From The New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert on Canada’s synthetic-fuels boom; the chameleon: David Grann on the many lives of Frederic Bourdin; serving the Goddess: William Dalrymple on the dangerous life of a sacred sex worker; Jerome Groopman on how the new generation of resistant infections is almost impossible to treat; and does the wrangling of interest groups corrupt politics—or constitute it? Nicholas Lemann investigates. The Innumeracy of Intellectuals: Why is it acceptable for professors outside the sciences to feel no shame or even to take pride in their lack of knowledge of math and science? An interview with Walter Russell Mead on Jacksonian voters. From TNR, Sanskrit comes alive: David Shulman on the wonders of ancient Indian literature. Anne Applebaum on how Alexander Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago changed the world; and praise his critique of the Soviet system certainly, but remember that it was informed by a deeply reactionary pan-Slavism. From Wired, a cover story on Julia Allison and the secrets of self-promotion. Goodnight, Sweet Hunks: A former editor offers a Playgirl postmortem. The urge to merge: Cynthia Gorney on what, as a driver, she learned about the war between lineuppers and sidezoomers in the battle for a lane. A review of Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip—Confessions of a Cynical Waiter (and an excerpt).