How the Romans invented Facebook, sort of.
November/December 2013
Guerrillas in the Midst
Why our next war will be fought in cities.
Campaign 2012: How We Dodged a Bullet
Mitt Romney didn’t lose because of the GOP’s far-right agenda. That’s what’s scary.
Dark Sidekick
How Dick Cheney controlled, and lost control of, George W. Bush.
Talk of the Toons
A selection of political cartoons from the past few weeks.
Our All-Purpose Fill-in-the-Blanks Senate Eulogy
In 1945, the average age in the Senate was fifty-nine. Today, it’s sixty-two. As our democracy becomes a gerontocracy, it raises all sorts of policy challenges. But for speechwriters, it raises a unique one. Over the course of the Senate’s history, 299 sitting senators have died in office—one death every nine months. That’s a lot… Read more »
How “Race Neutrality” Can Save Affirmative Action
Americans’ surprising commitment to fairness.
Connecting Kids to College and Careers
Five ideas that really work.
Not Your Father’s Shop Class
The promising revival of career and technical education.
How to Build a Better Launch Pad for Young Americans
A commonsense plan that Congress can pass now.
Nice Places Finish First
The economic returns of civic virtue.
The Living-in-the-Basement Generation
How young adults are faring in America’s twenty-five biggest metro areas.
The 2013 Opportunity Index
How well is your state helping you succeed?
Introduction: Where Is Opportunity in America?
Once upon a time, proponents of the idea of “American exceptionalism” used to point to Europe’s high youth unemployment rates as an object lesson. See what happens, they’d lecture, when countries have inflexible labor markets and cradle-to-grave social benefits? But an inconvenient truth has emerged. The youth unemployment rate in the United States is now… Read more »
The War of Rape
What happened to Jamie Leigh Jones in Iraq?
Women, War, and PTSD
Are female warriors more likely to be traumatized by combat?
Selective Service
Which elite colleges send the most graduates into government and nonprofit careers?
Tilting at Windmills
Fair-weather Democrats You probably read about the two Democratic state senators who lost recall elections in Colorado because they voted to strengthen gun laws in the state. What struck me in the New York Times account that I read is that 21,000 fewer voters turned out than had in 2010. That was the midterm election,… Read more »
Stay Put, Young Man
Americans used to be exceptional for how often they moved. But that once-powerful source of both efficiency and upward mobility is now in steep decline.