From Open Source, an interview with Slavoj Zizek: What is the question? What would Jefferson do? How limited government got turned upside down. More and more and more and more and more on Annette Gordon-Reed's The Hemingses of Monticello. America's universities sheltered David Foster Wallace — and almost ruined his writing. From Foreign Policy, now that he has left Iraq in better shape than he found it, can Gen. David Petraeus save Afghanistan and the rest of the region? Fred Kaplan on why an Iraq-style surge won't work in Afghanistan. The New Ordinary: New York designers re-envision the American woman. From Nerve, is Emily DePrang a gold-digger? She asks some of her friends. High school drama: When talking to youth about sex, don't forget you were once a teen yourself. Jokes are about humiliation, the release of inhibitions, or absurdity; the end of the world itself has the logical form of a joke — geddit? Reasons to be gloomy: Ian Bremmer on four things to worry about. Tuberculosis or hair loss? Peter Singer on refocusing medical research. Sarah Palin makes animal lovers get political. From TNR, elitism done (by the) Right: What the conservative critics of Sarah Palin get wrong; and village idiocy: Enough with small-town triumphalism. Paul Waldman on how to win a presidential debate. Why journalists are the worst possible moderators of debates.
