IN THE December 21, 2015, ISSUE
The Essence of Katniss
If there were an Oscar — and given the shape of the movie industry these days, maybe there should be — for Sustained Excellence across Multiple Installments of a Tentpole ...
Also In This Issue
Articles
Symbols and Their Limits
After the latest terror attacks in Paris, a hashtag arose: “#PrayForParis.” A symbol arose, too. Designed by Jean Jullien, a French illustrator, it was a peace sign with the Eiffel ...
The Right to Be a Victim
In 1986, Leonard Hall of New York City got into a brawl with a man in a store at the corner of 127th Street and Lenox Avenue. Unsatisfied with the ...
Race, Class, Health
U.S. health progress is badly faltering because of racial, social, and economic disparities, according to many public-health specialists, both in the academy and in Washington, D.C. Proponents of this view ...
With the Refugees
The most chilling man I met in Eastern Europe had trekked from Serbia into Croatia, laboring through thick mud with a woman and two adorable children. He had a nice ...
The Spratly Showdown
Obama-administration officials have been busy patting themselves on the back for what happened on October 27 in the South China Sea. There, the Arleigh Burke–class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen passed ...
Jalen Rose’s Charter School
Detroit — Kids have it easy these days, goes the familiar complaint — and it’s wrong, says Jalen Rose, the retired basketball star. “It’s harder now,” he insists. “You know ...
Features
G.I. JAG
The car was moving at high speed. It had just broken a blockade of American and Iraqi forces and was trying to escape into the gathering dusk. American soldiers, driving ...
Fewer Guns, Less Homicide?
The United States has a much higher homicide rate than just about any other highly developed country, and it also has much more civilian gun ownership. Further, within the U.S., ...
Books, Arts & Manners
The Left’s Long Con
Precious were the recriminations after the first Democratic presidential debate. Putative nominee Hillary Clinton, amid what is more a coronation than a contest, had proudly boasted of making the Republicans ...
The Virtues of Ben Bernanke
Ben Bernanke’s new book is a must-read, which is to say it will be read only by those of us who must, of whom there are more than a few, ...
The GOP’s Spirit of ’96
He was a man of modest birth and a longtime Ohio congressman, with a passion for fiscal policy and a driving ambition for the White House. He sought to expand ...
Conservatism and the Conservatory
The observation is often made that political conservatives do not have anything much to say about the arts, either believing, with the libertarians, that in this matter people should be ...
The Essence of Katniss
If there were an Oscar — and given the shape of the movie industry these days, maybe there should be — for Sustained Excellence across Multiple Installments of a Tentpole ...
Sections
Letter
An Embracing America
I loved “Civil-Rights Republicanism” by Theodore R. Johnson (November 2). I’m an immigrant. I believe that America is so great that it can embrace us wanna-be Americans and ...
The Week
‐ President Obama insisted that gathering in Paris to eat canapés and chat about the weather in the wake of the horrific Islamic State attack on that city constitutes a ...
Of Carbon and Capricorn
Survey says: Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe in pseudo-science that they think affects their lives directly but really has no bearing whatsoever.
But enough about climate change. Turns ...
Dear Residents of Whoville:
By now, you’ve probably noticed that the various gifts and decorations you associate with your holiday have been removed during the night.
I don’t expect that this discovery has made you ...
Poetry
ENTITLED WILDLIFE
I’ve fought my way to easier days –
So others should who find life hard.
So why are there, beneath my gaze,
So many single mothers in my yard?
They even carp when ...
Apropos Appropriation
If there’s one thing American moviegoers want to see in their campy computer-generated Hollywood blockbusters, it’s ethnically authentic actors.
Or so I imagine. Because of an unhealthy obsession with the ancient ...