push the envelope even further.

Coral reefs are under threat, but measuring the loss has been difficult. To get a better and faster picture of coral health, researchers developed a new incredibly accurate 3D mapping system. Music - "I Still Really Love You" By Abjo (http://abjo.bandcamp.com/)

At the 2015 Wired Business conference, WIRED editor-at-large Jason Tanz interviews breakout fanfic author Anna Todd, who writes novels entirely on her smartphone then uploads them to Wattpad, a wildly popular digital publishing platform and writers community.

Instagram wants to make it easier for users to find what they want. Mike Krieger acknowledged that the discovery opportunities for finding new stuff on Instagram is still somewhat limited, but they're developing their search functionality (and explore tab) with Facebook to help users.

HATE’S A STRONG word, obviously, but the question still stands. On this week’s episode, WIRED senior editor Peter Rubin and his wife Kelli jump into it. Well, she jumps into it; with Wayward Pines‘ premiere last night, she was reminded all over again that she has a serious problem with Terrence Howard, and she’s inclined to pass on his projects.

Have some old speakers or an unconnected stereo? The Gramofon and the Griffin Twenty make streaming audio a breeze, even if your gear dates to the days of disco.

People are freaking out about powdered alcohol, but I wasn’t convinced they understood the science behind it. So I tested their concerns. Will it get you crazy drunk? Will people snort it? Watch & see! -Brent