COVER
Waiting for "Superman": A Call to Action for Our Schools (Cover)
Decades into America's fight over how to improve education, a new documentary makes a compelling case for urgent reform on behalf of kids. Why Waiting for "Superman" is not just a movie but a dispatch from a revolution
How to Recruit Better Teachers (The Well / National Service)
There aren't enough good educators to fill the toughest--and even the not-so-tough--classrooms. Pay and prestige are part of the problem. Here's a fix
Not a Teacher? Not a Problem. (National Service)
Public education needs all the help it can get. Here's how to lend a hand
ESSAY
Volume Control (Commentary / The Curious Capitalist)
Individual investing is down. Computer-generated trading is up. Are flash crashes the new normal?
Election Road Trip: Beyond the Sound Bites (Commentary / In the Arena)
Joe Klein's diagonal cross-country drive begins, in search of the news beyond the sound bites
I Want a Second Kid. Unfortunately, It Takes Two (The Awesome Column)
I desperately want another child. Too bad my wife's the one with the uterus
Media Frenzy (Commentary / Downing Street Memo)
Will David Cameron's spin doctor be brought down by the tabloid culture he helped create?
NATION
Can the Tea Party Cross the Delaware? (The Well / Nation)
Angry rebels have upended Establishment Republicans in Kentucky, Nevada, Alaska and Utah this year. Is Mike Castle next?
WORLD
A Boardwalk Empire Crumbles: Can Atlantic City Be Revived? (Postcard)
Hobbled by the recession and outglitzed by new competitors, America's Playground has fallen on hard times. Betting big on a comeback by the boardwalk
Kashmir's New Warriors (World)
Their cause is not independence or union with Pakistan but the ouster of India's military from their homeland
Pakistan's Waiting Place
While Pakistan grapples with how to pick itself up from its catastrophic flooding, refugees at a camp in the town of Thatta await their fate
TO OUR READERS
To Teach Is to Serve
Our fourth annual national-service issue examines the problems of public education in America — and how to fix them
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Fall Entertainment Preview (Fall Preview)
The days are getting shorter, but there's still plenty to do. Take a spin through the best of the coming season
BUSINESS
The Big Rigs Go Hybrid
A new truck system called the hydraulic hybrid shows great promise. Its prime developer? Surprise: the EPA
SCIENCE
How the Chilean Miners Are Surviving Underground (Psychology)
The drama of 33 Chilean miners facing months of underground imprisonment is a real-time experiment in how the human mind, body and spirit adapt to such an ordeal
Inside The Mine
The 33 trapped miners have more room to move around than most people think. In addition to the main room, in which they regularly gather, they have a number of adjacent tunnels, as sketched out on a napkin, below, and sent up by one of the men
SOCIETY
What's Fueling the Battle Over Raw Milk? (Life / Taste of America)
Between cow and customer comes regulation. What's fueling the rage for (and against) unpasteurized milk
Digging Deep for Smarter Heat (Life / Going Green)
Geothermal pumps offer homes and stores a way to heat and cool on the cheap
Why Do Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers? (Life / Health)
One of the most contentious issues in the vast literature about alcohol consumption has been the consistent finding that those who don't drink tend to die sooner than those who do
SPECIAL SECTION
10 Start-Ups That Will Change Your Life (Global Business / Tech Pioneers)
Meet some of the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers — and the innovations they are bringing to market
Meltdown Forensics (Global Business)
Some of the players are still trying to explain what happened in the crisis. So they can blame somebody else
PEOPLE
10 Questions for James Ellroy (10 Questions)
The L.A. Confidential author has a new memoir, The Hilliker Curse. James Ellroy will now take your questions
LETTERS
Inbox (Inbox)
BRIEFING
The Moment
9|7|10: Chicago
The World
10 ESSENTIAL STORIES
Mark Halperin's Take: Obama Losing Patience (Washington: The Politics Page)
It's not that Republicans are saying President Obama's tax incentive proposals are bad, they just don't want to help him
What Ever Happened to Obama's Army? (Washington: The Politics Page)
President Obama's political machine, Organizing for America, is MIA after two years of neglect
Lab Report: Health, Science and Medicine
Verbatim
Brief History: Book Burnings
The Skimmer
Book review: The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow