From LRB, a review of A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life by Craig Venter; and a look at why those who hear only empty optimism in Obama aren’t listening. A review of On Deep History and the Brain by Daniel Lord Smail. Challenging the assumption that some Americans are at once too good, and not good enough, for the military. We may not know the real motivations behind the Iraq war for years, but it remains difficult to distill oil from all the possibilities. An excerpt from Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life by Anthony T. Kronman. Jack Shafer separates bunk from fact in Malcolm Gladwell's performance at a New York storytelling forum. The rise of American incompetence: We used to be the world's most skillful entrepreneurs and managers, but now we're

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