Issue of September 1, 2008

Mean Streets: Test Drive
A picnic area in the middle of Broadway.
by Ben McGrath

Fun and Games
A second report from the Olympics.
by Anthony Lane

Audio: Nancy Franklin discusses the Olympics.

Stop, Thief!
Shoplifter beware.
by John Colapinto

Show People
by Richard Avedon

Winged Victories
How Santiago Calatrava thinks of buildings.
by Rebecca Mead

Slide Show: A portfolio of projects by Calatrava.

Max Factor in Hollywood.
by John Updike

Slide Show: A portfolio of Max Factor advertisements.

Issue of August 25, 2008

The Only Games in Town
Politics, pageantry, and Phelps.
by Anthony Lane

The life and thought of Giordano Bruno.
by Joan Acocella

Watching the Olympics.
by Nancy Franklin

Gerald Beroldi; Matthew Brown; Daniel Ein; Amy Patrick

Issue of August 11 & 18, 2008

The Permission Problem
Too many stakeholders can be a deal-breaker.
by James Surowiecki

Q. Commons vs. Anti-commons. Two flawed strategies. What's the best thing to learn from each?

The Strawberry Girls
Celebrating a new queen and her court.
by Anne Hull

Slide Show: A portfolio of photographs of the Plant City Strawberry Festival Court, a Florida tradition since 1930, by Brian Finke.

Q. Is this unbiased reporting or a personal experience? Could this have been published in a different magazine or newspaper? Why did AH write it?

The Dinner Party
by Joshua Ferris

Q. Cast the movie. Who plays each character? Direct it. Liberal use of flashbacks? Finish the story... want to provide a real ending? (Damn, tricked again.)

Are interest groups the essence of politics?
by Nicholas Lemann

Q. Do you agree that "public interest" is a myth? If so, what kind of "change" can we "hope" for in November?

USA Today
by Nancy Franklin

Q. What's the real value of "gap cable" programming? Is it good for all programming?

“Vicky Cristina Barcelona;” “Elegy.”
by David Denby

Q. Just from Denby's reviews, are these comedies, dramas, both?

Issue of August 4, 2008

Home Ec Dept.: Soup to Nettles
How to be a good Russian housewife.
by Julia Ioffe

Q. What's the "guy" equivalent of this episode? Is the author of the book more or less absurd than the recipient trying to use it?

Fitness Dept.: Kranking It
A new workout from the inventor of Spinning.
by William Finnegan

Q. First, there's a bike with no locomotion. Now, you don't even sit on it. Next big stupid fad? Imaginary stationary bike?

Dear Diary Dept.: The Cross-Eyed Queen
Queen Claude’s prayer book, at the Morgan Library.
by Rebecca Mead

Q. What's the surprise in this article? Is RM dishing medieval snark?

Play Nice
by Simon Rich

Q. Funny? Why? What kind of humor is it?



A Soldier’s Legacy
What a major killed in Iraq couldn’t tell.
by Ben McGrath

Q. Are there truths found in Rogers' story? What surprised you? What should happen with the insurance money? With his possessions?

Brenda Wineapple on Emily Dickinson.
by Judith Thurman

Q. What's new in Wineapple's biography?

“In Search of a Midnight Kiss.”
by Anthony Lane

Q. Does AL like this movie? What's his zinger this time? Would you see it?