January/February 2007

Carl M. Cannon, "Untruth and Consequences"; Bing West, "Streetwise"; Amy Waldman, "Reading, Writing, Resurrection"; Jeffrey Rosen on Chief Justice John Roberts; Joshua Green on Unity08; Virginia Postrel on airline glamor, Jon Zobenica on Girlie Mags; P.J. O'Rourke follows the tractors; Michael Hirschorn has a music-geek epiphany; Robert Kaplan on the lessons of Herodotus; and much more.

State of the Union

Reading, Writing, Resurrection

Katrina destroyed a failing school system and made New Orleans a laboratory for education. Can reformers transcend the damage of the flood—and of history?

Roberts's Rules

Chief Justice John Roberts says that if the Supreme Court is to maintain legitimacy, its justices must start acting more like colleagues and less like prima donnas.

Surprise Party

Dismayed by the system they helped to create, some veteran political strategists are out to create a better choice in 2008.

The God of Small Things

Decoding genomes wasn't enough. Now Craig Venter wants to end our oil addiction.

Mapping Innovation

To find the next great ideas, follow the tractors, tourists, and drinkers.

Features

Untruth and Consequences

From Washington to FDR to Nixon, presidents have always lied. Here’s what makes George W. Bush different.
Interviews: Carl M. Cannon, the author of "Untruth and Consequences," talks about the lies our presidents tell us—and the ones they tell themselves.

Streetwise

Whether we ultimately stay or go, we need to fix Iraq's policing problems. An expert explains how.

A Historian For Our Time

Thucydides may have been more trustworthy, but Herodotus would have been more fun to share a wineskin with—and is a far better guide to the present.

Science

Vintage Atlantic writings on science by Asa Gray, Werner Heisenberg, James Watson, and others.

Agenda

A War to Start All Wars

The Middle East looks like Europe circa World War I.

The Rancor Dividend

The new Democratic Congress just might help the White House mend the country’s broken fiscal policy.

Closing the God Gap

How a pair of Democratic strategists are helping candidates talk about their faith

Will Moderation Win in 2008?

The Atlantic recently asked a group of political insiders—selected for their campaign experience, political knowledge, and ties to key voting blocs—about the strength of the religious right and the antiwar left.

Books

Are We Not Men?

Down the ladder from Playboy to Maxim

Imperial Follies

In 1956, the British stumbled in Suez, and the Soviets crushed the Hungarian uprising—revealing the fatal flaws of modern empire.

Cover to Cover

A guide to additional releases

Map Quest

A journey through Alsace-Lorraine to the town that gave America its name

Northern Comfort

The best way to make rice pudding is always your grandmother’s.

Up, Up, and Away

Today, air travel is just another form of mass transit. Is there any going back to the glamorous days of yore?

Tag Teams

Social-search programs like Flickr and del.icio.us guide your Web browsing toward places you probably want to go.

The Digital-Music Mosh Pit

A new wave of Web innovation is finally challenging Steve Jobs’s empire of cool.


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

Up
Down
More back issues, Sept 1995 to present.

In Focus

Finland in World War II