September 2008

  • Our choices in books, movies, music, and art go to the core of who we are. What your tastes reveal about you.

  • We've become a nation of grime fighters, and there's growing evidence that we're sacrificing our safety and our sanity to sanitization.
  • What happens when you hold a mirror up to seven comedians? PT sat down with some well-known wits to explore the droll—and the weighty—elements of their craft.
  • Style is more character than clothes, more attitude than affluence. It's you making visible your inner self. So forget what you learned about appearance not counting; you can no longer afford to be without style.

More from this issue

Of Two Minds

The benefits of bilingualism.

Art: You Call That Art?!

Appreciating the unconventional.

Field Work: Goal Pursuit

When soccer plays on psychology's turf.

Religion: With God on Our Side

We perceive God in our own image.

Field Guide to the Tomboy: High Heels and Pink? No Way.

Embracing your not-so-feminine side.

Mad Scientists: Fringe Benefits

Sometimes madness inspires genius.

Cult of Clean

We've become a nation of grime fighters—for better or worse.

How to Keep Yourself Healthy

Hygiene tips from the expert.

Body of Evidence: Holding Patterns

Maternal attachment and healthy babies.

Beauty Beat: Don't Look Away

Self-esteem and skin self-exams.

PT Bookshelf: Going High-Tech

Book reviews for the techies.

Neanderthink: An Outsize Appetite, Courtesy of Evolution

How to control your appetite amid plenty.

Mind Your Body: Lost in Thought

How to avoid choking.

Global Psyche: East Meets Western

Cowboys of the Mild Mild East.

How to Spin a Good Story

You don't need to be Aesop to tell a good tale.

On the Job: Titan of Type

Dressing up the words you read.

Therapy Watch: Bottled Up

When "I'm OK" really does mean "I'm OK."

Rock the Vote

What the candidates' playlists say about them.

Two Minute Memoir: Highs and Lows in Harmony

Making the most of talent and bad luck.

Unconventional Wisdom: Getting Virginity Out of the Way

Hara Estroff Marano gives advice on virginity and marriage.

Diagnosis: The Cold Hard Truth

A critical look at natural cures.

Final Analysis: Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Freedom

An anti-Islamist now in hiding.

Natural Element: Seeing Red

The most alarming shade in the rainbow.

Wisecrackers

Well-known comics explore the droll and the weighty.

Nature's Bounty: Soil Salvation

Growing your own food is better for your health.

Keen Cuisine: The Apple of Your Eyes (and Heart and Brain)

Why an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Eccentric's Corner: The Transformer

Calpernia Addams on the long road to womanhood.

On the Spot: The Popular Vote

Teenagers are political animals, too.

George Carlin's Finale

Late comedian George Carlin's last interview.

Blogs: Fill In the Oval Office

Putting the presidential candidates to the test.

Recipe: Earth Angels

'Shrooms are Boomin' with riches.

What Your Stuff Reveals About You

Our choices in books and movies say a lot about us.

The Style Imperative

Making visible your inner self through your outer attitude.

When Green Is Mean

Envy in the office.

Data Mine: From Warding off Death to the Sandman

How we use celebs to preserve ourselves, stay awake behind the wheel, and find love.

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