What We’re Reading

Preeti Aroon

AHED IZHIMAN/AFP/Getty Images

“Spare Me the Sermon on Muslim Women,” by Mohja Kahf in the Washington Post. “Being a Muslim woman is a joyful thing,” says Kahf, before she goes on to list the many ways Islam is pro-women. She may have some valid points, but that certainly doesn’t mean Islam is practiced in a pro-women way in all places.

Jerome Chen

“Have Pentecostalism, will travel.” As Sarah Palin’s public profile grows, many are questioning her religious practices. Christian fundamentalism is common in the United States, of course. In the Times Literary Supplement, David Martin explores the side of the Alaska Governor’s faith in which believers receive special gifts from God — talking in tongues, for example. It also offers surprising insights into how Pentecostalism has gone global.

Elizabeth Dickinson

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance. Sudanese entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim thinks he knows how to make government more accountable: reward it. Several years ago, his foundation began awarding $5 million grants to the best of African leaders. The Foundation also ranks governments throughout the continent on everything from services to safety to economic growth.

Rebecca Frankel

People are still squabbling over who is qualified to be a heartbeat from the presidency after Thursday night’s vice presidential debate. But in 1974, the late historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. took that question one step further in, “Is the Vice Presidency Necessary?” for the Atlantic Monthly. “[Presidents] pick a running mate,” he writes, “because of intricate and generally mistaken calculations about the contribution he will make to victory at the polls.”

Blake Hounshell

“Meet Neel Kashkari: The Man With the $700 Billion Wallet,” by Heidi N. Moore of Deal Journal, the Wall Street Journal blog. Kashkari is the bald-pated Goldman Sachs alumnus and former aerospace engineer tasked with handling the U.S. Treasury Department’s $700 toxic-waste dump. Maybe he can figure out how to make this turkey fly.

Joshua Keating

The rise and fall Muxtape, a file-sharing site that let users create 12-song mixes from their personal MP3 collections for online streaming, is a great example of the American recording industry spoiling the fun for music lovers around the world. Founder “Justin” details decisive run-ins with the Recording Industry Association of America, including meetings where he was told both “You are a willful infringer and we are mere hours from shutting you down” and “Assuming we don’t shut you down, how do you see us working together?” New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones also weighs in.