Volume 302 No. 2 | September 2008
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Features

Rhetorical Questions

Who will win the presidential debates? What does each candidate’s use of words say about how he would govern as president? Can Obama’s rhetorical skills lift him to the heights of Lincoln, FDR, and Reagan—or will his speechmaking do him in? After watching all 47 (!) of the primary season’s debates, our correspondent has the answers—and some harsh criticism for the moderators.

Reconcilable Differences

Obama and McCain both say they want to usher in a new, less divisive brand of politics. Which of them has the better chance? Is bipartisanship still possible?

The Front-Runner’s Fall

Hillary Clinton’s campaign was undone by a clash of personalities more toxic than anyone imagined. E-mails and memos—published here for the first time—reveal the backstabbing and conflicting strategies that produced an epic meltdown.

Web-only

The Hillary Clinton Memos

A complete index to the internal communications referenced in "The Front-Runner's Fall"

Gut Reactions

The termite’s stomach, of all things, has become the focus of large-scale scientific investigations. Could the same properties that make the termite such a costly pest help us solve global warming? [Web only: Video: "How to Hunt for Termites"]

Lifting the Bamboo Curtain

As China and India vie for power and influence, Burma has become a strategic battleground. Four Americans with deep ties to this fractured, resource-rich country illuminate its current troubles, and what the U.S. should do to shape its future.

Burma: A Special Supplement

A look back at a 70-page supplement on Burma—covering arts, culture, politics, and more—written mostly by Burmese and published by The Atlantic in 1958.

ILLUSTRATION

An Unconfirmed Report

POETRY

Cathedral

POETRY

Quai Aux Fleurs

The Agenda

COMMENT

My Big Fat Straight Wedding

What’s the difference between homosexuals and heterosexuals? In matters outside the bedroom, American culture and law are at last acknowledging that there is none.

The Calendar

Slightly Older Kids on the Block; marriage by decree; Harry Potter bares all

Primary Sources

Dread Pirate bin Laden; more than five for fighting; schizo in Gitmo

THE WORLD IN NUMBERS

The Great Disruption

How scarcity, affluence, and biofuel production are wreaking havoc on food prices

REPORT

Space Invaders

How preparations for tomorrow’s satellite wars could ruin life as we know it today


The Critics

A Bit of Punctuation

Editor’s Choice: A new book showcases the jewelry of Ted Mueh­ling, whose earnest, untrendy work reaches the height of stylishness.

Girl, Interrupted

How Patty Hearst’s kidnapping reflected and ravaged American culture in the 1970s

Master of Conventions

Norman Mailer’s political journal of the summer of ‘68

Cover to Cover

A guide to additional releases: How the Reds won Russia; food in the Depression; Nigeria's oil curse; and more

TRAVELS

Heart of Darwin

The places in and around London that shaped the naturalist as a young man

Web-only

Darwin's Revenge

Statues of two 19th-century rivals battle it out in London's Natural History Museum

FOOD

Dining with Dionysus

A cooking school in the Greek islands shows that simplicity plus necessity equals great cuisine. [Web only: Slideshow: "The Grecian Formula"]

Web-only

THE PUZZLER

Zip Code

Word Court

Wrong time to write right; expressing discretion