From Foreign Policy, here's the 2009 Failed States Index (and a response). Bound Men: Why black conservatism has so much explaining to do and why it’s already lost. Stephen Law on the case of the sixth islander and Jesus' historicity. Fears of Muslim anger over religious book: Does God Hate Women? by Jeremy Stangroom and Ophelia Benson cites attitudes to women and criticises Mohammed's marriage. Could the era of overparenting — also known as helicoptering, smothering mothering, alpha parenting or child-centered parenting — be over? A review of Simon Garfield’s Mini: the True and Secret History of the Making of a Motor Car. A review of The Vision Revolution by Mark Changizi. Remixed Messages: What happens when an artifact of persuasion encounters the modern marketplace. Nicole Rudick reviews Black Light by Kehinde Wiley. A review of Lives in Science: How Institutions Affect Academic Careers by Joseph C. Hermanowicz. An article on Awful Library Books, a blog that catalogs the worst books found on local shelves. The Joys of Brain Scrubbing: A look at the advantages of memory deletion in a collectively omniscient world. Two researchers crunching population statistics have confirmed an unsettling reality: How did 100,000,000 women disappear?

From Technology Review, can aging be solved? Gerontology pioneer Leonard Hayflick discusses the biological causes of aging; and Ray Kurzweil says that exponential advances will allow us to intervene in the aging process. A review of Parallel Empires: The Vatican and the United States — Two Centuries of Alliance and Conflict by Massimo Franco and Against the Grain: Christianity and Democracy, War and Peace by George Weigel. A review of Wolfram Kaiser's Christian Democracy and the Origins of European Union. How do we know we're not in a cult? Here are some warning signs. A review of Driving Like Crazy: Thirty Years of Vehicular Hell-bending, Celebrating America the Way It's Supposed To Be — With an Oil Well in Every Backyard, a Cadillac of the Federal Reserve Mowing Our Lawn by P. J. O'Rourke (and more and more and more and more). An article on George Hamilton: "Please don't think I just went out with famous women". Street Farmer: Can Will Allen make the inner city the next front in the good-food movement? The wickedness of the long hot shower: James Garvey argues that climate change is a serious moral problem — for you. Beyond abstraction: An article on moving the public on climate action. A look at the future of 5 telescopes in space.

From Wired, tech is too cheap to meter: Chris Anderson on why it's time to manage for abundance, not scarcity; and here are genius strategies for defanging the Web’s harshest critics. Anne Applebaum on a close reading of Sarah Palin's Facebook message to the nation. In order to remain as predictable as possible, Wonkette’s writers have decided they really don’t like Rep. Michele Bachmann. Did the toppling of Saddam Hussein lead to recent events in Iran? Death of the Whiz Kid: Fred Kaplan on Robert McNamara. An interview with Henry Kissinger: "Obama is like a chess player". Meet Orly Taitz, Queen Bee of people obsessed with Barack Obama's birth certificate. A review of Living up to Death by Paul Ricoeur. Why did the bankers behave so badly? Veteran TV naturalist David Attenborough loves humans as much as other wildlife, but not when global populations are out of control. The John Roberts Method: How the Supreme Court is patiently bending the law to the right. Is Sasha Grey porn's first artiste? From Time, a special report on the legacy of FDR. From American, a review of Tyler Cowen's Create Your Own Economy: The Path to Prosperity in a Disordered World; and as American as cricket: Cricket and baseball are twin brothers, separated at birth.

From Boston Review, development in dangerous places: A forum on global poverty and intervention, with Paul Collier, William Easterly, Larry Diamond, and more. Does every book deserve a review? Jacob Silverman investigates. In a fine tradition of literary punch-ups, here are some legendary insults. A look at why incompetence spreads through big organizations. A review of The Meaning of Sarkozy by Alain Badiou (and at Bookforum, John Lichfield reviews Sarkozy's Testimony: France in the Twenty-first Century). From Vanity Fair, Christopher Hitchens on Gordon Brown and the Labour Party; Michael Lewis on Joseph Cassano, the man who crashed the world; Michael Wolff on The Politico's Washington coup; and an article on Julia Child. Superman, Batman and The Flash could soon be joining forces with The 99, a team of superheroes based on Islamic culture and religion. From The Walrus, an interview with Camille Paglia: “We’re in a period of what Northrop Frye would have called the winter phase of irony and satire.” Last Man Standing: It’s no cause for celebration, but the global financial crisis shows why the United States remains the indispensable nation. The Man in Our Mirror: Black America's eulogies for the King of Pop also let us resurrect his best self.