COVER
How Financial Madness Overtook Wall Street (The Well / Cover Story)
For years the financial markets roared along as if there were nothing to fear. Now it's payback time — and all of us will be feeling the pain
NATION
Where's the Fire? (The Well / Campaign '08)
Barack Obama has Democrats worried. But the candidate is calm. Here's why
Maxed-Out Moms: The Battleground Voting Bloc (The Well / Campaign '08)
A new TIME poll shows John McCain and Sarah Palin are winning over the swing voters that both sides need in November. But will it last?
Facts, Fables & Fibs (Campaign '08)
Both candidates say they want to run a clean campaign. In reality, they are tossing mud in every direction
ESSAY
Life and Death
Advances in science are altering what it means to be human. So why aren't the candidates talking about it?
John McCain and the Lying Game (Commentary / In the Arena)
Every politician stretches the truth. But McCain is running a uniquely dishonest campaign
Fashion Frills (Commentary / The Awesome Column)
Hanging out with a mesmerizing array of models can do things to your brain
BRIEFING
A Brief History Of: Presidential Debates
The Numerati
Richard Wright
The Page
For Lehman Staffers, a Long Walk Home
Lehman employees leaving work on the day the firm filed for bankruptcy faced a tumult of reporters, gawkers, opportunists — and even a few who just wanted to help
The World
10 ESSENTIAL STORIES
Verbatim
Milestones
Drawing Room
Pop Chart
Peter Camejo
WORLD
Death in Birth (The Well / World)
The number of women in poor countries who die in childbirth has barely changed in two decades — and this despite a host of medical breakthroughs. How can the incidence of this devastating human tragedy be reduced?
Raising a Glass to East Germany (Postcard: Berlin)
A new pub aims to celebrate, with tongue in cheek, the old communist regime. Not everyone appreciates the joke
BUSINESS
O.K., Don't Panic (Financial Crisis)
How to find your way through the market mayhem
RELIGION
The Bible Goes Green for the Prius Age (Life / Religion)
A color-coded Bible is geared to environmentalists
TECHNOLOGY
The Chevy Volt: GM's Huge Bet on the Electric Car (Cars)
The stalwart Detroit automaker that shied away from electric and hybrid tech in the '90s, has done an about-face, unveiling the Volt, a fully electric plug-in car. Question is: Will General Motors survive until production begins?
Still Life with Video (Life / User's Guide)
Nikon's new camera lets you shoot pictures like a pro and take high-def video like an amateur
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
New TV Series — Last Year's Strike Victims — Get a Do-Over (Television)
Last year's strike victims get a do-over. Has absence made us fonder?
Brief Lives (Books)
Two true stories about parents losing children, one to death, the other to madness
David Foster Wallace: The Death of a Genius (Appreciation)
David Foster Wallace captured the essential loneliness of American life. But he couldn't escape it
5 Things You Should Know About (Downtime)
Darth Vader's apprentice, a Duchess of Devonshire and an indignant Roth
TO OUR READERS
Getting It Straight
From the campaign to the financial crisis, in print and online, TIME is taking new approaches to meet a familiar goal: giving you the truth