Gaudy Butterfly in a Drab Chrysalis

William Taubman's new biography of Krushchev is compelling as a character study but not fully satisfying as a history

The Return of the Pig

The revival of blatant sexism in American culture has many progressive thinkers flummoxed

Holy Writ

Recent writers on Islam need to be more stringent in their criticism. Stephen Schwartz is an exception

A Tale of Two Colonies

Our correspondent travels to Yemen and Eritrea, and finds that the war on terrorism is forcing U.S. involvement with the one country's tribal turbulence and the other's obsessive fear of chaos

What Now?

Developments, encouraging and otherwise

Beyond Belief

Going once, going twice—sold to the man with the pointed tail

New & Noteworthy

What to read this month

The Veterans of Domestic Disorders Memorial

How to remember the not-quite-greatest-generation

Memory Spaces

John Adams's On the Transmigration of Souls finds redemption in September 11, and should bring contemporary classical music to a new audience

Overkill

"I was always interested in animals," says Thomas Venezia, recently the subject of an extensive criminal investigation stemming from his hunting practices. "I always wanted to be near them"

Paddy Solemn and the Desperate Chancer

The conflict between two eternal Irish types

Cult of the Master

The later Henry James was a master of technique. But how good a novelist was he?

Close Up: The Mind of George W. Bush

The decisions—about Iraq, about Korea, about fighting terrorism—that confrontthis U.S. President may turn out to be as momentous as any an American leader has faced in decades. What capacities does President Bush bring to his decision-making? What limitations hamper his judgment? The author, a journalist and a historian, speaks with people close to the President and probes his private life and public career. Bush is, he concludes, focused, quick to make decisions, persevering, a good judge of character, and yes, "smart enough" to be an effective President. The unknown quantity is imagination—the imagination to foresee consequences, the imagination to be a wartime President


Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

Video

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A Brief History of Romantic Comedies

From The Atlantic's Chris Orr

Video

Life in 'the New Arctic'

A moving portrait of a fading landscape

Video

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The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

Video

What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

Video

NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

Video

Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

Video

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Is He Cheating? A 1950s Guide

'That little blonde secretary from the office?’

Video

New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

Video

The DIY Piano-Bicycle

Everybody needs a hobby

Video

What Does It Take to Make Real Craft Gin?

Tour the Green Hat Gin distillery

Video

What Straights Can Learn From Same-Sex Couples

New insight from decades of research

Video

The End of the Mall Rat

A tribute to that pillar of teen culture

Video

The Wonderful World of Capitalism

An adorable 1950s cartoon

Video

New Yorkers: Miss New York USA

An unconventional beauty queen.

Writers

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