Michael Peters (Illinois): The Global Failure of Neoliberalism: Privatize Profits; Socialize Losses. From The Walrus, an article on the last of the wild Jews: The end of an era in Jewish-American literature? After the Imperial Presidency: Will the new president and Congress undo the executive-power plays of the Bush era? Access all eras: Amid the mass of works of popular historical non-fiction, three historians set out to illuminate and enliven the past. From First Things, an interview with Rene Girard, one of the most important Christian intellectuals of our time. Does religion make you nice? The latest research on religion and niceness. A review of The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-hunting in the Western World by John Demos. Was it fair to compare the McCain campaign to George Wallace’s? Here’s what Nicholas Katzenbach thinks about Lewis and the campaign of 2008. From The New Yorker, a review of books on overparenting. Does the conventional wisdom about the market still stand? James Surowiecki wants to know; and why the market couldn’t check its fall. Rereading history: The Bibliotheca Alexandrina makes reading history a pleasure. More on Descartes’ Bones by Russell Shorto. How an unassuming Treasury under secretary is implementing innovative sanctions on Iran that could finally give Washington what it hasn’t had in Tehran in three decades: influence.
