The Shame of College Sports
College quarterbacks are denounced for partying with agents or trading autographs for tattoos, but the real scandal is the NCAA’s fundamentally unjust concept of amateurism.
October 2011
In This Issue
How the NCAA is exploiting players, Russia's Silicon Valley, political sex scandals, and more
Features
Sex and the Married Politician
As the list of politicos laid low by sexual scandal grows longer, history offers lessons on when the press should opt for exposure—and when it should leave well enough alone.
The Next Russian Revolution
Outside Moscow, the Kremlin is making plans for a Russian Silicon Valley. But while tech companies are on board, the Russian people are less enthusiastic.
The Idea Factory
What happens when you gather the world’s most imaginative minds under one roof?
Where the Skills Are
In today’s expanding cities, social skills are becoming ever more essential to economic growth.
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Susana Gonzalez/DPA/Corbis Beauty and the Beast
A good-looking governor seeks to make Mexican voters forget the corrupt past of their old ruling party.
John Ashcroft White Rhino, Black Market
Why old stuffed rhinos now command top dollar
Courtesy Jone Fine: Original photograph by Martha Bayne I Gave My Ears to Rock and Roll
Wearing earplugs could have saved the author’s hearing, but at the cost of his soul.
Edwin Remsberg/Alamy Building a Better Bug
Can scientists beat malaria by reengineering the mosquito?
Benoit Rogez Prague’s Bad Dream
Postcard from an awakened city
John Ashcroft Meme Weaver
The author tries—and fails—to cash in on a big idea.
From Gluttony Without Gluten
It’s easy, with the help of good new products and even better books.
Ulrich Münstermann Ferry Tales
The most enlightening way to cross the Mediterranean is by boat.
Taylor Callery Meet the New Boss
Second Life’s creator wants to rewire how businesses run.
Columns
Julian Stratenschulte/EPA/Corbis Resistance Is Futile
We won’t stop the rising tide of infections until we develop a new business model to fight them.
Sean McCabe Everything Old
Our obsession with musical nostalgia is strangling pop.
Books
Great American Cynic
Ambrose Bierce’s astringent prose style reflects the severity of his vision.
Ellen Weinstein The Bitch Is Back
Are menopausal women mad, bad, and dangerous? Yes—but they’re really just returning to normal.
Felix Man/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Ladies’ Man
David Lodge’s new novel of H. G. Wells’s very active love life
Jesse Lenz Down Underworld
The brilliant foreignness of Australian crime fiction
Editor's Note
James Bennet Letters to the editor
Responses and reverberations
Gallery
Poetry
Advice
Nishant Choksi
