31 May 2012

The Nightstand (May 21-27)

Black Mormons and the Politics of Identity (Susan Saulny, NYT)

In China, Fear at the Top (Roderick MacFarquhar, NYT)

Unequal Shares (James Surowiecki, The New Yorker)

In Romney, Mormons See Path to Christian Mainstream (Noah Feldman, Bloomberg View)

Why China Won't Rule (Robert Skidelsky, Project Syndicate)-- Not sure I agree totally, but a worthy read nonetheless.

Israel In Peril (David Shulman, NYRB)

Who Will Save the Middle Class (Jeff Faux, The American Prospect)

The Latest to Botch Mormonism: Garry Wills (Joanna Brooks, Religion Dispatches)

Are Women Held Back by Colleagues' Wives? (Lauren Stiller Rikleen, Harvard Business Review)

Latter-day Politics (Amy Davidson, The New Yorker)

The Primal Ache (John Paul Rollert, Boston Review)

Why Private Equity Firms Like Bain Capital Really Are the Worst of Capitalism (Josh Kosman, Rolling Stone)

Is Mormonism Ridiculous? (Taylor Petrey, Peculiar People)-- Great article, but as usual, the comments section is atrocious.

20 May 2012

The Nightstand (May 13-19)

"Nadir and Me" (Joseph Heath, The Walrus)

The Lobbyist in the Gray Flannel Suit (Thomas Edsall, NYT)-- An interesting, and largely untold, story.

Unions that Divide: Churches Split Over Gay Marriage (Laurie Goodstein, NYT)-- As usual, the most important stuff is going on behind the scenes.

The Economic Case for Same-Sex Marriage (Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, Bloomberg View)

New series on college costs at the New York Times-- A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College (Andrew Martin and Andrew Lehren, NYT) and Slowly, As Student Debt Rises, Colleges Confront Costs (Andrew Martin, NYT)

Why are Teen Moms Poor? (Matthew Yglesias, Slate)

Money Unlimited: How John Roberts Orchestrated Citizens United (Jeffrey Toobin, The New Yorker)

Is the Filibuster Unconstitutional? (Ezra Klein, Wonkbook)

Even the Costa Ricans....and Chinese and Mexicans (Jonathan Cohn, The New Republic)

On Censorship (Salman Rushdie, New Yorker)

Mormons and Evangelicals (Jana Riess, Religion News Service)

Priest to profit: How the Mormon Church teaches priesthood holders to lead (Matt Bowman, WaPo)

Man on a mission: Mitt Romney in France (Steve Evans, WaPo)

Nuns on the Frontier (Anne Butler, NYT)

The Long Approach to the "Mormon Moment" (Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Religion & Politics)

Obama and Romney offer differing views of God (Lisa Miller, WaPo)

15 May 2012

The Nightstand (May 6-12)

How to win a culture war and lose a generation (Rachel Held Evans)-- Excellent, excellent essay.  Well written and heartfelt.

America's outdated view of China (Perry Link, WaPo)

Game Over for the Climate (James Hansen, NYT)

Family Way (Judith Warner, NYT)

North Carolina begs the question too (Democracy in America blog, The Economist)

The Mother's Day message I wish I could hear in the Mormon Church (Jana Reiss, RNS)

Gay Marriage Bans May Come at a Price (James B. Stewart, NYT)

Then Comes Marriage (William Saletan, Slate)

Some Thoughts on the War for the Heart and Soul of Mormonism (Jacob, By Common Consent)-- As a Mormon still sporting an Obama sticker in the church parking lot the week after the President came out in favor of same-sex marriage, I am hoping I am not the only one who reads this.

Mormonism and the Dilemma of Tragedy (Rachael Givens, Peculiar People)

Do As I Do, Not As I Say (T.M. Luhrmann, NYT)

Mormonism and Public Discourse on Religion (Susanna Morrill, Peculiar People)

How Wall Street Killed Financial Reform (Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone)-- I love Taibbi's reporting in RS, even if it depresses the hell out of me.

Can the Colleges Be Saved? (Anthony Grafton, NYRB)

The Nightstand (April 29 - May 5)

Unexceptionalism: A Primer (EL Doctorow, NYT)

The Sun, the Moon and Walmart (Homero Aridjis, NYT)

When Romney was a Mormon President (Max Mueller, Religion & Politics)

A Mormon Scholar Meets Latter-day Libertarians (Matt Bowman, Religion & Politics)

The Many Folds of Mormonism (Richard Livingston, Peculiar People)

The story of the first May Day (Alan Maass, The Socialist Worker)

What to do about the rich (The Philosopher's Beard)-- A Swiftian proposal

Two hundred years of surgery (Atul Gawande, NEJM)-- In commemoration of its 200th anniversary, NEJM publishes a short but interesting summary of the history of surgical intervention since the founding of the journal.

China's Corporate Leninism (John Lee, The American Interest)