COVER
Why California is Still America's Future (The Well / Cover)
The Golden State has fought the status quo since its birth 160 years ago. But even amid a particularly rough chapter in the state's history, the nation's future is being written in California. A special report
NATION
How Drug-Industry Lobbyists Won on Health-Care (The Well / Nation)
You don't know him (he's a lobbyist), but he may be the biggest winner in health-care reform. So who loses?
ESSAY
Balloon Boy's Lesson: The New American Dream (Commentary / Tuned In)
Behind the Balloon Boy fiasco was a family in hot pursuit of the new American Dream
Inside Florida's Red-Meat Republican Primary (Commentary / In the Arena)
Florida's Senate contest will test whether Republicans prize pragmatism over ideology
Joel Stein: The Week of Living Cheaply (The Awesome Column)
In which I refuse to pay retail for anything — and still somehow bleed cash
WORLD
Detroit: Where Private Security Is Booming (Postcard: Detroit)
With a police force decimated by budget woes, the Motor City's middle-class enclaves are hiring their own to fight rising crime. Where security is a booming business
In the Tunnels: Gaza's Underground Economy (The Well / World)
Blockaded by Israel since 2007, the Palestinian enclave on the sea has not lost its entrepreneurial spirit, tunneling its way to trade and commerce
Photos: The Tunnel Economy of the Gaza Strip
Photographer Richard Mosse goes deep underground to document how goods flow into the tiny coastal territory
Video: The Tunnel Smugglers of the Gaza Strip
With a blockade stopping imports into the Gaza Strip, merchants rely on goods smuggled from Egypt through tunnels
China Vs. India: Will Rivalry Lead to War? (The Well / World)
In the Himalayas, India and China are needling each other. Welcome to what may be the century's most important contest
BRIEFING
The Moment
10|20|09: Kabul
The World
10 ESSENTIAL STORIES
Obama's Secret Iran Talks: Setting the Stage for a Deal? (Washington Memo)
The Geneva announcement that Iran would ship much of its uranium stockpile abroad followed months of discreet negotiations. But the proof of the deal will be in the details of its implementation
Verbatim
Brief History: Executive Pay
The Skimmer
Book Review: The Tyranny of E-Mail: The Four-Thousand-Year Journey to Your Inbox by John Freeman
Bruce Wasserstein (Milestones)
William Wayne Justice (Milestones)
Ludovic Kennedy (Milestones)
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
How D-Day Almost Became a Disaster (Books)
The first comprehensive history of D-day in two decades sheds new light on the cost of an immortal victory
Multimedia: Faces of D-Day
Photographer David Burnett revisits the Normandy invasion with the help of World War II veterans
Video: Voices of Truth from D-Day
Veterans of the Normandy invasion join President Obama and other heads of state on the 65th anniversary of D-Day
Hollywood's Amelia Earhart: Lost at Sea (MOVIES)
Mira Nair's portrait of Amelia Earhart captures the details but misses the life
Like a Rolling Snowman (Music)
A Bob Dylan Christmas album? The veteran pioneer offers a unique take on seasonal kitsch
Chicago Takes Center Stage in New York (Theater)
In this fall's crop of serious Broadway dramas, even the foreigners have Chicago accents
Weekend Critics' Picks
TIME's picks for the week
BUSINESS
The Stimulus Spending Bill: Is It Working at All? (The Well / The Curious Capitalist)
Probably, a little. But it is also stimulating a phony debate among Washington's partisans
Making New Mileys: Disney's Teen-Star Factory (The Well / Business)
Its movies are tanking, the parks are weak, and ABC is hurting. But Disney is being buoyed by its ability to grow teen talent
A Brief History of Disney Teen Stars
Photos: From Annette to Miley, Disney has made a specialty of minting young talent
SOCIETY
Sweet Spot: How Sugary-Cereal Makers Target Kids (Food)
New data on how the least healthy cereals do the most marketing
The Sugary Brands Doing the Most Kid-Chasing
Here's the skinny on the 10 most frequently marketed cereals to children on television
Power of One (Life)
By assembling a corps of college volunteers, Rebecca Onie is helping physicians address the connection between health and poverty
The Flip Side of Placebos: The Nocebo Effect (Life / Health)
Studies find that the confounding beneficial effect of placebos has an equally mysterious flip side: the nocebo effect
SPECIAL SECTION
Benetton's Bold Strategy (Global Business / Retailing)
With the second generation in charge, the firm is bent on expanding despite the recession