In This Issue
September-October 2009
Post-Pundit AmericaMorality, trust, community, and the end of attack politics
Liberals Aren’t Un-American. Conservatives Aren’t Ignorant.The demonization that mars our politics is a failure of moral imaginationby Tom Jacobs, from Miller-McCune
Not Everyone Is Out to Get You
Before reimagining our politics, we have to learn to trust one another–at least a little bitby Pamela Paxton and Jeremy Adam Smith, from Greater Good
Daring to Accept Our DifferencesMichael Ostrolenk, president of the Transpartisan Center, urges us to turn conflict into intellectual fuelinterview by David Schimke
An Officer and an OracleAn ex-cop seeks solace, hits bottom, and comes out firing in canyon countrytext and photos by Craig Childs, from Orion
Camping for Their LivesCall them squatter villages, tent cities, or informal urbanism–more people are calling them homeby Scott Bransford, from High Country News
Are You Happy Now?No pop psychologist, Barbara Fredrickson seriously considers how to cultivate positive emotionsinterview by Angela Winter, from the Sun
EMERGING IDEAS
All the Right MovesConservatives get tech-savvy–and hip
by Ben Adler, from Columbia Journalism Review
Digital Dissent Without a TraceHow to evade Internet censors and spies
by David Talbot, from Technology Review
Education in HidingMinsk‘s underground university
by Anna Nemtsova, from Chronicle of Higher Education
Not Your Boss’s PowerPointThese 400-second slide shows are all about creativity
by Lia Grainger, from This Magazine
GLEANINGS
The Body SnatchersBangkok‘s Buddhist rescue workers battle for karma
by Brent Lewin, from Maisonneuve
Obscene AstronomyIn praise of street-smart stargazing and four-letter revelations
byDoug Reilly, from Geneva13
Blessed Barbecue, Mutton Be Thy NameWhen the chef sweats, the salty smoke is all the sweeter
by Edward Lee, from Theme
The Body DividedOne woman’s life with cerebral palsy
by Ona Gritz, from the Bellingham Review
Chop Chop SquareWhere capital punishment is a public spectacle
by Adam St. Patrick, from the Walrus
MINDFUL LIVING
The Raw and the CookedSushi with a conscience
by John Birdsall, from Edible San Francisco
Want to Heal? Tell Your Story.The power of narrative medicine
interview by Lorrie Klosterman, from Chronogram
Enough with the Cool TotesWhy that cute canvas bag won’t save the planet
by Dmitri Siegel, from Creative Review
MIXED MEDIA
An American Song CatcherFor field recorder Art Rosenbaum, a front stoop is the ideal studio space
by Keith Goetzman
Minstrels for the MobItaly‘s Neapolitan neomelodic singers break hearts, not balls
by Tim Small, from Vice
Plus: Music, film, and book reviews
MISC
Editor’s NoteGeneration Misunderstood
by David Schimke
Shelf LifeThe Bitch Is Back
by Danielle Maestretti
Forward25 Years and Dreaming
by Eric Utne
Dispatches from:
The New Republic, Technology Review, The Ecologist, Alternatives Journal, Boston Review, Christian Science Monitor, Contexts, Make, Conservation, Good, Terrain, Governing, Extra!, Washington Monthly, Audubon, Psychotherapy Networker, Creative Review, Quill & Quire