From NYRB, Tony Judt on the "problem of evil" in postwar Europe; and a review of books on Israel. Most likely to secede: When it comes to the Union, a small but growing cadre of Vermonters want out. A review of The Genius of America by Eric Lane and Michael Oreskes; A More Perfect Constitution by Larry J. Sabato; and Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution by Woody Holton. The black box economy: Behind the recent bad news lurks a much deeper concern: The world economy is now being driven by a vast, secretive web of investments that might be out of anyone's control. The boiling frog syndrome is a grisly metaphor, but it's apt. A review of The Christian World: A Global History by Martin E. Marty. What are historians doing when they explain things? Rachel Leow investigates. From TLS, a review of Graham Greene: A Life in Letters; and a review of Germaine Greer's Shakespeare's Wife. From Electronic Book Review, what was postmodernism? Brian McHale investigates. An excerpt from The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse by Richard Thompson Ford (and more). Slate introduces The Root, an online magazine on black politics, culture and history. From Good, an article on Joel Osteen and God, without the fuss. Religion within reason: An article on Pope Benedict’s critique of Islam.

From The Wilson Quarterly, the curse of generosity: The outpouring of tens of billions to improve global health seems like the most hopeful event of the 21st century, but the largess could make things worse. Unity isn't all it's cracked up to be: Even a consensus-building, problem-solving president can't solve political gridlock. What font says "Change"? Type designers decode the presidential candidate. 1968 riots: Should we grab the young ones and start over? Free Bob Avakian! Oh, he's already free? Never mind. Greatest stories never told: Ten famous writers reveal their works that never made it into print; and he wrote Money, but is Martin Amis really worth £3,000 an hour? (and a review of The Second Plane). From NYRB, a review of books on blogs. A look at why sci-fi is the last bastion of philosophical writing. A review of A History of the Modern Fact: Problems of Knowledge in the Sciences of Wealth and Society by Mary Poovey. Math + Religion = Trouble: Actually, since Pythagoras the relationship between men of numbers and the Deity has been more along the lines of love-hate, but it's a rich vein. From Wired, an article on mapping the most complex structure in the universe: Your brain. A review of Sex, Science & Profits: How People Evolved to Make Money by Terence Kealey (and more and more). Economists let some light in on the shady market for paid sex.

From Jonathan Steele's Defeat: Why They Lost Iraq, a looks at how Britain went to war unbriefed, unprepared and with no idea of the fallout that would ensue (and two more excerpts). The essential critic: James Wood sees literary criticism as a means of revealing truth in novels... and exposing phoneys. The Fifth Columnist: A look at how Bill Kristol landed that Times gig. An interview with Allen Raymond, author of How to Rig An Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative (and a review). The UN has had its own university for more than 30 years, a little-known endeavor with no regular teaching operations. But now the new rector wants to turn it into a serious academic institution. From The Space Review, an interview with Steven Weinberg; an article on the dark side of space disaster theories; and is space exploration worth the cost? David Levy, author of Love and Sex with Robots, explains why technological advances guarantee future bots will be more than just sex dolls.  "Won't somebody please think of the children?": Calm down, it’s just pornography. Form TAP, an article on the convention delegate process explained. Jeff Greenfield on the unexpected ins and outs of the primary calendar. Jack Shafer writes in praise of horse-race coverage: If campaigns are contests, then why not obsess on who's winning? The Sistine Chapel was created 500 years ago by Michelangelo... or was it?

From Harper's, while John Yoo cites Clausewitz, he seems to have another German thinker in mind: Carl Schmitt. From TLS, a review of Science and Islam by Muzaffar Iqbalp; and a review of Tariq Ramadan's The Messenger: The meanings of the life of Muhammad. Who is Grady Harp? Amazon's top reviewers and the fate of the literary amateur. An excerpt from The Culture of Vengeance and the Fate of American Justice by Terry Kenneth Aladjem; and an excerpt from The Decline of the Death Penalty and the Discovery of Innocence. A review of Heidegger's Contributions to Philosophy: Life and the Last God by Jason Powell. A review of The Second Person Standpoint: Morality, Respect, and Accountability by Stephen Darwall. A review of Ronald Dworkin. From The Economist, in a week of financial uncertainty a look behind the headlines to a world that is unexpectedly prosperous and peaceful. From Foreign Policy, an interview with Martin Feldstein on the “R” word. David Warsh on Paul Krugman the partisan. Just what is a think tank? From Time, an article on why we love. Should we allow performance enhancing drugs in sports? One argument in favor. Research suggests sports machismo may be cue to male teen violence. The penultimate step towards the creation of artificial life has just been announced. Are urban vermin the most disease-ridden animals?

Todd Gitlin on eight questions reporters should ask Clinton. Clinton or Obama? Why not both? Googling the New York Times: What would you get if the powerful internet company bought America's leading newspaper? A review of Walter Benjamin: The Archive; and Walter Benjamin by Esther Leslie. A cutting tradition: Inside a female-circumcision ceremony for young Muslim girls. "24" is going green?! Checking in on the hit show's most unlikely mission yet. An excerpt from Turning On the Mind: French Philosophers on Television by Tamara Chaplin. A review of Cruel Delight: Enlightenment Culture and the Inhuman by James A. Steintrager. From Seed, to answer our most fundamental questions, science needs to find a place for the arts; and will new revelations about RNA force us to rethink how our past affects future evolution? Stealing our future: An article on conservatives, foresight, and why nothing works anymore. The antiabortion movement has found a new face to exploit for political gain — and it's male (and is "pro-life" murder an oxymoron?) The European Union unveiled ambitious plans to slash emissions and increase investment in renewable energy (and more). From Magazine Rack, if you’re a conservative American, Newsmax is like a warm blanket; and like all new publications, Everywhere claims an edge; in this instance, its readers are also contributors.

From The Bulletin, a roundtable on nuclear power and climate change. A study finds President Bush and administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks. A review of The Bush Tragedy by Jacob Weisberg. Will the interest rate cut affect you? Average consumers might notice it, if they have a lot of debt. Joseph Stiglitz on how to stop the downturn (and more). The pharmacy of the future and you: Will new psycho pharmaceuticals make a more authentic you? A review of The Secret History of the World As Laid Down by the Secret Societies by Mark Booth. More and more on The Canon: The Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier. Before globalization hit the headlines, Americo Paredes was living it; Scott McLemee interviews Ramon Saldivar. An interview with Walter Mosley on book publishing, mysteries and Yiddish. He's not as smart as he thinks: Research finds the male ego is often larger than his actual IQ, but you might be surprised by what women think of men's intellect. An excerpt from The Myth of Sacred Prostitution in Antiquity by Stephanie Lynn Budin. From Harper's, will the real Leo Strauss please stand up? More and more and more on The Geography of Bliss. An excerpt form The Faith Between Us by Scott Korb and Peter Bebergal (and an interview).

From Asia Times, an article on the rise and rise of Al-Qaeda (and more on a global phenomenon reaching maturity). Mark Schmitt on how Michael Barone made The Almanac of American Politics irrelevant. A solid B+ for prediction: Novelist H. G. Wells offered visions of the future in a number of books; his predictions weren't flawless, but they often hit close to the mark. Four decades ago, Norman E. Borlaug developed a wheat variety that fed the world — now he's battling a pathogen whose spread could cause starvation. A review of Beyond Moral Judgment by Alice Crary. Does the news matter to anyone anymore? A look at why you should beware of Facebook. Caveman blues: How modern life baffles our Stone Age brains into thinking we can never have enough. What everyone should know about their own minds: 6 introspective insights from psychology. A review of Revolution in Mind: The Creation of Psychoanalysis by George Makari (and more). From Harper's, is the bookworm an endangered species? The Oberlin Experiment: Why the failed revolution of Radical Athleticism may be the great unwritten chapter in American sports history. A look at how rich nations' environmental footprints tread heavily on poor countries. Adam Smith was very, very wrong about the wealth of nations. A review of Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them by David Anderegg.

From Christianity Today, a look at how the leading Democratic candidates are trying to win evangelical votes. 35 years later Salon asks leading feminists to talk about the Roe court case that changed their lives, and why it matters more than ever (and more). Let's be frank about teen sex and abortion. From Wired, long before Myspace and Facebook, there was The Well, a freewheeling forum launched in 1985 as a dialup BBS.  An excerpt from Beam Me Up Jesus: A Heathen's Guide to the Rapture by Jim Gerard (with other apocalyptic scenarios threatening to do us in, and a quiz). Scientists and legal scholars argue that studies conducted with litigation in mind are not necessarily more biased than research done for other purposes. Can the art of writing be learned from a book? From Smithsonian, Rasta Revealed: A reclamation of African identity evolved into a worldwide movement. Martin Wolf on how the financial turmoil is like an elephant in a dark room (and more by George Soros). Why do well-meaning laws backfire? Dubner and Levitt want to know. From The New Yorker, a look at what Poor Richard cost Benjamin Franklin. A new class of smart, literate British bands is challenging the lumbering louts of indie rock: The vanguard of the New Eccentric movement. A review of Political Emotions: Aristotle and the Symphony of Reason and Emotion by Marlene K. Sokolon.

From The Economist, a cover story on the invasion of the sovereign-wealth funds (and more); and a special section on corporate social responsibility. The Education of Ben Bernanke: Banks won’t lend money; oil has reached $100 a barrel; unemployment is up — what’s a Fed chief to do? A review of Art in Crisis: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Struggle for African American Identity and Memory by Amy Helene Kirschke. Alan Wolfe reviews Sellout by Randall Kennedy (and more and more). Rights vs. Rights: While the civil rights movement and the women’s movement have been philosophical allies, sharing goals and ideals, there have also been periodic collisions. Paul Starr on how the Democrats could blow it again. Beauty Secrets: When it comes to attraction, does the golden ratio still apply? Big brain theory—have cosmologists lost theirs? It could be the weirdest and most embarrassing prediction in the history of cosmology, if not science. Has AT&T lost its mind? A baffling proposal to filter the Internet. Peter Singer reviews Kwame Anthony Appiah's Experiments in Ethics. The Death Effect: Terry Teachout on the mystery of posthumous fame. These days, a number of independent bookstores have been drawing more than pity from devotees. David Held maps the pressing needs of global governance in a perilous age. And he shall be called: How do you name someone you hardly know?

From NYRB, a review of unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters and The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What's So Good about the Good News? More on John Allen Paulos' Irreligion. Carlin Romano on the triumph of "smugism": The philosopher John Gray's certainty is certainly unwarranted. What makes a biopolitical space? An interview with Toni Negri. Instead of promoting the sharing of ideas among friends, social networking sites promote posturing and marketing, friendship as spectatorship, and give us the attention we crave (and how Facebook is like Ikea). The secrets of attraction: What makes a person desirable? From TLS, a review of Freedom and Neurobiology by John Searle. Jonah Lehrer on misreading the mind: If neuroscientists want to understand consciousness, they'll need new methods (and here's Bookforum's review of Proust Was a Neuroscientist). From The Magazineer, an article on how to read The New Yorker in 10 easy steps. Ruth Franklin on the nasty truth about a new literary heroine, Irene Nemirovsky. Yuval Levin and Ramesh Ponnuru on conservative populism, rightly understood. From IHE, an article on solving "The English Student’s Dilemma"; and here are eight academic debates that aren’t worth the calories, let along the anguish. A review of Life's Too F*ing Short by Janet Street Porter.