Nicholas Carr on what the internet is doing to our brains; Hanna Rosin on why crime is making a mysterious comeback; Jonathan Rauch on the race for the electric car; Sandra Tsing Loh on feminism's dirty little secret; the 11.5 biggest ideas of the year; Christopher Hitchens on Salman Rushdie; Wayne Curtis visits a bizarre Frank Lloyd Wright building in Oklahoma; and much more.
We chose to build this, The Atlantic's first Ideas Issue, not around speculative experimentation, academic abstraction, or gee-whiz gizmos, but around real-world attempts to rethink big questions. [Web only: Submit your own suggestions for the idea (or ideas) that have been most important this year. Some submissions may be included in part or in full in a future issue of the magazine.]
Why is crime rising in so many American cities? The answer implicates one of the most celebrated antipoverty programs of recent decades.
What the Internet is doing to our brains
How Donald Rumsfeld remade the U.S. military for a more uncertain world [Web only: Video: "Donald Rumsfeld—The Change Agent"]
A thumbnail intellectual history of the year. [Web only: Video: "Where Ideas Come From": Interviews with David Lynch and Donovan ]
With the Chevy Volt, General Motors—battered, struggling for profitability, fed up with being eclipsed by Toyota and the Prius—is out to reinvent the automobile, and itself.
Intrigued (and alarmed) by the new science of “neuromarketing,” our correspondent peers into his own brain via an MRI machine and learns what he really thinks about Jimmy Carter, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Bruce Springsteen, and Edie Falco.
Why stop signs and speed limits endanger Americans
Rupert Murdoch wants his Wall Street Journal to displace The New York Times as the world’s paper of record. His ambitions could be good news for the newspaper industry— or another nail in the coffin of serious journalism. [Web only: Video: "Rupert Murdoch: The Last Hope for Journalism"]
Financial bubbles are like epidemics— and we should treat them both the same way.
Why Vladimir Putin’s successful effort to handpick his replacement may backfire
Editor’s Choice: Oscar Niemeyer’s work continues to enchant and appall students of architecture and urban planning.
The fruits of the feminist revolution? Sisterhood, empowerment, and eight hours a day in a cubicle
Salman Rushdie’s ebullient historical novel manifests both his dexterous erudition and his bawdy wit.
The characters of Meg Wolitzer's latest novel are so insightful and articulate that it's a pleasure to listen to them think.
A guide to additional releases
A rare Frank Lloyd Wright tower—one of his most bizarre buildings ever—rises high above the Oklahoma plains. [Web only: Slideshow: "The Price is Wright"]
A new theory of the leisure class
Doin' It in the Park: No Gatorade (Excerpt)
The Visual Clichés of Instagram
Synthetic Biology
David H. Freedman on smartphone apps and the perfected self, Mark Bowden on being in the dumb kids' class, James Parker on Glenn Beck, Isaac Chotiner on P. G. Wodehouse, and more
Browse back issues of The Atlantic that have appeared on the Web. From September 1995 to the present, the archive is essentially complete, with the exception of a few articles, the online rights to which are held exclusively by the authors.
See All Back Issues: September 1995
Marvin Kalb Proud to Defend Arnaud De Borchgrave
What the Web Knows About the Canadian Foot-Mailing Suspect
The 11 Days Zuckerberg Spent as One of the 40 Richest Humans
What Critics Get Wrong About Creative Cities
Great Moments in the History of Boondoggles
The Pseudo-Suburbanist's Dilemma
