Is America Any Safer?
Since 9/11, the United States has spent $1 trillion to defend against al-Qaeda and ISIL, dirty bombs and lone wolves, bioterror and cyberterror. Has it worked?
September 2016
In This Issue
Transplanting human heads to save lives, evaluating U.S. homeland security 15 years after 9/11, how the plight of the white underclass drives American politics, reclaiming critical inquiry in Vietnamese schools, and much more
Cover Story
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The Audacious Plan to Save This Man’s Life by Transplanting His Head
What would happen if it actually works?
Reading Raphael in Hanoi
Critical inquiry is discouraged in modern-day Vietnamese schools. But, one student argues, there’s an encouraging trend of young people seeking out alternative viewpoints from around the world.
The Original Underclass
Poor white Americans’ current crisis shouldn’t have caught the rest of the country as off guard as it has.
Dispatches
Edmon de Haro Why Are Some Conservative Thinkers Falling for Trump?
A few themes emerge among intellectuals on the right about what attracts them to the candidate: his campaign’s energy, his impassioned following, and his eagerness to call out the establishment.
John Cuneo Breaking Into Baseball’s Ultimate Boys’ Club
Jessica Mendoza, a former athlete and MLB’s first female TV analyst, brings a player’s sensibility to her job. But she’s still subject to the routine abuse directed at women in sports journalism.
Mark Blinch Big in Canada: Throwing Axes for Fun
“A violently good time”
Meir Kaplan Rebuilding a Former Slave’s House in the Smithsonian
Few Reconstruction-era residences from communities of former slaves are still standing today. The Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture will feature the reassembled structure of one.
Kristian Hammerstad How Helicopter Parenting Can Cause Binge Drinking
The way some white professionals raise their children is exacerbating an alcohol problem on U.S. college campuses.
James Walton The Charisma Effect
How to bend people to your will
Max-o-matic Why the U.S. President Needs a Council of Historians
It isn’t enough for a commander in chief to invite friendly academics to dinner. The U.S. could avoid future disaster if policy makers started looking more to the past.
Alvaro Dominguez Fun With DNA
Tiny computers, microscopic art, bringing back the dodo—the future uses of the double helix
The Culture File
Nick Iluzada How British Soccer Became Must-See TV
The new season of the Premier League will be the best ever.
Edward Kinsella III Invented Disaster and the American Jewish Experience
With his new novel, Here I Am, Jonathan Safran Foer adds to the emerging literature of the Gen X male’s midlife crisis.
Gaby D’Alessandro When Parks Were Radical
More than 150 years ago, Frederick Law Olmsted changed how Americans think about public space.
Matt Herring How Beyoncé and Kanye Made Marriage Cool Again
Lemonade and The Life of Pablo showcase surprisingly conservative ideals about the seriousness and irreversibility of wedlock.
Departments
The Conversation
Readers respond to our June 2016 cover story and more.
Graham Roumieu What Fictional School Would You Most Like to Attend?
A big question
Poetry
Encryption
A poem
