Why are there so many natural disasters during presidential election years? A review of William Maxwell's Early Novels and Stories. From The New York Times Magazine, teaching boys and girls separately: The idea is gaining traction in American public schools, in response to the different education crises girls and boys have been reported to experience; and how do you prove you’re a Jew? From The New Yorker, are our brains wired for math? Jim Holt investigates; Hendrik Hertzberg and Ryan Lizza on how the probable nominees look at foreign policy; an article on Michelle Obama and the politics of candor; and Calvin Trillin on race, memory, and a killing in the suburbs. Even the most sober scientific reports regarding the state of the oceans make alarming reading. A review of A Portrait of the Brain by Adam Zeman. Welcome to the Quagmire: The next president may be stuck with more problems in Iraq than Bush ever faced. From City Journal, Ibn Warraq reviews Brother Tariq: The Doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan, by Caroline Fourest. From The Wall Street Journal, an article on the point of tipping. Robert Putnam on the rebirth of American civic life. A review of The Roads to Modernity: The British, French and American Enlightenments by Gertrude Himmelfarb. A review of Riding Toward Everywhere by William T. Vollmann.