Feminism, Poverty, Crime, Electric Cars, 11 Big Ideas...

and more. All in the July/August edition of The Atlantic. This issue is being billed as the "ideas" issue, which being the donkey I am begs the question, what are all the other issues supposed to be? But on a more SERIOUS note, there are a number of very interesting components to this summer issue. I would love to link to each of these articles or essays, but unfortunately they are not up on the website (previously linked) as of the date of this being published. Following is a brief rundown of the issue's more interesting components:

Hanna Rosin discusses the rise of crime in many American cities, specifically those of the mid-sized variety. This article focuses on Memphis and specifically on the correlation between crime and the prevalence of Section 8 vouchers in an area. There are countless issues that arise out of discussing this correlation, and many officials are wary to do so, but even if it isn't causal (and what is really when you talk about poverty and crime) there is plenty of room for discussion here.

Nicholas Carr offers the cover story on the effects of the Internet on our brains. I know that a couple of the passages resonated particularly strongly with me, such as

"What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski."

I know the feeling. It does seem we are altering our ability to handle large swaths of difficult text.

I didn't read the article on "What Rumsfeld Got Right," because I'm pretty sure the correct answer is two words: Not much.

The 11 1/2 biggest ideas of the year, penned by a variety of contributors (including Fallows, Crook, and Sullivan) offered promise -- but came up a bit short to me. The surge, renting, post-partisanship, mass-market atheism, torture, social networking politics, the return of regulation, personal genomics, not bombing Iran, Carbon Consciousness, the End of 9/11, and being lonely at the top (an aside on the sexual escapades of the powerful) all seem so intriguing, but are glossed over a bit... Maybe they read the Carr piece?

Jonathan Rauch's piece on the Chevy Volt (electric car) project was a good read and offered an interesting look at a project that has lots of hope for America, the world, the environment and GM. All this hope, of course, makes one wonder if it can possibly fulfill it's promise. Rauch doesn't hold out much hope for the behemoth of a company being able to fulfill all of the promises made, but seems to think some good may come from this. We shall see.

Goldberg offers us a piece on the science of "neuromarketing," whereby scientists attempt to map our brain's activity and response to images. This could be used to discern the success of an advertising campaign of course, but as Goldberg points out is more likely to be a vanity project for the well to do and overly self interested in the near term.

"Distracting Miss Daisy" is another argument for limiting the number of traffic signs all over the American roadway. This idea has been floated around before, but we seem to love the idea that a sign makes us safer, when studies and statistics seem to indicate otherwise. The biggest boon to traffic safety is more aware drivers, and four way stops are just one example that makes true awareness of the surroundings secondary to obedience to signage.

I skimmed the article on Rupert's plans to take the Wall Street Journal to war with the New York Times, which probably makes Rupert happy and the author Mark Bowden said, given that Rupert's idea of journalism is focused primarily on scooping a sensational story and using that to fill the content of all his various outlets. Damn, I have to reread this article just to piss him off now.

The Critics section has a lot to offer as well, with Hitchens on Rushdie; Sandra Tsing Loh on modern women's work, parenting, etc.; and Virginia Postrel on a new theory of the leisure class based around inconspicuous consumption. The Tsing Loh and Postrel pieces are very good, and should be read for yourself, so I won't go into too much detail here.

Wow, kind of a long post, but I have to admit this issue was one of the most satisfying print mags I've read in quite some time... and I'm totally SERIOUS.