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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