A new issue of National Affairs is out. Randy T. Simmons, Diana W. Thomas and Ryan M. Yonk (Utah State): Bootleggers, Baptists, and Political Entrepreneurs: Key Players in the Rational Game and Morality Play of Regulatory Politics. From Lacan.com, Slavoj Zizek on Gotterdammerung, or the Reign of Human Love. Where do bad ideas come from, and why don't they go away? Stephen Walt wants to know. Joseph Carroll on Denis Dutton, universal connoisseur (and more). Whatever happened to the "ground zero mosque"? 2010 wasn't just the most dangerous year ever — it might've been the weirdest, too. 2011, the year you weren’t expecting: A calendar of the obscure and surprising in the year to come. What happens to people when their unemployment insurance runs out and they still can't find a job? The incredible shrinking sound bite: It's not just a modern problem — and may not be such a bad thing after all. Why criticism matters: Six accomplished critics explain the importance of their work. From The American Spectator, a special report: Is the U.S. government promoting homosexuality overseas? From The New Yorker, Peter Maass on how the media inflated a minor moment in a long war in Iraq. Literary tips for those who govern in prose: What political leaders read — or in some cases write — sometimes says a great deal about the character of the individual and the nature of their administrations.
