An Unmonumental Grimace
Barry Schwabsky : The Short of It
Taking stock of the new New Museum.

A retrospective exhibition of Martin Puryear's sculptures reinvents MoMA's signature atrium space as a site for spiritual longing.
Michael Rakowitz talks about his art, the possibility of public space and the Iraq War.
As conditions worsen inside Baghdad's embattled Green Zone, construction continues on a grandiose US Embassy complex that mirrors Bush Administration delusions of a reordered Middle East. Take a virtual tour.
Roberta Brandes Gratz & Stephen A. Goldsmith : Urban Issues
A tribute to Jane Jacobs's extraordinary vision of urban life and her passionate care for people and places.
Mike Davis & Anthony Fontenot : Racism & Discrimination
New Orleans did not die an accidental death--it was murdered by deliberate design and planned neglect. Here are twenty-five urgent questions from the people who live in a city submerged in anger and frustration.
Arthur C. Danto : Monuments & Memorials
The undulating monoliths in architect Peter Eisenman's Holocaust memorial in Berlin are more banal than beautiful--which suits Eisenman fine.
Nicholas von Hoffman : Housing Activism
New homes for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina need not be the penitentiary-style public housing we've come to dread. Bring in architects who know how to create human-scale dwellings for the poor.
Ross Benjamin : Judaism & Jews
An interview with Peter Eisenman, architect of Berlin's new Holocaust memorial.


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Friday Capitol Letter | This week's legislative run-down from Washington.
Te-Ping Chen
McCain Had Better Hope Voters Think He's a Liar | It won't hurt the GOP contender if Americans are reminded that he and Bush were never close.
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Cluster Bombs Kill Kids | The US is working to undermine an international cluster bomb treaty.
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America 2.3 (Million) | Modern America through the lens of one number.
Zephyr Teachout
One in Four Republicans Reject McCain | In Indiana & North Carolina, GOP candidate had a bigger problem with his base than Obama did with wavering Dems.
John Nichols
Newt Gingrich to GOP--Wake Up or Perish | The architect of the Contract ON America warns his party of looming disaster.
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Who Really Lost the Cold War? | Is the US finished as a superpower just as Russia rides a wave of energy back to great power status?
Tom Engelhardt
Preachers and Politics | Secularism looks better and better.
Katha Pollitt
