The 14 3/4 Biggest Ideas of the Year
A guide to the intellectual trends that, for better or worse, are most shaping America right now
July/August 2010
In This Issue
A guide to the biggest ideas of the year, the politically incorrect guide to ending poverty, why we should call terrorists nitwits, and more
Features
The End of Men
Women are dominating society as never before.
Are Fathers Necessary?
A paternal contribution may not be as essential as we think.
Xanadu
A map of one couple’s attempt to build the world’s greenest home
Closing the Digital Frontier
How media companies are taming the Internet’s chaos
The Littlest Schoolhouse
Helping wayward students—by personalizing curricula
No Refills
Why are fewer drugs being approved, even as R&D surges?
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Ending Poverty
An eminent economist discovers the virtues of colonialism.
The Case for Calling Them Nitwits
Most terrorists are bungling fools. Spread the word.
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Monsters in the Market
In today’s exchanges, strong programs prey on weak ones, humans are hard to find, and the SEC struggles to keep up.
A Promising Land
Small towns in the South are looking for a few good Jewish families.
Matt Dorfman Rent a White Guy
Confessions of a fake businessman from Beijing
Jacob Thomas Googlethink
The giant’s creepy efforts to read my mind
Claudia Cricca/Redux The Vigilante
Italy’s Northern League party exploits a brutal crime for a dubious law.
The Mother of All Invention
How the Xerox 914 gave rise to the Information age
David L. Moore/Alamy A Killer Vacation
On The Shining’s 30th anniversary, a visit to the hotels that inspired Stephen King’s novel— and the Stanley Kubrick film he scorned
Books
Alex Williamson The Racket
How the numbers game shaped Harlem
Kim Rosen Our Houses, Our Selves
A new crop of books suggests that for women, obsession with real estate is replacing obsession with love and marriage.
Silja GÖtz Cover to Cover
New fiction from Jane Smiley and A. L. Kennedy; the concise LBJ; Jung and Pauli’s cosmic convergence; and more
Also in this issue
John Springer Collection/Corbis 
Graham Roumieu What’s Your Problem?
What they’re lying about, and other advice
