Features

Dan Rather’s Last Big Story Is Himself

After the Bush National Guard story exploded on CBS’s corporate brass, Dan Rather says, the fix was in and he was the fall guy. So he filed a lawsuit, aiming to take down his enemies�but even supporters worry that the person he may take down is himself.

The Wishy-Washy, Squishy-Squashy Pseudoscience of Electability

It’s a concept that’s malleable, unscientific, and non-substantive. It’s an egregious example of vague consultant-pollster-punditocracy horse-race mumbo jumbo, and it led to the fiasco that was John Kerry ’04. With all that in mind, then... which candidate is the most electable?

Intelligencer

Last Call for Cash-Grubbing Pols

New lobbyist donor rules go into effect soon. Brother, can you spare $4,950?

Super-fashionable Kabbalah Heroes

Zac Posen’d crusaders.

Is Hudson Yards 9/11-Proof?

Architect says it is.

Padma’s Mama Mad at Her Sailor Mouth

Says she should cuss in private.

Dad’s Day at Last for �Father of Greater N.Y.’

All he has is a bench.

It Happened Last Week

As a judge allowed the Grinch into his theater, it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the city last week.

The Tribes of Art Basel Miami

More than 50,000 people will descend on Miami next week for the sixth annual art bacchanal; it’s doubled its size of three years ago. A look at its subcultures.

Green Thumbs for Silver Spoons

Better learning through private-school agriculture.

Coast of Dystopia

Thankfully, the delirious New York of the Hudson Yards proposals won’t get built.

Rich Get 140% Richer

Can they still afford NYC?

Columns

Educating

Developer notices good school. Parents notice development near good school. Good school notices it’s become undermined by overcrowding.

Strategist

Best Bets

Beautiful �tea balls� and other refined ways to fight the common cold.

Look Book

Polling the comeliest elevator crowd in Chelsea.

Restaurant Review

Good news for coffee fetishists.

Restaurant Openings

Week of December 3, 2007: Viñas, Le Lupanar, and Gottino.

In Season

The Hakurei, or Tokyo, turnip is a Japanese variety that’s crisp, juicy, and delicious raw, as anyone who’s recently cadged a sample at the Keith’s Farm stand can attest.

Bottles Worth Bringing

Wines for the holiday.

Shop News

Pharrell Williams has teamed up with Nigo (the designer behind A Bathing Ape) to showcase his fashion in the first Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream store in the U.S.

Culture

Pregnant With Possibilities

Ellen Page, unexploited female teen star.

A World of Crime

Detective fiction from across the globe.

The Movie Review

Praising Julian Schnabel’s eye.

Influences: Wyclef Jean

Wyclef Jean on Shakira, Bob Marley, and porn.

The Theater Review

Making Shakespeare into children’s theater.

Starry Nights at �Cymbeline’

Backstage at Cymbeline.

The Art Review

Urs Fischer digs a big hole in the floor of Gavin Brown’s gallery.

The Architecture Review

The New Museum tips its cap to the old Bowery.

The Classical Music Review

Celebrating the return of Berlin as cultural beacon.

The �Gossip Girl’ Playbook

The literary roots of Gossip Girl.

The Approval Matrix: Week of December 3, 2007

Our deliberately oversimplified guide to who falls where on our taste hierarchies.

The Week

Fantastic Scholastic

The House That Harry Built gets a super-duper makeover.

Second Time’s the Charm

If you missed these bright lights of the classical scene�a young dynamo and an established leader�in their recent high-profile city appearances, catch them this week.

Old School vs. New

One hip-hop fest celebrates the genre’s up-and-comers; the other, its very beginnings.

Pine and Dine

Shoving your way through Rockefeller Center for a glimpse of the tree sure works up an appetite.

Small Is Beautiful

Highlights from the 20th Annual Independent and Small Press Book Fair.

Departments

Comments: December 3, 2007

Readers sound off on airports, Ben Curtis, and more.