September/October 2012
This issue’s cover story, “America’s Painful Divide,” examines how our country is politically polarized, now more than ever. How do we heal the rift and bring our nation—left, right, and center—back together?
To learn about how we choose our cover illustration, watch this video from Editorial Director Steven Slon and Art Director Amanda Bixler.
Also, relish in Joyce Carol Oates’ personal essay “Quilts”; an in-depth feature on America’s healthcare mess; new fiction from Valerie Trueblood; and a story all about great American mobster flicks and why they’re so hard to resist.
Features
America’s Painful Divide
The country is polarized and embattled to the point of dysfunction. What will it take to bring us back together? ... More
Mob Love
The classic toughs of the silver screen are ultimate individualists, who know no boundaries. It’s a formula impossible to resist. ... More
- September 21, 1957
Out of My Past - August 15, 1931
Big Shots or Pop Guns? - January 14, 1956
How I Got This Way - December 12, 1959
I Defend a Mobster
Related Articles
Post Perspective on Healthcare
“Just about every American can cite a personal example of the staggering benefits—and equally staggering costs—of today’s medicine. Here’s mine …” writes Frederick Allen in our September/October 2012 issue. But were the staggering costs always there? Is today’s medicine better than it was 50 or even 60 years ago? After reading our archival pieces below, ... More
- May 28, 1949
Do You Really Want Socialized Medicine?
Related Articles
Quilts
“After my mother died in 2003 for a long time I would imagine her with me, in my study,” writes best-selling author Joyce Carol Oates. Here, she tells how her mother’s quilt became “a sign of how love endures in the most elemental and comforting of ways.” ... More
Attack of the Killer Fees
Last year banks started charging fees for previously free transactions. Learn how to spot and avoid the newest, most hidden banking charges. ... More
Ireland’s Follies
Touring the whimsical, intentionally pointless structures known as follies that dot the Irish landscape. ... More
Hopeless Heritage
An emergency-room crisis brings up echoes of the past in this contemporary work of fiction. ... More
Departments
A Perfect Childhood
By: Philip Gulley
Growing up in a small American town where, through the sweet haze of memory, time forever stands still. ... More
Sole, Zucchini, and Tomato Napoleon with Tomato-Caper Crudo
By: Patrick Perry
Trim your food budget and still eat well. Try this delicious recipe from celebrity chef Melissa d’Arabian’s Ten Dollar Dinners. ... More
Meet the Ultrabooks
By: Jeff Bertolucci
The dull, six-pound laptop is giving way to a new wave of stylish thin-and-light models. ... More
Europe and You
By: Russell Wild, MBA
Stay the course or flee to safety? How the overseas debt crisis is likely to impact your portfolio in coming months and years. ... More
Out of the Dark
By: Julie A. Evans
Virginia Jacko lost her vision at the peak of her career, then turned her blindness into a stunning asset. ... More
Going it Alone
By: Ann Kim
After a diagnosis of breast cancer at 39, this mother of two was devastated to learn that doctors expected her to make all key treatment decisions. ... More
A Dream Come True
By: Robert Berridge
Rockwell’s rural fantasies take flight in a 1935 painting that would later come to define him. ... More
