From TNR, Alan Wolfe on how education is changing politics; and why honor prevents John McCain from telling the truth. A look at what McCain's books tell us about him. Going beyond fair and balanced: Despite popular accounts, researchers found that Barack Obama got more negative press coverage than John McCain did in the early summer. David Cay Johnston celebrates the bailout bill's failure — and looks ahead. Tayt Harlin reviews Voice Over by Celine Curiol. From Secular Culture and Ideas, Gregory Kaplan on an intellectual history of secularism; an article on Baruch Spinoza, the last medieval heretic or the first secular Jew; an interview with Rebecca Goldstein, author of Betraying Spinoza; an excerpt from The Jewish Century by Yuri Slezkine; an excerpt from The Rise of Modern Yiddish Culture by David Fishman; and why do American Jews cling to traditional simple images of the shtetl? A look at the real danger in over-romanticizing America's small towns. The Pigou Club Goes to Washington: Higher pollution taxes make sense, provided the revenues are used to offset existing taxes that distort incentives. How Sweden and Denmark kicked a nasty fossil fuel habit (using taxes) and got rich in the process, but the diet may not be effective for all political body types. How Adam Smith's theory of moral sentiments could be applied to cap-and-trade greenhouse-gas emissions.
