Jean-Paul Fitoussi on the revolt of the meritocrats. Fashion Disaster: How the House of Versace went from rags to riches — and back again. The “death panel” episode shows how the news media, after aiding and abetting falsehood, were unable to perform their traditional role of reporting the facts. Why do we like to think everyone with autism is especially gifted? Steven Kellman reviews Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer (and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more). Steve Chapman on how America only seems polarized: We're still a country full of political moderates. An article on the underground market of sperm donors: Do you really know what you’re getting? An interview with David Plouffe on The Audacity to Win (and more and more). If you have worked in an office in the Western world in the past 25 years, you will probably have sat through a PowerPoint presentation. Squawking Hawks: The current deficit debate is for the birds. A review of The Real Wizard of Oz: The Life and Times of L. Frank Baum by Rebecca Loncraine (and more and more and more). The 8½ laws of rumor: Why some ideas spread and others die and why rumors are a regular feature of our social landscape; and it is one of life's most undervalued and instructive pleasures — so why does gossip have such a bad reputation? (and more) Should we regard suicide under the right circumstances as the logical end of the Good Life? Scientists hope a better understanding of when, where and how mammoth oceanic waves form can someday help ships steer clear of danger. Harry Reid is always interrupting Mozart or Bach or Beethoven for legislation — oh well, nobody's perfect.
