Steve Reich is one of the most acclaimed composers working today.  He was a pioneer in using recorded voices as part of his compositions. Even though Reich is no stranger to difficult subject matter (Different Trains, from 1988, is a meditation on the Holocaust), it took him nearly a decade ...

On the morning of September 11, I was in midtown Manhattan, so I walked south – downtown.  There I encountered the wave of refugees walking north, people still wearing white breathing masks, people in suits covered head to toe in dust and soot. And finally, after an eight mile hike, I arrived home to my wife and kids Brooklyn, where our little backyard ...

In the days after 9/11, late night talk show hosts like David Letterman and Jon Stewart limped back on screen. A week later, Stewart mused, “They said to get back to work, and there were no jobs available for a man in the fetal position under his desk crying, which I gladly would have taken.” ...

Maira Kalman has written and illustrated more than a dozen books, for children and adults. In the months following 9/11, when a friend suggested she write a book about the attacks, she said, “Absolutely not. I'm in the world of humor. This is a very sad story and it's very intense ...

Slideshow: Scenes from Maira Kalman’s Fireboat

Right after 9/11, Davey D, a longtime hip-hop journalist and radio host, remembers rappers throwing benefit concerts for firefighters and cops. “I remember Cannabis joining the army, and Eminem penned some words about Bin Laden, wanting to get him.” But hip-hop ...

Video: Immortal Technique's "Bin Laden"

Mohsin Hamid was born in Pakistan but has spent about half his life in the US. In July 2001, he finished the first draft of his novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the story of a young global citizen named Changez. He’s a Princeton grad from Pakistan with a blue-chip job on Wall Street ...

Ten years ago, Lower Manhattan was the epicenter of the most shocking, upsetting day in many Americans' lifetimes. But today Ground Zero is bustling with construction workers, cranes, and other building equipment. The site is still a work in progress, except for the new national memorial ...

Video: Kurt Andersen Visits the 9/11 Memorial with Designer Michael Arad

Early in 2001, the writer and performer Sarah Jones started working on a one-woman Broadway show called Bridge and Tunnel.  The play, which won a Tony Award, featured Jones playing a diverse cast of characters living in New York – including a middle-aged Pakistani man named Mohammed ...

During the clean up of Ground Zero, 700 million pounds of steel were removed. Some pieces were shipped, like relics, to be used in memorials all over the country. One piece — measuring about 17 inches wide, 43 inches tall, and an inch thick — ended up in Tampa, Florida ...

Slideshow: A Memorial Under Construction