In Hollywood war movies of the 1940s, American soldiers fought for a sense of national purpose. In subsequent decades, they fought mainly for the sake of their buddies. Now, when the mayhem in war films is more realistic than ever, Hollywood seems unwilling to give the violence a larger context.
Americans like to think of themselves as a pragmatic people, with little use for professors and fancy ideas. Yet they also live and die for abstractions such as freedom and equality. That’s not just some inexplicable paradox but a key to understanding the American intellectual landscape.
Cheap food, widely available, would seem to be the promise of new technologies, but it comes with a host of hidden dangers.
Will genetically engineered foods eliminate world hunger--or cause problems we can't even predict?
Two hundred years ago, amid a dramatic clash of great principles and great men in the early Republic, Marbury v. Madison established the doctrine of judicial review. The case and its implications are still hotly debated today.
The food industry's aggressive marketers have made gorging a national pastime.
The British controlled Iraq for more than 40 years, but faltered when it came time to grant the country independence.
A look at the city that was once the center of the Islamic world.
Two scientists present the evidence that greenhouse gases are causing the Earth's warming.
What do tummy tucks and Viagra have to do with the brave new world of genetic technology and wonder drugs? In today’s debates over relatively commonplace medical matters, we can see the outlines of tomorrow’s titanic clashes over technologies that promise to alter human destiny.