What Putin Really Wants
Russia's strongman president has many Americans convinced of his manipulative genius. He's really just a gambler who won big.
January/February 2018
In This Issue
Russia’s election-hack gamble, God’s plan for Mike Pence, and the case against college for everyone. Plus, exoneration without DNA evidence, Eva Moskowitz’s charter-school revolution, the jellyfish apocalypse, and more.
Cover Story
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God’s Plan for Mike Pence
Will the vice president—and the religious right—be rewarded for their embrace of Donald Trump?
Can You Prove Your Innocence Without DNA?
Benjamine Spencer is serving a life sentence for a violent crime he insists he didn't commit. But he lacks biological evidence—and old-fashioned detective work may not be enough to clear his name.
The Charter-School Crusader
The combative Eva Moskowitz has created the nation’s most impressive school system—and made lots of enemies in the process.
Dispatches
Edmon de Haro The World Might Be Better Off Without College for Everyone
Students don't seem to be getting much out of higher education.
Rami Niemi Choke-Proof Food That Tastes Like the Real Thing
In Japan, where more people die each year from choking than in traffic accidents, mush is getting a high-tech treatment.
When the Presses Stop
Bernie Krisher helped bring free journalism to Cambodia. Now, as the country reverts to autocracy, his paper has been shut down. Will he survive the heartbreak? Will Cambodia?
Christopher DeLorenzo The Power of Negative Thinking
Pessimists fare better than people with a sunnier disposition.
Steve Scott Robots Will Transform Fast Food
That might not be a bad thing.
Alvaro Dominguez The App That Reminds You You’re Going to Die
It helped me find inner peace.
Joe McKendry Shirley Temple, by the Numbers
A very short book excerpt
The Culture File
Jason Raish A Mind-Bending Translation of the New Testament
David Bentley Hart’s text recaptures the awkward, multivoiced power of the original.
Antony Hare The Finnish Director Making the Most-Interesting Movies About Immigration
As his country's biggest filmmaker, Aki Kaurismäki has long critiqued the government's refugee policy. But his art takes care not to treat it like a hot-button issue.
Susaro / Getty Imagining the Jellyfish Apocalypse
The stinging, gelatinous blobs could take over the world’s oceans.
Grace Heejung Kim The Storyteller Who Offers No Escape
Hungary’s László Krasznahorkai writes fiction devoid of revelation, resolution, and even periods.
Sarabande Books The Propulsive Power of Catapult
A new dynamic collection of short stories from Emily Fridlund revels in discomfort and disorientation.
Departments
The Conversation: A Death at Penn State
Readers respond to a November 2017 story and more.
William Anders / NASA What Was the Most Influential Photograph in History?
A big question
Poetry
Ring
A poem
