From Frontline, a special episode on Dreams of Obama. From Foreign Policy, the incoming U.S. president has made some impressive appointments, but he needs to start backing his words about fighting poverty and disease around the world with deeds; Marc Lynch on how to get out of Iraq; and why the U.S. Army's focus on nation-building at the expense of warfighting is misguided and dangerous. An Agenda for Obama: End America's counterproductive pursuit of space dominance. Someday we'll all look back on this and laugh — and Jim Cramer will laugh the loudest. Worried about your partner's bedpost notches? Get over it. A review of The Cambridge Companion to Logical Empiricism. A look at how Oprah's Book Club is dumbing down readers and rewarding mediocrity. A review of Fixing Global Finance by Martin Wolf. From Cafe Babel, an article on Italy's communist revival: return to the hammer and sickle? What we didn’t know has hurt us: The Bush administration was pathological about secrecy; here’s what needs to be undone after eight dark years — and why it won’t be easy. Advances in brain scanning are allowing psychiatrists to move from cautiously diagnosing symptoms to actually seeing the underlying malfunctions of the mind. Is a GED more valuable than a PhD? In an economy where everyone is overqualified, having an advanced degree is virtually worthless. 

From National Geographic, an article on the real price of gold. From Edge, a talk with Frank Wilczek on the Nobel Prize and after. With his reputation for romanticism and rambling and his love of gossip, Herodotus was dismissed by the serious thinkers of his day — yet his work is both entertaining and deeply moral. A look at 6 open letters that changed the world. A review of Presidential Command: Power, Leadership, and the Making of Foreign Policy from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush by Peter W. Rodman. Re-run: Why so many Americans under 30 are greeting a black president as old news? A review of Blubberland: The Dangers of Happiness by Elizabeth Farrelly. An interview with Daniel Tammet, author of Embracing the Wide Sky: A Tour Across the Horizons of the Mind. Can political affirmative action reduce gender bias? Affirmative action and after: Now is the time to reconsider a policy that must eventually change, but simply replacing race with class isn’t the solution. Hilzoy on race since the 80s. The new film "Examined Life" pounds the pavement with major philosophers; Scott McLemee jogs to catch up. More on books by Allen Ginsberg. From Foreign Policy, the champions of Islamic finance — banking and investing based on the Koran — believe that if Islamic principles had been applied to Wall Street, the global economic crisis never would have happened.

From Family Security Matters, here's the latest edition of America’s Most Dangerous College Courses. The Poet-In-Chief: His inauguration speech was a reminder than Barack Obama wrote his way into the job. You can download the Barack Obama Promise Tracker, 895 distinct campaign promises. When Chief Justice John Roberts swore in Barack Obama, variants on a post-’60s life converged. Edward Luce on George W. Bush: A tragedy of errors. The President's Last Goodbye: Slate crashes Bush's farewell party. A look at—Obama's new limo—ugly but it can fend off asteroids. Nicholas Lemann on presidents who really matter. Getting there from here: How should Obama reform health care? Linda Hirschman on Citizens, not Americans. All 155 people on board Flight 1549 survived; but what happens in those moments when you are certain you’re going to die? A tragic misunderstanding: A small group of Jews and Arabs are using an old theory and new genetic research to redefine—and, hopefully, one day to end—the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A review of Did My Neurons Make Me Do It? by Nancey Murphy and Warren S. Brown. The past is a disputed country: Archaeology's ability to reveal the truth untainted by political, cultural and nationalist bias remains a matter for heated debate. A review of The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder.

From New York, a special " All New" issue. When Buckley met Reagan: In 1961, the intellectual famous for describing the world met the future president eager to change it. Matt Ridley says that Darwinian selection explains the appearance of seemingly "designed" complexity throughout the world — not just in biology but in the economy, technology and the arts. A review of Baptism by Fire: Eight Presidents Who Took Office in Times of Crisis by Mark K. Updegrove. David Maraniss on Obama as a restless searcher on an improbable path. Six writers who lived where Obama lived — when he lived there — reflect on how those places may have affected him. An article on downsizing Michelle Obama — and why that's worrisome. Retooling Obama's campaign machine for the long haul: The vast network that helped elect Obama will be tapped to lobby lawmakers on behalf of the president. Social Movements 2.0: The tension around the pros and cons of online organizing has spurred a healthy debate in the social movement community. A review of The Natural History of Unicorns by Chris Lavers. Dumb is the New Smart: An essay on the perversions of modern American education. The Mystery of 2012: Not surprisingly, the Mayan-inspired mania surrounding 12/21/12 is more money-grubbing than actual science. Here's the last issue of Radical Middle Newsletter.