Books and Ideas

French Lessons French Lessons

The history of twentieth-century France depicts a struggle between the republican ideal of a unitary state and the shifting concerns of a pluralistic society.

Oct 26, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Sunil Khilnani

New White House Strategy on Iraq New White House Strategy on Iraq

What passes now for West Wing policy is whatever will cover their collective derrieres.

Oct 26, 2006 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Mars Rover Beginning To Hate Mars Mars Rover Beginning To Hate Mars

The unmanned vehicle is "bored out of its mind."

Oct 24, 2006 / From The Onion / The Nation

Bush: Thousands of Registered Democrats Needed For ‘Extremely Important’ Mission Bush: Thousands of Registered Democrats Needed For ‘Extremely Important’ Mission

President Bush said Monday that members of the opposition party are the only ones who can make the November operation a success.

Oct 21, 2006 / From The Onion / The Nation

Marie Antoinette, the Upspeak Version Marie Antoinette, the Upspeak Version

It doesn't matter that Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette is a dreadful film, but it is alarming that the past is increasingly seen as a place in which the most important thing of al...

Oct 20, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Mark Steel

Death in the Family Death in the Family

Daniel Mendelsohn's The Lost represents one man's search to find the truth about himself, his family and the Holocaust.

Oct 19, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Gideon Lewis-Kraus

A Short History of ‘Cut and Run,’ Using the George W. Bush Definition A Short History of ‘Cut and Run,’ Using the George W. Bush Definition

From 'Nam to Lebanon, the Gulf War and, um, Texas.

Oct 18, 2006 / Column / Calvin Trillin

As Denny Hastert Stumbles Through an Array of Denials That He Knew About Mark Foley’s Behavior and Did Nothing About It As Denny Hastert Stumbles Through an Array of Denials That He Knew About Mark Foley’s Behavior and Did Nothing About It

What makes you think he knows anything?

Oct 18, 2006 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Pamuk’s Prize Pamuk’s Prize

If Nobel Prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk is a political writer, it is by virtue of his sympathy for what is old and faded, for what no longer matters, or what never did.

Oct 16, 2006 / Editorial / Maria Margaronis

Indonesian Mother Sews Halloween Costumes For 60,000 Children Indonesian Mother Sews Halloween Costumes For 60,000 Children

"I try to put a little extra love in each seam I stitch, or epoxy, or hot-glue, or heat-seal," said factory worker Weninng Panggi.

Oct 13, 2006 / From The Onion / The Nation

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