Samantha Henig

Author Peter Elkind, entranced by "the chasm between public image and private reality" (page vii), follows Eliot Spitzer's rapid rise and faster fall. He's the two-faced politician at its finest. Public Eliot was a beacon of justice, the scrappy David taking down the Goliaths of Wall Street, the insurance industry, and yes, even prostitution—all while Private Eliot deceived his wife, advisers, and the people he served by sneaking off to rendezvous with $1,000-an-hour escorts.

David Remnick weaves together the story of Barack Obama's rootless youth, increasingly rigorous studies, eventual grounding in Chicago, and rapid-fire series of four long-shot elections (five, if you count Harvard Law Review). Remnick's deep digressions into the history of the civil-rights movement and of political corruption in Chicago elevate Obama's story to one of fate.

It's a tough task to write a poem grand enough for a presidential Inauguration but accessible enough for the wide swath of Americans tuning in—and artful enough to keep critics at bay.

In many ways, it is an unenviable task: write a poem grand enough for a presidential inauguration but accessible enough for the wide swath of Americans tuning in—and artful enough to keep critics at bay.

Collector Roger Bennett talks about his new book and his love for old Jewish records.

What the handling of FDR's medical records teaches about presidential secrecy.

For Florida State's Myron Rolle, Nov. 22 was a good day.

Starting PointWhen the Olympic torch passed through Juneau, Alaska, in 2002, 18-year-old Joseph Frederick saw a chance at TV airtime. His tactic: a banner reading BONG HITS 4 JESUS.

From the opening images of an eerily serene Barry Manilow and a pelvis-thrusting Neil Diamond, the album covers in "And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of Our Vinyl" are so perfectly dated—and hilariously kitschy—that it's impossible to look away.

Starting PointWhile campaigning in 1992, Bill Clinton criticizes rapper and activist Sister Souljah for her "racist" remarks following the L.A. riots. "If black people kill black people every day," she'd said, "why not have a week and kill white people?" Fever PitchJesse Jackson and allies accuse Clinton of political opportunism, and Souljah calls him a draft-dodging, pot-smoking racist.

It may not be fodder for dinner discussion. Or book clubs. Or, come to think of it, polite conversation of any kind. But journalist Rose George, author of "The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters," was undaunted, delving deep into the history and implications of a daily act that dare not speak its name.

The head of the Miss Alaska pageant talks about GOP VP pick Sarah Palin, a former runner-up, and which politicians need pageant-style coaching.

A new traveling exhibit showcases the history of American animal ownership.

NEWSWEEK talks to one of the cofounders of JibJab about their latest video project—getting millions to dance onscreen next to McCain and Obama.

Some parents give ADHD kids a break from their meds during summer, but is that a wise move for kids who go to camp?

Before Virginia Tech, before Columbine, there was Simon's Rock.Late on the evening of Dec. 14, 1992, Wayne Lo, an 18-year-old student at Simon's Rock College of Bard in Great Barrington, Mass., approached a security-guard shack on the campus and began shooting, as he says now, "at anything that moved." Lo fired at least nine rounds during the following 20 minutes, killing another student and a Spanish professor and wounding four others.A gifted violinist who had moved with his family from...

You've got a PC, a PDA and a cell phone. And the gadgets overwhelm you. What to do? Go retro. Buy a pen and a pad.

CAPTAIN AMERICA IS DEAD. It's a powerful headline, even for those who have never picked up a Marvel comic book and don't know "The Sentinel of Liberty" from "The Scarlet Swashbuckler." Fans and novices alike have been struck by the poignancy of the image on the pages of the comic book, released Wednesday: a patriotic do-gooder with a bullet piercing his burly, red-white-and-blue torso.Sure, he's just a made-up character.

When Larry Summers was named president of Harvard in 2001, the university was seeking a strong leader who could command all of its powerful fiefdoms while reasserting its unique "bully pulpit" in higher education.

A group of 28 scientists and evangelical Christians today announced their commitment to working together to address global and environmental climate change--an issue that they say is pressing enough to trump any theological differences between the groups.