Autumn 2013

Cover Story

Leaks and Consequences

Why treating leakers as spies puts journalists at legal risk

by Lincoln Caplan

Articles

Federal Student-Loan Sharks

Why is the government gouging our college kids? The new law on loan rates just makes things worse

by William J. Quirk

To Live Is an Act of Courage

The crisis of suicide among our soldiers and veterans must end. Here’s how we can stop it

by Jennifer Michael Hecht

Is There a Word for That?

We have long invented language to fill gaps in our vocabulary, but not all coinages are created equal

by Ralph Keyes

Lost and Found

An ancestral home holds the relics of a family’s past—and the promise of its future

by Edward McPherson

The Number One Funeral Home

The memorial service for my father, the doctor who attended to Chiang Kai-shek, was no ordinary affair

by Pauline Yu

Departments

Book Essay

Examined Lives

A mystery exists at the heart of all literary biography: How does the mush of experience get turned into glittering artifact?

Phyllis Rose

Book Reviews

Soaring Ambitions

Soaring Ambitions

Early hot-air balloonists ascended to previously unimaginable heights, stirring humanity’s sense of perspective and possibility

Toby Lester

Southern Son

The wit and wisdom of a master

William S. McFeely

Upward Bound

Abraham’s merciful stay of hand

Sarah Ruden

Priestly Powers

A comic writer’s critical eye

George O’Brien
On the Brink

On the Brink

How safe are our nukes?

Scott D. Sagan

Lives of the Ancients

Animating the Greeks and Romans

A. E. Stallings

Two of a Kind

A postwar friendship

David Brown