July/August 2009

Jeffrey Goldberg on how Iran could save the Middle East; Joshua Green on how Obama might fulfill Carter's dream of greening America; Gary Wills on William F. Buckley Jr..; Mark Bowden on a hostage crisis in Columbia; Sandra Tsing Loh on why you should get a divorce; and much more.

Features

15 Ways to Fix the World

Privatize the seas. Welcome guest workers. Scrap the vice presidency. Teach teens to drink. And more.
Slideshow: Michael Bierut analyzes the world’s best and worst banknote designs

How Iran Could Save the Middle East

An unlikely alliance with Israel might bring peace to the region

Re-Engineering the Earth

New techniques can change the climate quickly and cheaply. Why are scientists afraid to mention them?

The Elusive Green Economy

Barack Obama is preaching the gospel of clean energy. Can he succeed where Jimmy Carter failed?

Dr. Doom Has Some Good News

Nouriel Roubini is a famous--and famously prescient--economic pessimist. So why is he smiling?

Get Smarter

Humans have survived the centuries by evolving into quick-witted creatures. Now technology and pharmacology provide a new boost to intelligence

Daredevil

William F. Buckley was a man of impulse, big words, and reckless candor. But he wasn’t a snob

Dispatches

Flight Risk

When a U.S. company ignored pilot warnings in Colombia, four Americans died, and three were taken captive

Greening With Envy

How knowing your neighbor’s electric bill can help you to cut yours

Pitchers’ Duel

Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, and Hall of Fame standards in the steroid era

How Moldova Escaped the Crisis

Europe’s poorest country is a paragon of financial stability

Fixing Lunch

Tony Geraci is determined to get healthy food to the kids in Baltimore's public schools

Where Birds Rule the Earth

In Russia’s vast far east, most of the people are gone, but feathered inhabitants are abundant

The Rating Game

The spread of Internet rankings and reviews is freeing consumers to focus on the decisions that matter

Books

California Dreamers

The latest volume of Kevin Starr’s history chronicles the triumph—and points toward the tragedy—of the Golden State’s Good Life

Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off

The author is ending her marriage. Isn’t it time you did the same?
Slideshow: Sandra Tsing Loh reports on her divorce from inside her new 10 x 10 foot U-Haul storage trailer

Lincoln’s Emancipation

The cruelty and degeneracy the future president was subjected to in his youth forged his iron will

Cover to Cover

A slacker’s miscellany; the long-haul lobby; wuthering Wordsworths; Vishnu anew; and more

Columns

Sex and the Single Wizard

The peculiar challenge of adapting Harry Potter for the screen
Video: James Parker considers the incoherent enchantments of a scene from The Goblet of Fire

Home Economics

Even in a depression, it seems, Americans won’t stop feathering their nests.

The Newsweekly’s Last Stand

Why The Economist is thriving while Time and Newsweek fade
Video: Michael Hirschorn talks to Bob Cohn about why the current age spells doom for Time and Newsweek, but not for The Economist


Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

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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

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The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

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What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

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NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

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Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

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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

Writers

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Photos of Tornado Damage in Moore, Oklahoma