December 2008

Henry Blodget explains why Wall Street always blows it; Caitlin Flanagan on the appeal of Twilight for adolescent girls; James Fallows interviews America's Chinese banker; P.J. O'Rourke on Disney's house of the future; David Samuels profiles an ultimate fighting champion; James Parker on the strange genius of actor Jim Carrey; and much more.

The Atlantic - December 2008

Also in this issue

American Precedent

Letters to the editor

What's Your Problem?

Tropical print is dead, and other advice

Other articles in this issue

Quick Study

Elitist endowments; borrowing blind

Word Fugitives

Articles of agreement; dishwasher dictators

Features

Why Wall Street Always Blows It

And why we never learn from the last bubble
Flashbacks: Atlantic articles from the 1930s reveal how Americans reinvented banking, restructured the economy, and dealt with challenges unsettlingly parallel to those of today.

“Be Nice to the Countries That Lend You Money”

An interview with America's Chinese banker

Iceland’s Meltdown

Map: A visual guide to economic calamity

Getting Away With Murder?

Why Rafiq al-Hariri's assassins may never be caught [Web only: Slideshow: "Fear and Loathing in Beirut"]

Future Schlock

Disney's new, furiously unimaginative House of the Future

Rampage

In the ring with Quinton Jackson: a profile of an ultimate fighter

Dispatches

Spooked

The spies who loved me

Caveat Donor

A street brawl in India brings down a global kidney-transplant ring.

A Cock Crows in Portland

The heartbreak of urban chicken husbandry

Exile

After 17 years in the NHL, Czech hockey star Jaromir Jagr hits the ice—and the jackpot—in Siberia.

Cheese Balls

Mozzarella’s American renaissance

The Ottoman Mystique

In Turkey, there are dancers, and there are dancers. [Web only: Slideshow: "Turkish Surprise"]

Rook Dreams

New chess software makes it easier for younger players to reach the top of their game—and harder to stay there

Books

Geography Is Destiny

An epochal new book argues that the events of history we think consequential and monumental are, mostly, trivia
Books: In time for the holidays—a comprehensive selection of books highlighted in The Atlantic in 2008

Books of the Year

The best of 2008

What Girls Want

A series of vampire novels illuminates the complexities of female adolescent desire. [Web only: Video: "Twilight—a Review"]

Suburbs of Our Discontent

Misery and banality in a 1950s Connecticut development—rendered with anatomical precision on the page, and now coming to the screen

Cover to Cover

A guide to additional releases

Columns

Pop Psychology

Why asset bubbles are a part of the human condition that regulation can’t cure

The Existential Clown

Why Jim Carrey makes us uncomfortable. [Web only: Video: "The Fears of a Clown"]


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

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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