November 2012

Our annual Brave Thinkers list, an interview with Mike Bloomberg, the strangest potential threat to the president, the Army's culture of mediocrity, Benjamin Schwarz on the end of jazz, and more

Features

Brave Thinkers 2012

Our annual guide to the people risking everything in pursuit of big ideas

The Bloomberg Way

The mayor of New York on his soda ban, why he doesn't worry about approval ratings, governing in the age of Twitter, and the dumbed-down media
Gallery: A look back at some of Bloomberg's most audacious mayoral moments

A Brief History of Brave Thinking

Radical ideas from our archives, featuring Ralph Waldo Emerson, Virginia Woolf, and more

Hacking the President's DNA

Exponential advances in synthetic biology pose a serious new national-security threat. Here's a radical proposal for how to combat it.

General Failure

How a culture of mediocrity has taken hold within the Army's leadership ranks—and why America's military future depends on uprooting it.

Clean

The irony of getting away with something was that you were your own executioner. In a pang of remorse, you could open your mouth and change your life.

Dispatches

My Conversion Will Not Be Televised

How I ended up on TV debating Salafism with an Egyptian cleric
Video: Highlights from the author’s appearance on Egyptian TV

The Deer Paradox

It’s never been easier to shoot a buck. So why are hunters spending billions on high-tech gear?

Steal My Book!

Why I’m abetting a rogue translation of my novel

The Court Crasher

Tom Goldstein changed how lawyers get to the Supreme Court—and how news gets out of it.
Video: Tom Goldstein talks with Garrett Epps about the history of SCOTUS blog and the future of the Supreme Court.

Sprucing Up Your Cocktail

A lost flavor of the northern woods, rediscovered

Being There

Put down your smartphone—the art of travel demands the end of multitasking.

Columns

Prisoners of Cable

Why we can’t break free from our TV overlords

The Amis Obsession

How Martin Amis expanded the possibilities of English prose—including my own
Video: A 2010 conversation between Martin Amis and his close friend Christopher Hitchens

Busy and Busier

Productivity expert David Allen talks with James Fallows about the future of getting things done.

Books

The End of Jazz

How America’s most vibrant music became a relic
Video: Benjamin Schwarz shares some of the greatest recordings in jazz history.

Slaughterhouse Rules

A professor spends a season in hell.

Cover to Cover

The deeply misanthropic paintings of Caspar David Freidrich; Flannery O'Connor as protagonist


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

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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

Video

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?’

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New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

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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

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The End of the Mall Rat

A tribute to that pillar of teen culture

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The Wonderful World of Capitalism

An adorable 1950s cartoon

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New Yorkers: Miss New York USA

An unconventional beauty queen.

Writers

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More back issues, Sept 1995 to present.

In Focus

Protests Spread Across Brazil