May 2010

After years of dieting, the author finally resorted to bariatric surgery. It worked—but he realized that it’s too expensive to stem our obesity epidemic. So what to do? Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity plan, he argues, is a major first step. Developed largely in secret, and with startling comprehensiveness, it has thrilled advocates— and made the food industry anxious to cooperate.

As the anthrax investigation intensified, the FBI focused increasingly on one suspect: Steven Hatfill. It began a campaign of harassment, intimidation, and 24-hour surveillance. Hatfill lost his job and his friends, fell into a spiral of depression, and found himself utterly isolated. But he was innocent—and here, for the first time, he speaks out.

From oil in Algeria to zinc in Gabon to copper in the Congo, China is muscling in on natural resources all across Africa on a massive scale. Will it succeed in easing poverty where Western aid has failed? Or will it become the continent’s latest colonial overlord?

The financial crisis may have eased, but banks are still failing at an alarming rate. Here’s an inside look at what happens when they go under.

Haiti’s famed Barbancourt rum factory has survived by taking self-sufficiency to an extreme.

A large chunk of Kansas City’s real estate lies 100 feet below ground, and offers a creative solution to global warming.

How an Afghan pilot became a cosmonaut—and a fugitive

Runoff from old mines poisons Colorado’s rivers. Why are enviro groups trying to stop locals from cleaning them up?

Can the heroes of The 99 save Islam from misunderstanding?

On the remote west coast of Ireland, Doolin—the epicenter of traditional Irish music—sings the economic blues away.

Inexpensive, handheld Raman scanners will soon enable anyone to identify just about anything.

A new book argues that play may be the primary means nature has found to develop our brains.

The books that shaped HBO’s The Pacific give the lie to the notion of generational exceptionalism.

Why Charles Dickens was among the best of writers and the worst of men

The latest from Deborah Eisenberg and Rachel Cusk

How a generation of file-sharers is ruining the future of entertainment

Holden Caulfield lives on as Greg Heffley, narrator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the anti–Harry Potter.

Journalists think they do. They’re wrong.