From Griffith Review, a special issue on Australia: Still the lucky country? From The Atlantic Monthly, private rail networks could save the housing industry, revive the economy, and help meet the booming demand for walkable neighborhoods; and a look at how new wireless technology will shape the city of the future — and automate everything from parking to engineering to traffic flow. From FT, a review essay on pirates. From Fedline, who knew hiring reform could be so exciting? From Obit, an article on Jack Bauer's final minutes: 24’s nightmare days are at an end; and HBO’s new film on Jack Kevorkian tackles a man and an issue. Race under fire: Is being white something you can learn? Robert Baird reviews Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy by Keith Waldrop. From Dark Roasted Blend, an article on flags of forgotten countries (and part 2). An interview with Gregory Currie, author of Narratives and Narrators: A Philosophy of Stories. What's with conservatives' fetish for the Founding Fathers? Gabriel Winant wants to know. Amid complaints about high taxes and calls for a smaller government, Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman's presidency. Mr. Bridge: The greatest player in the world — perhaps the greatest player of all time — is a seemingly unremarkable, quietly intense septuagenarian from Dallas named Bob Hamman. A review of Bradley J. Birzer’s American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll. An interview with James Galbraith: "The danger posed by the deficit is zero". Hip-hop holds African-Americans back: A review of Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture by Thomas Chatterton Williams. The Eggheads Scramble: How is intellectual life shaping up in the Obama era? Scott McLemee collects evidence from the news vendor.
