What We’re Reading

Preeti Aroon

• “While the King Sleeps,” by Matthew Teague in National Geographic. Tonga is one of the last true monarchies remaining in the world. But times are a-changin’, and calls for democracy are slowly taking root in this isolated Pacific-island country.

Mike Boyer

• “Why is Son Preference Declining in South Korea?” (pdf) World Bank researchers Woojin Chung and Monica Das Gupta explore some positive news: why South Korea is the first country in Asia to reverse the trend of preferring males in gender selection of children.

Christine Chen

• Humor writer A.J. Jacobs, whose first book was titled The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, just came out with his second book, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest To Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. In a Slate debate, practicing Christian Matt Labash, a senior writer at The Weekly Standard, engages Jacobs, a non-religious Jew, about his attempts to follow the rules laid out in the Old Testament, including not mixing wool with linen in his clothing and not paying the babysitter in cash.

Blake Hounshell

• “The Other Other White Meat,” Wired. Ben Paynter reports that you may already be enjoying delicious—and possibly dangerous—bacon, milk, and steak from cloned animals without realizing it. 

Prerna Mankad

• “How to Understand Islam,” in the New York Review of Books. Malise Ruthven probes the various tensions between contemporary Muslim practitioners, scholars, and authors on issues ranging from sharia law to whether Islam is inherently violent. Don’t expect clear-cut answers, notwithstanding the article’s title.

Jeffrey Marn

• “The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran That the White House Doesn’t Want You to Know” in Esquire. Former National Security Council staffers Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann recount how the White House squandered a chance for a “grand bargain” with Tehran in the wake of 9/11. If you liked Frontline‘s recent “Showdown with Iran” (Leverett and Mann can be seen in that, too), this article is a must.