May 4, 2009 Issue

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May 4, 2009 Issue

Cover art by: Cover art by Ennis Carter, Design for Social Impact; design by Gene Case & Stephen Kling/Avenging Angels

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Features

Democracy, on Mic and on Camera

A new film offers a nuanced and inspiring portrait of the role hip-hop activists have played in the politics of Senegal.

Cora Currier
Obama Set for a Summit in the Sun

Barack Obama encounters Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez for the first time at the Summit of the Americas, and the future of US-Latin America relations takes a new turn.

Benjamin Dangl
Elsie Fox: Still Here

A woman of passion and principle traces the history of the American left. At 101, she's still with us.

Brian Kahn
Blowback at the Border

Drug prohibition and unregulated guns gave us the Mexican drug wars.

Peter Schrag
Can China Catch a Cool Breeze?

The planet's future depends largely on the fate of China's nascent wind sector.

Christian Parenti
Dixieland Blues

Southern governors' resistance to the federal stimulus package has deep roots.

Katherine S. Newman and Rourke O’Brien
The Creativity Stimulus

Creating jobs for artists--good for the economy and even better for the imagination.

Jeff Chang
Wild About Harry

Taking a cue from FDR, Britain launches the New Deal of the Mind.

D.D. Guttenplan

Editorials

Obama and the Big Dogs

When great crimes are committed--by the big dogs of Wall Street or those who torture in our name--they will either bully their way out or be called to account. Is Obama tough enough to do what's right?

William Greider
America’s UN Boycott Backfires

By choosing to boycott the UN conference on racism, the United States has increased the clout of Iran's Ahmadinejad and undermined global efforts to defeat intolerance.

Barbara Crossette
Michelle Obama’s Fresh Food Revolution

The First Lady hopes to entice Americans away from their junk food past to a healthier, more delicious future.

Mark Hertsgaard
No Such Thing as Free News

Free news delivered via search engine is part of the same freeloading zeitgeist that has shattered the larger economy. Newspapers need to draw the line.

Michael Moran
Seat Senator Franken

It's time for the GOP to end this charade.

John Nichols
Obama’s Nuclear Challenge

Obama's promise to move toward disarmament is not the same as achieving it.

Jonathan Schell
Noted.

John Nichols on Michelle Obama's garden, R.H. Lossin on bounced-check fees, David Cole on the rule of law, Russian kudos for Stephen F. Cohen

the Editors
Webb’s Prison Crusade

The Virginia senator's willingness to take up this cause is evidence that the culture gap may be closing.

Chris Hayes
The Gates Revolution

The ghosts of Vietnam are everywhere, as counterinsurgency makes a comeback in the Pentagon budget.

Michael T. Klare
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Columns

Thievery Under TARP

We're being robbed. A scathing report by the Treasury Department's inspector general says the TARP program is mismanaged and rife with potential fraud.

Robert Scheer
The Pinstripe Patriot Act

The New York Yankees are forcing the owner's religious and political beliefs on every fan admitted to its $1.5 billion cathedral of baseball. How long can they get away with it?

Dave Zirin
Huskies’ Glory Stolen By Coach

Despite all their well-deserved success, the UConn women's basketball team struggles in the shadow of their megalomaniacal coach Geno Auriemma.

Dave Zirin
A Lexicon of Disappointment

All is not well in Obamafanland, as disenchanted supporters entertain the possibility that he is not, in fact, going to save the world.

Naomi Klein
What Do (Battered) Women Want?

We take it for granted that when men hit, it's up to women to run away. Except, some of them stay.

Katha Pollitt
Dead Souls

Life sentences without possibility of parole contribute to the ever-expanding gulag of our criminal justice system.

Alexander Cockburn
On Dealing With Pirates

A different kind of ransom.

Calvin Trillin

Books and the Arts

Democracy, on Mic and on Camera

A new film offers a nuanced and inspiring portrait of the role hip-hop activists have played in the politics of Senegal.

Cora Currier
Wilson Agonistes: The Battle Over Woodrow Wilson

More than any other president's, the luster of Woodrow Wilson's legacy corresponds with vogues in foreign policy.

David Milne
Not Easy Being Greene: Graham Greene’s Letters

A Life in Letters as chronicled by the determinedly elusive Graham Greene.

Michelle Orange
This Small Extravagance: The Life of Shakespeare’s Mind

Writing a biography of the mind of Shakespeare is a challenge that requires the ingenuity of an artist.

James Longenbach
The Creativity Stimulus

Creating jobs for artists--good for the economy and even better for the imagination.

Jeff Chang
Wild About Harry

Taking a cue from FDR, Britain launches the New Deal of the Mind.

D.D. Guttenplan
The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

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Letters

Not Easy Being Greene: Graham Greene’s Letters

A Life in Letters as chronicled by the determinedly elusive Graham Greene.

Michelle Orange
Letters

C. Wright Mills, Man for All Seasons
Bar Harbor Island, Fla.

Our Readers and Christine Smallwood

Crossword

Puzzle No. 3167

ACROSS

1 Providence may have such a radical type, but one might prove chicken! (5,6,3)

Frank W. Lewis

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May 4, 2009 Issue

Features

A new film offers a nuanced and inspiring portrait of the role hip-hop activists have played in the politics of Senegal.

Barack Obama encounters Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez for the first time at the Summit of the Americas, and the future of US-Latin America relations takes a new turn.

A woman of passion and principle traces the history of the American left. At 101, she's still with us.

Drug prohibition and unregulated guns gave us the Mexican drug wars.

The planet's future depends largely on the fate of China's nascent wind sector.

Southern governors' resistance to the federal stimulus package has deep roots.

Creating jobs for artists--good for the economy and even better for the imagination.

Taking a cue from FDR, Britain launches the New Deal of the Mind.

Editorials

When great crimes are committed--by the big dogs of Wall Street or those who torture in our name--they will either bully their way out or be called to account. Is Obama tough enough to do what's right?

By choosing to boycott the UN conference on racism, the United States has increased the clout of Iran's Ahmadinejad and undermined global efforts to defeat intolerance.

The First Lady hopes to entice Americans away from their junk food past to a healthier, more delicious future.

Free news delivered via search engine is part of the same freeloading zeitgeist that has shattered the larger economy. Newspapers need to draw the line.

It's time for the GOP to end this charade.

Obama's promise to move toward disarmament is not the same as achieving it.

John Nichols on Michelle Obama's garden, R.H. Lossin on bounced-check fees, David Cole on the rule of law, Russian kudos for Stephen F. Cohen

The Virginia senator's willingness to take up this cause is evidence that the culture gap may be closing.

The ghosts of Vietnam are everywhere, as counterinsurgency makes a comeback in the Pentagon budget.

Subscribe Today and Save $129!

Columns

We're being robbed. A scathing report by the Treasury Department's inspector general says the TARP program is mismanaged and rife with potential fraud.

The New York Yankees are forcing the owner's religious and political beliefs on every fan admitted to its $1.5 billion cathedral of baseball. How long can they get away with it?

Despite all their well-deserved success, the UConn women's basketball team struggles in the shadow of their megalomaniacal coach Geno Auriemma.

All is not well in Obamafanland, as disenchanted supporters entertain the possibility that he is not, in fact, going to save the world.

We take it for granted that when men hit, it's up to women to run away. Except, some of them stay.

Life sentences without possibility of parole contribute to the ever-expanding gulag of our criminal justice system.

A different kind of ransom.

Books and the Arts

A new film offers a nuanced and inspiring portrait of the role hip-hop activists have played in the politics of Senegal.

More than any other president's, the luster of Woodrow Wilson's legacy corresponds with vogues in foreign policy.

A Life in Letters as chronicled by the determinedly elusive Graham Greene.

Writing a biography of the mind of Shakespeare is a challenge that requires the ingenuity of an artist.

Creating jobs for artists--good for the economy and even better for the imagination.

Taking a cue from FDR, Britain launches the New Deal of the Mind.

The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

Letters

A Life in Letters as chronicled by the determinedly elusive Graham Greene.

C. Wright Mills, Man for All Seasons Bar Harbor Island, Fla.

Crossword

ACROSS 1 Providence may have such a radical type, but one might prove chicken! (5,6,3)

C. Wright Mills, Man for All Seasons
Bar Harbor Island, Fla.

ACROSS

1 Providence may have such a radical type, but one might prove chicken! (5,6,3)