COVER
Who Can Lead Us Out of This Mess? (The Well / Cover Story)
How to pick a President amid financial chaos
NATION
Smear Wars: Welcome to Negative Ad Season (The Well / Campaign '08)
Voters are being bombarded with negative ads. In the smear wars, accuracy is the first casualty
Three Men And a Bailout (The Well / Campaign '08)
How fears of another Depression forced an unlikely trio to take charge of U.S. capitalism — and why the country will never be the same
North Carolina's Financial Center is Riding High
As the country braces for economic turmoil, North Carolina's financial center is riding high. Trains, cranes and megabanks transform the New South
ESSAY
There They Go Again (The Well / Commentary)
How do candidates win debates? By practicing everything. Even the spontaneous parts
The Return of the Age of Activism (Commentary / In the Arena)
The financial meltdown may herald bigger reforms — if the next President makes government work again
The Ponzi Economy
Now that the bubble has burst, let's be frank: it was absurd to base our well-being on property prices
Lessons from The View (Tuned In)
It's mouthy, biased and sometimes a train wreck. And the press could learn from it. (No, seriously)
SCIENCE
Unfrozen Tundra (The Well / Environment: Planet in Peril)
A melting Greenland is the front line in the fight to save the earth, but it's just one of the places green heroes are doing amazing things
Greenland Odyssey
Photographer Hakan Ludwigson takes an environmental tour of the great frozen island
SOCIETY
A Spa That Slithers (Life / Travel)
Forget mud from the Dead Sea. Israel's latest tranquillity treatment has snakes on the brain
Snakes on a Face
Video: A spa treatment in Israel involves a writhing braid of live snakes. Try to relax
BRIEFING
Pop Chart
A Brief History Of: The Model T
Oct. 1 marks the 100th birthday of Ford's Model T — a car so affordable, it made automobiles necessities and launched American car culture. It's been quite a ride from there.
Verbatim
The Page
The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
The World
10 ESSENTIAL STORIES
Milestones
James Crumley
Mary Garber
The Moment
9|20|08: Islamabad
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Southern Accents (Pursuits / Food)
Melbourne's rich culinary melting pot has given rise to a bold new generation of Michelin-worthy chefs
WORLD
Lula's Way (The Well / Profile)
How a former shoeshine boy blended social programs with business-friendly policies to turn Brazil into Latin America's powerhouse
BUSINESS
America's No. 1 Export: Debt (The Well / The Curious Capitalist)
It's debt. And that explains a lot about why things are such a mess right now
TECHNOLOGY
MySpace Launches a Free-Music Revolution (Life / User's Guide)
Starting today, the new MySpace Music service will offer its members more than 2 million tunes from the catalogs of four major music labels — for free.
Maligned Online? How to Retaliate Against Web Attacks (Life / Technology)
If you've been slandered on the Web, your bad reputation may follow you offline too. Here are some tips for burnishing your online image
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Spike Lee Goes to War with Miracle at St. Anna (Movies)
The feisty auteur finds racism and redemption on the battlefield
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist: Enchanted Evening (Movies)
On a nocturnal New York odyssey, teens find music, love and their own true selves
Text and the City (Books)
The dark wisdom of Candace Bushnell's One Fifth Avenue
5 Things You Should Know About (Downtime)
A sensational publisher, a surprising epic and the Sarah Palin bio
State Secrets (Collections)
SPECIAL SECTION
Alice Waters (The Well / Environment: Planet in Peril)
This pioneer of cooking with fresh, local ingredients proves that going green can be a source of sublime pleasure
Peggy Liu (The Well / Environment: Planet in Peril)
Can one woman (and her remarkable Rolodex) connect the experts needed to meet China's challenges?
Van Jones (The Well / Environment: Planet in Peril)
He saw that building a green economy could be a huge boon for minorities and the working class
Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Well / Environment: Planet in Peril)
The action hero turned politician plays a starring role in the global war on carbon emissions
Jack Sim (The Well / Environment: Planet in Peril)
A toilet expert's campaign for better sanitation in the developing world could save countless lives
Shai Agassi (The Well / Environment: Planet in Peril)
A former software wiz envisions Israel as the first country to shift entirely to using electric cars
Habiba Sarabi (The Well / Environment: Planet in Peril)
War-torn Afghanistan is an unlikely environmental role model. But don't try telling that to the trailblazing Governor of Bamiyan province
Marina Rikhvanova (The Well / Environment: Planet in Peril)
Her defense of Siberia's Lake Baikal stirred a new wave of awareness in Russia