selected essays

A Manifesto at 50

by Daniel Akst
The Port Huron Statement launched America’s New Left in 1962. Today it seems naive and in some ways misguided—yet it raised questions that still agitate Americans today.

A Small World After All?

by Ethan Zuckerman
The Internet has changed many things, but not the insular habits of mind that keep the world from becoming truly connected.

Electronic Intimacy

by Christine Rosen
Friendships that were once maintained with the rudimentary technology of pen and paper are now reinforced 24/7 with the stroke of a few keys. A longtime letter writer reflects on what has been gained... and lost.

Japan Shrinks

by Nicholas Eberstadt
Many nations have aging populations, but none can quite match Japan. Its experience holds lessons for other countries as well as insights into the distinctiveness of Japanese society.

Left, Right, and Science

by Christopher Clausen
Liberals and conservatives alike wrap groupthink in the cloak of science whenever convenient. The results are seldom good.

The Call of the Future

by Tom Vanderbilt
Today we worry about the social effects of the Internet. A century ago, it was the telephone that threatened to reinvent society.

The Torture of Solitary

by Stephanie Elizondo Griest
Solitary confinement, once regarded as a humane method of rehabilitation, unravels the mind. Yet today, more than 25,000 U.S. prisoners languish in isolated cells.

in essence

Africa: Storms Ahead

THE SOURCE: “Climate Change, Rainfall, and Social Conflict in Africa” by Cullen S. Hendrix and Idean Salehyan, in Journal of Peace Research, Jan. 2012.

Big Medicine

THE SOURCE: “The New Goliaths” by Margot Sanger-Katz, in National Journal, Feb. 18, 2012.

Blowin' in the Wind

THE SOURCE: “The Future of History” by Francis Fukuyama, in Foreign Affairs, Jan.–Feb. 2012.

Disaggregating the Bible

THE SOURCE: “Christianity and the Future of the Book” by Alan Jacobs, in The New Atlantis, Fall 2011.

Don't Blame Bonuses

THE SOURCE: “Bankers’ Bonuses and the Financial Crisis” by Ian Tonks, in Vox EU, Jan. 8, 2012.

From Confucius to Chopin

THE SOURCE: “Why Chinese People Play Western Classical Music: Transcultural Roots of Music Philosophy” by Hao Huang, in International Journal of Music Education, Oct. 11, 2011 (online).

From Think Tank to Do Tank

THE SOURCE: "Devaluing the Think Tank” by Tevi Troy, in National Affairs, Winter 2012.

Hashtag Heroics

THE SOURCE: “Social and News Media Enable Estimation of Epidemiological Patterns Early in the 2010 Haitian Cholera Outbreak” by Rumi Chunara, Jason R. Andrews, and John S. Brownstein, in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Jan. 2012.

India's Unique Path

THE SOURCE: “Economic Liberalization and Indian Economic Growth: What’s the Evidence?” by Ashok Kotwal, Bharat Ramaswami, and Wilima Wadhwa, in Journal of Economic Literature, Dec. 2011.

Middle School Munching

THE SOURCE: “Competitive Food Sales in Schools and Childhood Obesity: A Longitudinal Study” by Jennifer Van Hook and Claire E. Altman, in Sociology of Education, Jan. 2012.

Move Over, Einstein

THE SOURCE: “The Accidental Universe: Science’s Crisis of Faith” by Alan Lightman, in Harper’s, Dec. 2011.

No Help for Displaced Workers

THE SOURCE: “Does Trade Adjustment Assistance Make a Difference?” by Kara M. Reynolds and John S. Palatucci, in Contemporary Economic Policy, Jan. 2012.

Packing Prisoners

THE SOURCE: “The Strategic Use of Prisons in Partisan Gerrymandering” by Jason P. Kelly, in Legislative Studies Quarterly, Feb. 2012.

Ringing up Better Pay

THE SOURCE: “Why ‘Good Jobs’ Are Good for Retailers” by Zeynep Ton, in Harvard Business Review, Jan.–Feb. 2012.

School's Out Forever

THE SOURCE: “Unschooling” by Astra Taylor, in n+1, Winter 2012.

Still Standing

THE SOURCE: “Not Fade Away” by Robert Kagan, in The New Republic, Feb. 2, 2012.

Tehran’s Iraq Headache

THE SOURCE: “Iran’s Declining Influence in Iraq” by Babak Rahimi, in The Washington Quarterly, Winter 2012.

The Birth of English 101

THE SOURCE: “Browning in Hackney” by Alexandra Lawrie, in Times Literary Supplement, Jan. 20, 2012.

The First Jews for Jesus

THE SOURCE: “Jews, Christians, and Judaeo-Christians” by Geza Vermes, in Standpoint, Dec. 2011.

The Limits of Knowledge

THE SOURCE: “Trials and Errors” by Jonah Lehrer, in Wired, Jan.–Feb. 2012.

The Meritocracy Machine Hiccups

THE SOURCE: “Is a College Degree Still the Great Equalizer? Intergenerational Mobility Across Levels of Schooling in the United States” by Florencia Torche, in American Journal of Sociology, Nov. 2011.

Tortured Muser

THE SOURCE: “I Thought You Were a Poet” by Joshua Mehigan, in Poetry, July–Aug. 2011.

Unanchoring the Navy

THE SOURCE: “Sea Change” by Ronald Spector, in The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Winter 2012.

Wonder Bread

THE SOURCE: “Atomic Bread Baking at Home” by Aaron Bobrow-Strain, in The Believer, Feb. 2012.

book reviews

A Genius for Languages

by Nathalie Lagerfeld
BABEL NO MORE:
The Search for the World’s Most Extraordinary Language Learners.
By Michael Erard.
Free Press. 306 pp. $25.99

A Wealth of Insight

by Megan Buskey
WHEN I WAS A CHILD I READ BOOKS.
By Marilynne Robinson.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux. 206 pp. $24

An Economy of Regard

by Marie-Therese Connolly
SOMEDAY ALL THIS WILL BE YOURS:
A History of Inheritance and Old Age.
By Hendrik Hartog.
Harvard Univ. Press. 353 pp. $29.95

Human Circuit Board

by Eric Hand
CONNECTOME:
How the Brain’s Wiring Makes Us Who We Are.
By Sebastian Seung.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 359 pp. $27

India’s Underbelly

by Bharati Mukherjee
BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS:
Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity.
By Katherine Boo.
Random House. 256 pp. $27

Leader of the Pack

by Laura Claridge
JULIETTE GORDON LOW:
The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts.
By Stacy A. Cordery. Viking. 382 pp. $28.95

Mexico's Gruesome Icon

by Wendy Call
DEVOTED TO DEATH:
Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint.
By R. Andrew Chesnut.
Oxford Univ. Press. 221 pp. $24.95

Noble Savages

by Jag Bhalla
MORAL ORIGINS:
The Evolution of Virtue, Altruism, and Shame.
By Christopher Boehm.
Basic Books. 418 pp. $28.99

One Nation Under God

by Charles Hill
SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, SHIELD OF FAITH:
Religion in American War and Diplomacy.
By Andrew Preston.
Knopf. 815 pp. $37.50

Rollin’ Through the Years

by Phil Patton
ENGINES OF CHANGE:
A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars.
By Paul Ingrassia.
Simon & Schuster. 416 pp. $30

Sweet Possessives

by Colin Fleming
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND:
Woody Guthrie and the Journey of an American Folk Song.
By Robert Santelli.
Running Press. 256 pp. $24

The Urban Future

by Joel Garreau
THE GREAT INVERSION AND THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN CITY.
By Alan Ehrenhalt.
Knopf. 276 pp. $26.95

United States of Givers

by Suzanne Garment, Leslie Lenkowsky
PHILANTHROPY IN AMERICA:
A History.
By Olivier Zunz.
Princeton Univ. Press. 381 pp. $29.95