Suddenly, the turn-of-the-millennium lust for media-world consolidation seems absurd (just ask AOL Time Warner and Vivendi shareholders). Is it already time for AT&T-style breakups?

Does the ouster of Random House head Ann Godoff signal the death of books? Nah—the publishing business as we know it died a long time ago. It’s just that nobody’s told book people.

Hyped as a great public drama, the Martha Stewart trial was about as exciting as watching an accountant work. Then came Doug Faneuil—Candide in a suit.

Cover Story: Why would Citigroup's Jack Grubman, and so many other Manhattan parents, work so hard and spend so much and pull so many strings to get their children into what are, after all, nursery schools? Hint: It's not about the kids. A frank exploration of the values and mores and rituals that drive Manhattan's private-school world.

Forget David Boies, dimpled chads, and desperate litigation -- the country has already elected a new president. Just look at The West Wing's Nielsen ratings. He's a fire-breathing orator, a Nobel laureate in economics -- and he's almost as inspiring as FDR. Too bad Martin Sheen is only in office an hour a week.

The Times is more than a newspaper. To its reporters and editors, it’s a religion. And the Jayson Blair Affair is a story of a sinner (Blair), the powerful (Howell Raines), the faithful (led by Metro editor Jon Landman), and a highly unusual exorcism.