From Neiman Reports, a special issue on 21st Century Muckrakers: Who are they? How do they do their work? Open tab: Gabriel Sherman on the dark art of the National Enquirer. The Hot New Celeb? Sarah!: The tabloids have discovered the appeal of politics. Why be partisan if it's all just strategy? Cynical reporting could be a tonic for red-blue disease. Illness has forced Robert Novak’s official resignation, but don’t believe it: He won’t stop writing until he dies. From Survey Practice, an article on understanding the meaning of the “mood of the country”. From Monitor on Psychology, a special section on why we vote. From PUP, the introduction to Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way They Do by Andrew Gelman. From The Economic Times, an article on Britain as a benevolent totalitarian state. From Adbusters, a designer moment: Why commercials can’t spark change. From Multinational Monitor, no escape: An article on marketing to kids in the digital age; an interview with Susan Linn, author of The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized World; and an interview with Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping. A review of Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are by Rob Walker and Does Ethics Have a Chance in a World of Consumers? by Zygmunt Bauman.
