From Scientific American, a cover story on what makes us human: Comparisons of the genomes of humans and chimpanzees are revealing those rare stretches of DNA that are ours alone; taming humanity's urge to war: Must lethal conflict be an inevitable part of human culture?; could food shortages bring down civilization? The biggest threat to global stability is the potential for food crises in poor countries to cause government collapse; Jeffrey Sachs on the costs of expanding the government's economic role. George Packer on Irving Kristol’s long, strange trip. David Weigel on the civil war raging in the right-wing blogosphere. Phil Zelikow on keeping politics out of the law when judging torture. A review of Camus by David Sherman. From Too Much, should we double the tax rate on the rich? When Truffaut met Tarantino: Nigel Andrews pays tribute to the legendary Gang of Seven that created a new syndicate in screen culture 50 years ago in the French New Wave — the greatest criminal enterprise in cinema history. One time management system elevates the humble to-do list to cult-like status. A review of Your Call Is (Not That) Important to Us: Customer Service and What It Reveals About Our World and Our Lives by Emily Yellin (and more).
