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MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Benjamin Wallace-Wells

  1. international affairs
    What John Kerry’s Botched Gaza Plan Says About His Political EvolutionIs his “emotional commitment” to Israel ?
  2. ‘Telegenically Dead Palestinians’: Why Israel Is Losing the American Media WarIn this conflict, we are seeing the Palestinians less as terrorists and more as they see themselves — as ordinary people living in often impossible circumstances.
  3. zoos
    The Case for the End of the Modern ZooIt’s not just humans, but the animals themselves, who are showing how a life in captivity isn’t a life at all.
  4. hillary watch
    8 Years Later, Will America Really Be Ready for Hillary?The question for 2016 isn’t whether Clinton will evolve, it’s how much the country has evolved.
  5. international affairs
    America Seems Ready to Wade Into Iraq’s Growing Civil War — But on Whose Side?Clearly, ISIS is a nightmare. But on the other side is Iran.
  6. The Homeless Coder and America’s Cult of EntrepreneurshipLearning to code was meaningful, but not life-changing.
  7. counter-terrorism
    Is the Global War on Terror Coming Back After All?In a reversal, the FBI director says that regional terrorist networks may be an even greater global threat than al Qaeda itself.
  8. economic rock stars
    Thomas Piketty and Our New Economic WorldviewThere’s a reason a 700-page book on economics got so popular.
  9. de blasio family values
    Chiara de Blasio and Our Changing Notion of Political CelebrityHer openness about her addiction is a stark example of the mayoral family’s choice to live with their struggles and conflicts exposed.
  10. death penalty
    Botched Death Shows Problems of Lethal InjectionThe botched death of an Oklahoma inmate reveals our failed attempt to make capital punishment less abhorrent.
  11. politics
    Eric Cantor, No Matter How Old He Gets, Will Always Be a ‘Rising Star’The guy’s only been in office since 1992.
  12. equal rites
    Chad Griffin, Jo Becker, and Marriage EqualityOr does Jo Becker’s new book, Forcing the Spring, give him too much credit?
  13. What Was Brandeis Thinking When It Invited Ayaan Hirsi Ali to Speak?The Somali-born feminist and anti-Muslim activist was guaranteed to cause controversy. So why did Brandeis invite and then disinvite her?
  14. monsters inc.
    Why Henry Kissinger Never Goes AwayHis strange place in the culture has a very specific cause.
  15. Why Do We Expect So Much From Nate Silver?Somebody needs to reinvent reporting, right?
  16. Bill Ackman and the New Pirate EstablishmentWhy is the billionaire hedge-funder endangering his reputation by trying to take down Herbalife?
  17. international affairs
    The Misplaced Question of Obama’s ‘Toughness’The qualities that cause some to perceive him as “weak” will help him against Putin.
  18. Julian Assange: A Ghost Even to Himself?Perhaps the public persona is just propaganda.
  19. the sports section
    The NFL Seems to Be Coming Around on Michael SamThe NFL is hierarchical and the top of the organization seems increasingly supportive.
  20. The Plot From SolitaryFour alleged members of rival gangs launched a hunger strike 30,000 strong from the isolation of their Supermax cells. Was the prison system tha […]
  21. jersey boys
    Is David Wildstein Chris Christie’s Sworn Enemy, or His Mini-Me?There’s a strange psychological dynamic at play here.
  22. early and awkard
    The Narcissistic Drama of Chris Christie’s ApologyIn this case, politics really was theater, in which plot exists only to test the protagonist’s character.
  23. controversies
    Phil Robertson’s Hillbilly Drag ShowHow Duck Dynasty’s controversial patriarch sells his performance.
  24. The Dream of a Middle-Class New YorkIs there anything Bill de Blasio can do to make the city affordable again? Maybe. But we have to want to pay for it.
  25. 1. Because 73.3 Percent of Us Are Hopeful That There’s a Happy Ending to Our Tale of Two CitiesNew Yorkers have been convinced for decades that some radical political correction was coming; the gap between the wealthy and the poor has simp […]
  26. The Truly Paranoid Style in American PoliticsFrom the JFK assassination to weather control and the New World Order: 50 years of conspiracy theory.
  27. The State of AssangeHe’s a cartoon. A megalomaniac. An irresistible Hollywood subject. And a crucial historical figure.
  28. national interest
    America’s Security State Is Apparently Trying to Hassle Its Critics Into SilenceExpected at a congressional hearing? That doesn’t mean you get a visa.
  29. Syria Is the Quintessential Obama WarIt’s neither realist nor idealist.
  30. Bloomberg and Kelly Aren’t Going to Like the Latest Research on Stop-and-FriskIt suggests the policy does almost nothing to reduce crime.
  31. The Gray Lady Has a Crush on ‘Gangly Liberal’ Bill de BlasioBut will she go all the way and endorse?
  32. What Is Chris Christie Doing Right?He’s hugely popular in a state way to his left. He’s unafraid to take on a national party considerably to his right. And he’s most adored when h […]
  33. The BlipWhat if everything we’ve come to think of as American is predicated on a freak coincidence of economic history? And what if that coincidence has […]
  34. Them and ThemUp in Ramapo, the immigrant community and the growing population of Hasidim had eyed each other with increasing wariness. Then the Orthodox took […]
  35. Adam Lanza’s ArsenalThe guns he carried embody the nation’s evolving relationship to freedom. And fear.
  36. The Truce On DrugsWhat happens now that the war has failed?
  37. So Long, MittIn love with America, terrified for its future, relegated to its past.
  38. stories from the storm
    Chris Christie’s ApocalypseA biblical governor has  his come-to-Jesus moment.
  39. Mitt’s StakeFor almost ten years, Romney led the Mormon church in Boston, shouldering the needs of his community. Is this the same man now running for presi […]
  40. George Romney for President, 1968When the governor of Michigan ran for the Republican nomination, in 1968, he tried to stand up against the more radical wing of his party. His d […]
  41. The Lonely Battle of Wael GhonimA year after the Tahrir Square uprising, Wael Ghonim is the international superstar of the Arab Spring, with a big new book out this month celeb […]
  42. European Superhero Quashes Libyan DictatorSomehow, earlier this year, a philosopher managed to goad the world into vanquishing an evil villain. Perhaps more surprising was the philosophe […]
  43. The Romney EconomyAt Bain Capital, Romney remade one American business after another, overhauling management and directing vast sums of money to the top of the la […]
  44. “America”An idea with many authors.
  45. Patriot ActThe kitchen-sink approach to national security.
  46. InflamedThe reemerging, divergent, politics of the street.
  47. What’s Left of the LeftPaul Krugman’s lonely crusade.
  48. Peretz in ExileFor decades, Martin Peretz taught at Harvard and presided over The New Republic—a fierce, if controversial, lion among American intelle […]
  49. Diplomat Gone RoguePeter Galbraith built a career in statecraft, pursuing a humanitarian foreign policy despite a very immodest temperament. But when the U.N. fire […]
  50. Peace TalkAfter the Gaza-flotilla debacle, where does the conversation about Israel go now?