Gary Taubes, New York Times Magazine
American sugar consumption skyrocketed to 90 pounds per person per year in the 2000s. That it makes us fat is something we take for granted. That it might also be making us sick is harder to accept. Taubes makes the overwhelming case against added sugars of all types.
2. The Real Housewives of Wall Street
Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone
Shortly after Obama's election, the Federal Reserve created a program known as TALF to spur consumer lending. But instead of loaning to car buyers and credit-card holders, the Fed handed trillions to banks and hedge funds, interest-free. The program quickly became a kind of welfare for the wealthy, including two tax-evading wives of Wall Street executives.
Jarret Brachman & Alix Levine, Foreign Policy
Counterterrorism experts have been desperately trying to discover the draw of hard-line Islamic Web forums that draw in Westerners. The truth may be the increasing "gamification" of the forums, where users accumulate points—and therefore power—by becoming more fundamentalist.
4. This Tech Bubble Is Different
Ashlee Vance, Bloomberg Businessweek
Tech bubbles happen, and usually they leave behind a wealth of new innovations. But the current one—where Harvard math whizzes are directing their intelligence toward getting people to click Internet ads—may leave us with nothing but wasted talent.
5. The Truth About Race, Religion, and the Honor Code at BYU
Luke O'Brien & Darron Smith, Deadspin
When Brigham Young University, the country's most prominent Mormon school, suspended a star basketball player for having premarital sex, it was praised by the media as being one of the few universities to stick by its honor code even when it came down to losing a celebrated athlete. But a close look at BYU's honor code—and the breakdown of the students who break it—reveals a less praiseworthy reality
6. "The Child You Didn't Dream Of"
Priscilla Gilman, Newsweek
Benjamin faced many problems. His mom tells how he brought her peace of mind. In this week's Newsweek, an excerpt from Priscilla Gilman's The Anti-Romantic Child traces her gradual realization that her child was "different" from other kids, and then how his development was markedly off track.
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