July/August 2006

Mary Anne Weaver, "Inventing Al-Zarqawi"; Douglas Preston, "The Monster of Florence"; Alissa Quart, "Extreme Parenting"; Nadya Labi, "Jihad 2.0"; Jonathan Rauch on containing Iran; Corby Kummer on organic online shopping; Virginia Postrel on massage; and much more.

The Atlantic - July/August 2006

Other articles in this issue

Zins Online

A few choice wines for summer, and where to find them

Features

Interviews: Douglas Preston discusses his investigation of the "Monster of Florence"—and the strange plot twist that made him a suspect in the case

The Short, Violent Life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

How a video-store clerk and small-time crook reinvented himself as America’s nemesis in Iraq

Jihad 2.0

With the loss of training camps in Afghanistan, terrorists have turned to the Internet to find and train recruits. The story of one pioneer of this effort—the enigmatic “Irhabi 007”—shows how
Interviews: Nadya Labi discusses the murky world of online jihad

Extreme Parenting

Does the Baby Genius Edutainment Complex enrich your child’s mind—or stifle it?

Idealism & Practicality

This is the sixth in a series of archival excerpts in honor of the magazine’s 150th anniversary. This installment is introduced by James Fallows, a national correspondent for The Atlantic

Agenda

Containing Iran

Cold War strategies might help us handle Tehran’s nuclear ambitions

Purple Mountains

Could the interior West—long seen as an archetypal red region—be turning blue? The fate of the Republican Party may hinge on the answer

Leaps of Faith

When pop stars get religion

Ford’s Theater

Can Harold Ford become the first black senator from the old Confederacy since Reconstruction?

A Confederacy Of Eunuchs

What a lousy time for the leaders of the world’s economic powerhouses to be gripped by political weakness

Of Clerks and Perks

Why Supreme Court justices have more free time than ever—and why it should be taken away

Primary Sources

Pakistan’s out-of-control army; the sorry (but egalitarian) state of American health care; the happiness census

Books

Chairs, Rag Mags, Indian Wars

Phaidon Design Classics; A Dash of Daring, by Penelope Rowlands; Yellowstone Command, by Jerome A. Greene

Cheap Thrills

A story of American women in financial jeopardy

New Fiction

Digging to America, by Anne Tyler

Summer Reading

What some notables are stacking on their beach blankets this year

The Persian Version

Under the caked muck of theocracy in today’s Iran, ancient and lovely literary springs still bubble

A Close Read

Stoner, by John Williams

Pursuits

Greetings from Airworld!

Six days in five airports—a survivor’s guide

Deliverance

The future of shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables

The Electric Mind Meld

Two new elegantly conceived programs help you unjam your digital life

The Next Starbucks?

How massage went from the strip club to the strip mall

Spin Doctors

Racket technology saved tennis, and Roger Federer is proof


Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

Video

Video

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

Video

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

Video

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

Letter From the Editor

The June 2013 issue

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

Writers

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