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This article offers notes related to authors associated with "The Nation." Katha Pollitt will not be writing her "Subject to Debate" column until May 2006 when she finishes her book of essays. Author Victor Navasky has won the 2006 George Polk Award for his book "A Matter of Opinion." Katrina vanden Heuvel has received the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund's 2006 Justice in Action award.

This article reviews the books "Shakespeare: The Biography," by Peter Ackroyd, "Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare," by Clare Asquith and "'Shakespeare' By Another Name: The Life of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the Man Who Was Shakespeare" by Mark Anderson.

This article reviews the book "Elia Kazan: A Biography," by Richard Schickel.

This article focuses on Princeton University professor Robert "Robby" George. George is an outspoken social conservative who is well-liked on campus and teaches an always over-enrolled civil liberties course. But George is also known as less-tolerant, partisan and connected to wealthy organizations known by right-wing Christian activists. He serves on the President's Council on Bioethics and helped write an amendment on behalf of the White House calling for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 2004.

This article reviews the films "Our Brand Is Crisis," directed by Rachel Boynton and "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days," directed by Marc Rothemund and starring Julia Jentsch.

The article looks at the investigation by the United States Congress into the President George W. Bush administration's post-Hurricane Katrina response. The article analyzes Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Michael Brown's testimony, where he explained the problem in response as a disconnect between FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. The author states the real problem is weak leadership from the White House and declares the need of an independent investigation.

The article looks at the nature and perception of truth and compares what the author describes as "emotional truth" to truth derived from DNA testing. The author examines stories, including author James Frey's book "A Million Little Pieces," and the results of DNA testing of African-American professor Henry Louis Gates. The author speaks about cultural identity.

The article presents an interview with authors Joe Sacco and Art Spiegelman regarding the worldwide protests to the Muhammad cartoons first published in the Danish paper "Jyllands-Posten." The authors talk about their initial reaction to the controversy, the media's responsibility, the differences between images and words, how the protests will affect cartoonists and graphic artists, and if this matter should be considered an issue of freedom of speech.

The article looks at mainstream journalists in the United States. According to the author, mainstream media has become more conservative. The shift to the right occurred mainly because of the well-organized, disciplined, and funded conservative political attack on mainstream journalists. The article looks at a study by David Brock's Media Matters for America called "If It's Sunday, It's Conservative."

The article reviews the book "Gate of the Sun," by Elias Khoury.