The American Way of Dentistry

The story of my teeth.

Source: Slate
Published: Sep 28, 2009
Length: 6 minutes (1,549 words)

The Architect of 9/11

A month after 9/11, Fouad Ajami wrote in the New York Times Magazine, “I almost know Mohamed Atta, the Egyptian [at] the controls of the jet that crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.” While the Middle East scholar had never met the lead hijacker, Ajami knew his type: the young Arab male living abroad, tantalized by yet alienated from Western modernity, who retreats into fundamentalist piety. Eight years after 9/11, we still almost know Mohamed Atta. We can almost see him, a gaunt and spectral figure making his way through Hamburg’s red-light district en route to his radical storefront Al-Quds Mosque. We still vividly recall his ominous visa photograph. But the man in that photograph remains a cipher, his eyes vacant. How did those eyes see the world? #Sept11

Source: Slate
Published: Sep 10, 2009
Length: 16 minutes (4,063 words)

What Would Get Americans Biking to Work?

Decent parking.

Source: Slate
Published: Aug 17, 2009
Length: 5 minutes (1,429 words)

Kind of Blue

Why the best-selling jazz album of all time is so great.

Source: Slate
Published: Aug 17, 2009
Length: 7 minutes (1,855 words)

Bullies

They can be stopped, but it takes a village.

Source: Slate
Published: Aug 11, 2009
Length: 11 minutes (2,926 words)

The Only Bigmouths Were the Fish

My short, bewildering seasons covering the professional bass circuit.

Source: Slate
Published: Aug 5, 2009
Length: 5 minutes (1,468 words)

Spinning in the Grave

The three biggest reasons music magazines are dying.

Source: Slate
Published: Jul 28, 2009
Length: 6 minutes (1,716 words)

Did Warren Burger Create the Health Care Mess?

The 1975 antitrust decision that gave you physician-owned hospitals.

Source: Slate
Published: Jul 29, 2009
Length: 6 minutes (1,660 words)

Don’t Call What Happened in Iran Last Week an Election

It was a crudely stage-managed insult to everyone involved.

Source: Slate
Published: Jun 14, 2009
Length: 4 minutes (1,063 words)

Why No More 9/11s?

Amid the many uncertainties loosed by the al-Qaida attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, one forecast seemed beyond doubt: Islamist terrorists would strike the United States again—and soon. “Ninety days at the most,” said counterterrorism expert Juval Aviv. On Oct. 5, 2001, an unnamed senior intelligence official told Congress, in a private briefing, that there was a “100 percent” chance of another terrorist attack should the U.S. invade Afghanistan, as it did two days later. “An attack is predictable now whether we retaliate against Afghanistan or not,” reasoned House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., agreed: “You can just about bet on it.” #Sept11

Source: Slate
Published: Mar 5, 2009
Length: 44 minutes (11,062 words)