Can the Middle Class Be Saved?
The Great Recession has imperiled America's values as well as its economy. Here's how we can rebuild our hollowed-out middle class.
September 2011
In This Issue
Don Peck on the sinking middle class, James Fallows on the crackdown in China, P.J. O'Rourke on Gaudi, new fiction by Amy Waldman, and more
Features
Arab Spring, Chinese Winter
Just after Tunisia and Egypt erupted, China quelled its own "Jasmine" protests. Is the Chinese public less satisfied—and more combustible—than it appears?
The Secret History of Guns
The Ku Klux Klan worked to control guns. The Black Panthers pioneered the pro-gun movement. In the battle over gun rights, both sides have distorted history.
Fiction: The Submission
A Muslim in control of the 9/11 memorial was the worst thing that could happen—and exactly the rudder Sean needed.
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Larry Towell/Magnum Photos About That Day
A diary of 9/11
Qi Yungfeng/ImagineChina/Zumapress Chollywood
Behind the scenes of China's booming film industry
Nishant Choksi Home Remedy
A small town solves its physician shortage
Nishant Choksi Bug Nuggets
Is the world ready for soy-glazed mealworms?
Sebastiano Tomada Piccolomini Enlisting Allah
To thwart the Taliban, marines in Helmand province are teaching the locals to read the Koran
The High-Tech Highball
At the Aviary, in Chicago, bartenders experiment with cocktails that evolve as you sip them
God’s Engineer
As celebrity architects create increasingly fantastical cityscapes, it's worth remembering why Gaudí remains unmatched
Mitch Blunt Replacement Therapy
Why our gadgets can't wear out fast enough
Columns
Stephen Voss Devil’s Advocate
Why the White House—and Washington—should miss departing economic adviser Austan Goolsbee
Odessy Barbu/Contour by Getty Images Valley of the Trolls
It's the rare star who can withstand the predatory cameras of TMZ on TV
Books
James L. Amos/National Geographic Stock A Bitter Trip West
A new history vividly describes the agony and uncertainty of the overland journey by America's pioneers
Abbas /Magnum Photos Man Without a Country
V. S. Naipaul and the artistic rewards of statelessness
Durand-Orband/Sygma/Corbis Cover to Cover
How A&P created the supermarket; what if Princess Di had faked her death?; and more
Editor's Note
Thomas Hoepker/Magnum Photos
Letters
Letters to the editor
Responses and reverberations
Gallery
Poetry
Advice
Seth What's Your Problem?
Signs that your husband is turning gay, and other advice
