Marcel Germain (cc)
Blunt Instrument
The evidence is clear: imposing sanctions to promote democracy is foolish—in Iran and elsewhere.
The Past is not Past
South Carolina’s recent actions illustrate why we still need Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Big Brother Buys a GPS
The Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Jones was a victory for Fourth Amendment values, but many important questions remain unanswered.
Citizen Philosophers
All Brazilians are required to study philosophy. Will it make any difference to their democracy?
In the News
A federal appeals court today struck down California’s ban on same-sex marriage, passed by voters in 2008.
For more on this issue, read:
• Pamela Karlan: On the future of same-sex marriage and the Supreme Court
• Nancy Cott: What history tells us about remaking marriage
• Mary Shanley: On the public importance of private unions
The Soft Side of Regime Change
In A Single Roll of the Dice, Trita Parsi unwittingly sides with a neoconservative agenda for Iran.
Plus: Trita Parsi and Ali Ansari respond.
Longtime BR contributor Martha Nussbaum discusses Creating Capabilities with California Lawyer Magazine’s Martin Lasden.
essays
Messin’ with Texas
The Legal Wrangle over Redistricting
Samuel Issacharoff—Web only
The Return of Inequality
Occupy Wall Street has transformed the 2012 election.
Ari Paul—Web only
Digital Culture Wars
SOPA and the Fight for Control of Online Content
Frank Pasquale—Web only
Not So Nasty, Brutish, and Short
Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature
Claude S. Fischer
A World on Fire
Life and Death in a New Orleans Squat
Danelle Morton
A Shared Fate
The Political Implications of the Eurozone Crisis
Jan-Werner Müller—Web only
fiction
Mutts
Duchess, the dog that Jack and his dad brought home, is sitting by the kitchen table in a pair of women’s underpants.
David Riordan
Unpacking
Ben Katchor’s The Cardboard Valise
John Crowley
Sites of Interest: Boston Smarts
Forums
The Future of Black Politics
Black movements have historically led the fight for social and economic justice. It is time to rebuild black politics, argues Michael C. Dawson.
A forum on the power and potential of black movements, with responses from William Julius Wilson, Andra Gillespie, Tommie Shelby, Rev. Patrick H. O’Connor, Jennifer L. Hochschild, Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres, Dorian T. Warren. Dawson replies.
State of the Nation
The Brown Majority
America’s dramatic demographic shift
Stephen Ansolabehere
A World Apart
There are still two Americas
Ryan D. Enos
poetry
The Suffering World
Poets Grieve
Katie Peterson
All Together Now
How Description Fosters Connection
Siobhan Phillips
The State of Utah Is Shaped Like a Glove
Alina Gregorian
Some Novelties of Stagecraft
Matthew Gagnon
Poet’s Sampler
Introduced by Katy Lederer
Iris Cushing
The Bicameral Eyeball
John Ashbery
More Poetry & Poetry Criticism
On Film
An Acquired Taste
Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk about Kevin
Alan A. Stone
Keep up with your favorite independent, nonprofit magazine!
BR Kindle Singles
POOR REASON
Culture Still Doesn't
Explain Poverty
by Stephen Steinberg
APOCALYPSE
by Junot Díaz
