selected essays

College for All?

by Kevin Carey
The college-educated share of America’s population has barely increased in years. The key to reviving mass higher education may be to rethink the divide between high school and college.

In the Footsteps of Giants

by Michael McDonald
The acclaimed biographer Michael Scammell discusses the peculiar challenges and delights of his craft.

Is $600 Billion Enough?

by Peter W. Cookson Jr.
Today’s new austerity may have an upside if it prods schools to embrace new technologies that cut costs and improve learning.

Teach to the Test?

by Richard P. Phelps
Most of the problems with testing have one surprising source: cheating by school administrators and teachers.

The Paradox of PTSD

by Katherine N. Boone
Thousands of soldiers are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with deep psychological scars. Posttraumatic stress disorder is a common diagnosis—but is it the right one?

The World Trade Revolution

by Martin Walker
To see how the world will eventually right today’s massive trade imbalances, look to the Atlantic, not the Pacific.

Who Rules?

by Thomas Toch
The national drive for education reform has touched off many power struggles, but one has emerged as fundamental.

in essence

Afghanistan’s Fateful Border

THE SOURCE: “The Man Who Drew the Fatal Durand Line” by David Rose, in Standpoint, March 2011.

Against Biologism

THE SOURCE: “Neurotrash” by Raymond Tallis, in Prospect, June 2011.

Back to Basics for Economics

THE SOURCE: “Economics in Crisis” by J. Bradford DeLong, in The Economists’ Voice, May 2011.

Beethoven’s Secret

THE SOURCE: “Why Beethoven?” by Leon Botstein, in The Musical Quarterly, Fall–Winter 2010.

Calming the IED Storm

THE SOURCE: “The Secret History of Iraq’s Invisible War” by Noah Shachtman, at Wired.com , June 14, 2011.

Capitol Hill’s Heroines

THE SOURCE: “The Jackie (and Jill) Robinson Effect: Why Do Congresswomen Outperform Congressmen?” by Sarah F. Anzia and Christopher R. Berry, in American Journal of Political Science, July 2011.

Career, Interrupted

THE SOURCE: “Why the Gender Gap Won’t Go Away. Ever.” by Kay S. Hymowitz, in City Journal, Summer 2011.

Energy From Algae?

THE SOURCE: “The Scum Solution” by Neil Savage, in Nature, June 23, 2011.

Hoover’s Hidden Wordsmiths

THE SOURCE: “Friends of the Bureau: Personal Correspondence and the Cultivation of Journalist-Adjuncts by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI” by Matthew Cecil, in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly , Summer 2011.

How the Fire Starts

THE SOURCE: “All the News You Want to Hear: The Impact of Partisan News Exposure on Political Participation” by Susanna Dilliplane, in Public Opinion Quarterly , Summer 2011.

In Need of a Vodka Tonic

THE SOURCE: “Drinking Games: Can Russia Admit It Has a Problem?” by Heidi Brown, in World Policy Journal, Summer 2011.

India’s Sensual Past

THE SOURCE: “From Kama to Karma: The Resurgence of Puritanism in Contemporary India” by Wendy Doniger, in Social Research , Spring 2011.

Married to Google

THE SOURCE: “Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips” by Betsy Sparrow, Jenny Liu, and Daniel M. Wegner, in Sciencexpress , July 14, 2011.

Philosophy’s Inertia

THE SOURCE: “There Is No Progress in Philosophy” by Eric Dietrich, in Essays in Philosophy , July 2011.

Polluting Young Minds

THE SOURCE: “Air Pollution Around Schools Is Linked to Poorer Student Health and Academic Performance” by Paul Mohai, Byoung-Suk Kweon, Sangyun Lee, and Kerry Ard, in Health Affairs , May 2011.

Pop Fiction

THE SOURCE: “Readers of the Pack: American Best-Selling” by Ruth Franklin, in Bookforum, Summer 2011.

Rumble Over the South China Sea

THE SOURCES: “Countering Beijing in the South China Sea” by Dana Dillon, in Policy Review, June–July 2011; “The South China Sea Is the Future of Conflict” by Robert D. Kaplan, in Foreign Policy, Sept.–Oct. 2011; “Deep Danger: Competing Claims in the South China Sea” by Marvin C. Ott, in Current History, Sept. 2011.

Stigma Instead of Safety

THE SOURCE: “Sex Offender Registries: Fear Without Function?” by Amanda Y. Agan, in Journal of Law and Economics , Feb. 2011

The Budget’s Next Battlefront

THE SOURCE: “The New Commanding Heights” by Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz, in National Affairs, Summer 2011.

The Demise of Don Juan

THE SOURCE: “A Splendid Wickedness” by David Bentley Hart, in First Things, Aug.–Sept. 2011.

The Grim Dawn of the Republic

THE SOURCE: “America’s Revolution: Economic Disaster, Development, and Equality” by Peter H. Lindert and Jeffrey G. Williamson, in Vox EU (voxeu.org), July 15, 2011.

The Islamist Bogeyman

THE SOURCE: “Missing the Third Wave: Islam, Institutions, and Democracy in the Middle East” by Ellen Lust, in Studies in Comparative International Development , June 2011.

The Mighty Spud

THE SOURCE: “The Potato’s Contribution to Population and Urbanization: Evidence From a Historical Experiment” by Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian, in The Quarterly Journal of Economics , May 2011.

What 9/11 Did Not Change

THE SOURCE: “9/11 in Retrospect” by Melvyn P. Leffler, in Foreign Affairs, Sept.–Oct. 2011.

book reviews

A Singular Voice

by Michael O'Donnell
ARGUABLY:
Essays by Christopher Hitchens.
Twelve. 788 pp. $30

Animals Are Us

by Emily Anthes
THE WILD LIFE OF OUR BODIES:
Predators, Parasites, and Partners That Shape Who We Are Today
By Rob Dunn.
Harper.
290 pp. $26.99

China’s Great Leader

by J. Stapleton Roy
DENG XIAOPING AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF CHINA.
By Ezra F. Vogel.
Belknap/Harvard. 876 pp. $39.95

God’s Experts

by Kevin M. Schultz
THE ANOINTED:Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age.
By Randall J. Stephens and Karl W. Giberson.
Belknap/Harvard.
356 pp. $29.95

Heroic Reader

by Gerald J. Russello
WHY TRILLING MATTERS.
By Adam Kirsch.
Yale Univ. Press. 185 pp. $24

Land Trust

by Ginger Strand
BACK TO THE LAND:
The Enduring Dream of Self-Sufficiency in Modern America.
By Dona Brown.
Univ. of Wisconsin Press. 290 pp. $24.95

Peace on Earth

by Vaughan Bell
THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE: Why Violence Has Declined.
By Steven Pinker.
Viking. 802 pp. $40

Rushing to Judgment

by Daniel Akst
THINKING, FAST AND SLOW.
By Daniel Kahneman.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux. 499 pp. $30

The Lunacy to Lead

by Charles Barber
A FIRST-RATE MADNESS: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness.
By Nassir Ghaemi.
Penguin. 340 pp. $27.95

The Marriage Gap

by Emily Bernard
IS MARRIAGE FOR WHITE PEOPLE? How the African American Marriage Decline Affects Everyone.
By Ralph Richard Banks.
Dutton. 289 pp. $25.95

The Natural

by Aaron Mesh
LIFE ITSELF: A Memoir.
By Roger Ebert.
Grand Central. 435 pp. $27.99

Water Over the Bridge

by Edward Tenner
THE THOUSAND-YEAR FLOOD:The Ohio-Mississippi Disaster of 1937.
By David Welky.
Univ. of Chicago Press. 355 pp. $27.50

Where the Writers Live

by Leonard Benardo
LITERARY BROOKLYN: The Writers of Brooklyn and the Story of American City Life.
By Evan Hughes.
Holt. 337 pp. $17