The Real Impact of America's Oil Crisis

Here's the write-up of my conversation with the very interesting Amanda Little, who has a new book out on the way oil saturates Americans' daily lives. She traveled from an offshore oilrig to a plastic surgeon's office to the Pentagon in search of the human side of the energy story, and her conclusions were more optimistic than one might expect.

How did Sarah Palin write her memoir so fast?

The former governor finished her 400-page memoir in just four months. My piece today explores how you write a book that fast.

Are Humans Actually Selfish?

On Sept. 25 I did a Q&A with a fascinating author, a primatologist who uses studies on empathy in animals to argue that humans aren't such selfish beasts after all. (My favorite part: turns out yawns really are contagious.)

A Brief History of Red Scares

In the Sept. 21 issue I wrote a brief history of Red scares, jumping off the controversy over President Obama's back-to-school speech.

Raymond Clark, Annie Le's alleged killer

Got a little behind in posting, but here's a bio I wrote Sept. 18 of Yale grad student Annie Le's alleged killer, who had a hearing in court today.

Why Can't Americans Wear White After Labor Day?

I've always wondered about the origin of the rule that we can't wear white after Labor Day--despite the fact that most people seem to break it. My piece today tries to answer the question.

A Brief History of Stockholm syndrome

Just back from vacation; I wrote a brief history of so-called Stockholm syndrome today. Whether the condition even exists is controversial, despite several decades worth of high-profile cases in which victims demonstrated some kind of compassion for or loyalty to their captors.