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Table of Contents

August 10, 2009 Issue

Cover Story

The Message Is the Message

Barack Obama’s flood-the-zone media strategy is more than just a sales tactic. He is using his pulpit to conduct a seminar in American values, and it could turn out to be the most significant aspect of his presidency. By Jennifer Senior
On the Cover: Illustration by Sean McCabe.

Features

Visiting Day

It’s been 21 days since campers first arrived at Trail’s End. Now their parents have six hours to show them just how much they’ve been missed.

Exit the Czar

Steve Rattner, the journalist turned banker turned Car Czar, steered his way to the pinnacle of the New York–Washington elite, the most effectively ambitious player of his generation. Then, just as he reached the top, he lost control.

Talk to the Hand

Cesar Sala and Satish Jagnandan are the Nadal and Federer of handball. That much, the sport’s alterkockers agree on. The rest is up for profanity- laced debate.

Intelligencer

Manhattan Bridge Isn’t Falling Down

On July 23, a video of the Manhattan Bridge, undulating under traffic, appeared on YouTube.

Bad for the Jews?

Madoff, Dwek, and getting over worrying so much about avoiding a shandeh for the goyim.

Out of the Box

Ben Silverman’s unrealized revolution.

The Neighborhood News

Our roundup of news from around the city.

Hot Waitress Economic Index

Who needs the GDP?

Downsides of Patronage

Robert Jain commissioned twelve artists to create works inspired by Wall Street terminology.

65 Minutes With Richard Ravitch

When David Paterson asked him to step in as lieutenant governor, he couldn’t say no.

Groff, Putting the “Nice” in Dionysus

The plan had been a night of drunken excess with Jonathan Groff.

Line Cutter

To launch GoMobo, Noah Glass dropped out of Harvard Business School before his first semester.

Columns

Beane Town

Billy Beane, the Moneyball guru, has nowhere to go with the Oakland A’s. Who needs a general manager?

Strategist

Best Bets

Minimalist backpacks, multiple microparks, $1 iced coffee, and more.

The Look Book

“To smoke cigars is now politically incorrect—I like that idea.”

The Underground Gourmet Review

Inventive Israeli beckons in Brooklyn.

In Season

Nothing says summer like sweet corn.

Restaurant Openings

Week of August 10, 2009: Joseph Leonard, Bia Garden, Bark Hot Dogs, and more.

Eat Good

What’s okay to buy, cook, or order anymore? A soup-to-nuts guide to dining with a clean conscience.

Sold! Maybe.

If your apartment won’t sell, how about auctioning it off?

Culture

Dangerous Curves

Christina Hendricks, TV’s retro-sexy secretary, on living in a Mad Men’s world.

‘Mad Men,’ Abridged

Our grossly abbreviated guide to the first 26 episodes, just in time for season three.

In Defense of Pete Campbell

The maddest man of all.

Peel Slowly and See

Four thousand graffiti stickers that you’d pass on the street become a hotel mural that demands lingering.

The Book Review

My Thomas Pynchon problem.

Pizza Hit

Meet Das Racist, the smartest stupid guys in the room.

The Movie Review

At least the Julia Child portions of Julie & Julia are scrumptious. Plus: Miyazaki’s poetic Ponyo.

District Supervisor: Neill Blomkamp

If you’ve seen the trailers for District 9, you understand why it’s this year’s top candidate for sci-fi-fan orgy sleeper-hit status.

J.Lo in the House

It was inevitable that, along with the movie star in the window, there would also be a drunk guy.

Agenda

The Carting Industry

Bar Breton's Cyril Renaud aims to lure passersby with ice cream from his new sidewalk stand.

Departments

Comments: Week of August 10, 2009

Readers sound off on Goldman Sachs, Madonna, and more.

The Approval Matrix: Week of August 10, 2009

Our deliberately oversimplified guide to who falls where on our taste hierarchies.

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