(FORTUNE Magazine) – Ideas matter. At FORTUNE we love to entertain and tell great stories, but above all we're in the insight business--more so than ever, given a world roiled by war and recession. You'll find plenty to think about in our cover stories on "The New Future." It grew out of a remarkable event we hosted in Aspen, Colo., last August called Brainstorm 2001. With no goal beyond insight gathering (no fundraising, no PR splash), we invited 136 of the smartest people we know--executives, thinkers, scientists, policymakers--to spend two days debating the big issues with us. Senior editor David Kirkpatrick (left) organized this complex event and served as toastmaster, but it was a labor of love. David is an inveterate idea hunter and ardent schmoozer. Deputy managing editor Rick Tetzeli transmuted that dialogue into words and pictures, twice--for a package he had largely wrapped up on Sept. 11 (which, of course, had to be cast aside) and again in the much revised version you see here. For far more of our Aspen discussion than we could publish, go to the Web at fortune.com/newfuture. Both in print and online we have tried to lay out themes rather than draw conclusions. We've opened our pages to voices rarely heard in FORTUNE; we're also missing voices I'd like to have heard. (Example: Plenty of fine minds from the Clinton years joined us, but schedules kept the Bush brain trust from showing up.) You may feel enlightened; you may feel provoked. Either way, count on us to keep exploring all sides of these big ideas--globalization, technological and societal change, and how companies can best cope with them--in the months ahead.

Great photography has been one of this magazine's passions since the days of Margaret Bourke-White and Walker Evans. The current issue sparkles from start to finish with the work of some of today's finest shooters. Consider Michael O'Neill's elegant cover portraits or Nina Berman's kinetic images of hard-rocking execs at play in At Last. In between, don't miss the photo essay "On the Line in Afghanistan" by war photographer extraordinaire Ron Haviv (the behatted fellow disappearing out of the frame to the right). Ron, who has fearlessly covered conflicts on four continents, has been on point with Northern Alliance troops outside Kabul. He vividly captures the strange beauty and humanity of the "hurry up and wait" battle that's been waged, so far, north of the Afghan capital. Action there is likely to pick up now that intense fighting has led to what appeared to be, as of press time, the first significant victory in this war--the fall of Mazar-e Sharif.

Can I get a witness? Yes, that's yours truly making like a righteous soul-shouter on the left. My mug appears here not out of egotism (ego? moi?) but because, it turns out, I am not alone. Lots of business folk not only listen to rock & roll, they play it. For proof, check out my report on FORTUNE's Battle of the Corporate Bands in At Last. Working with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, we brought ten bands from across the country to Cleveland to have a contest and raise money for the museum's education fund. (My group, The Prowlers, did the after-party gig.) We edit this magazine for people who are serious but have a sense of humor, who work hard and play hard too. They showed up big-time in Cleveland. Let's rock, people!