Fixing Detroit

“Right on the Money” is how Michigan’s Lapeer County Tea Party described Rana Foroohar’s Aug. 5 cover story, “Broken City,” on Detroit’s bankruptcy, which explored the city’s need for pension and other reforms. Others, like Margaret Finley of Long Beach, Calif., objected to TIME’s language: “Until I read Time’s article I had never thought of pensions as ‘entitlement’ programs … Pensions are earned.” And Harlan Rosenthal of Fair Lawn, N.J., argued that reneging on pensions shouldn’t be on the table: “By all means one may complain about [retirement benefits] but those were all set by contracts that the city negotiated. Every time retirees are cheated by contract breaches, it is another crack in the social contract that allows society to function.” In a discussion of “Broken City” on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough concluded, “Demographics is destiny. And right now demographics are blowing up in Detroit’s face.”

Men gone wild Eliza Gray’s story on scandal-plagued New York politicians Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer sparked a lively debate on Time.com where arvay commented, “Americans need to grow up and realize that a politician’s sexual ‘morality’ has nothing to do with his/her suitability for office.” Piacebole wrote, “Maybe what is needed is not ‘balls’ but good judgment, a capacity to behave in such a way as not to be a laughingstock. A woman who patronized prostitutes or posted crotch shots would be instantly disqualified for office.”

NOW ON TIME.COM

This week we’re highlighting some of the Web’s most influential voices as part of our Best Bloggers of 2013 package. Below, a sampling of the picks. (See the whole thing at time.com/bestbloggers.

SURI’S BURN BOOK

Allie Hagan skewers celebrities from the perspective of Tom Cruise’s 7-year-old daughter

101 COOKBOOKS

Heidi Swanson takes her readers on a delicious journey through her massive collection of recipes

ASK THE PILOT

Patrick Smith, a pilot, uses his vast knowledge and experience to explain all things aviation

BEHIND THE COVER

To illustrate TIME’s cover on childlessness, we chose to capture a classic couples moment on the beach, sans kids. But as temperatures reached a sweltering 90-plus degrees, our photo editors had to make sure the models stayed as pristine as their surroundings. Their solution: the on-set makeup artist, who dabbed faces every few minutes. After the shoot, photographer Randal Ford took a minute to wade in the surf before packing up his gear.

BEHIND THE PHOTOS

For David Von Drehle’s story on privacy (page 32), we turned to the images of German artist Michael Wolf, whose work documenting life in cities relies on traditional photography and photos of Google Street Views. They portray the fragile relationship between public and private in a world where everything is photographable.

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