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Happy Divorce
by Julie Scelfo, Newsweek
Are the days of the nasty split over? For the sake of the kids, some exes spend holidays together and bring along their new partners. Pass the tolerance, please.

A Traffic Reporter With No Traffic
by Andrew Jacobs, New York Times
In a perfect world, Mr. Daniels would have his own drive-time radio program, playing pop music between livel banter with guests and callers. But in the rapdidly consolidating realm of American radio, there are fewer opportunities for on-air personalities, especially for disc jockeys with unmistakably Scottish accents.

The Bell Curve
by Atul Gawande, New Yorker
What happens when patients find out how good their doctors really are?

Royal Flush
by Monica Collins, Boston Globe
Why do restaurants see the need for luxe loos?

Tweens 'R' Us
by Ann Hulbert, New York Times
According to a leading expert on branding, 80 percent of all global brands now deploy a "tween strategy." That is hardly surprising, given that the age group is estimated to be directly involved in spending $15 billion a year and to "heavily influence" more than $30 billion in other spending by parents.

When A TV Talking Head Becomes A Talking Body
by David Carr, New York Times
A female news anchor's first-person account of a photo shoot of public nudity leads to a ratings triumph in Cleveland.

Old Faithful
by David Sedaris, New Yorker
Testing the limits of love.

The Beginning Of Something: I'll Show You My Lunch Box If You Show Me Yours
by Joshua Braff, San Franciso Chronicle
As a writing drill, Anne Larnott suggests jotting down the items you remember from your elementary school lunch box. This always made sense to me and may have led to my interest in exploring the simple yet telling textures of growing up.

Just Another Quick-Witted, Egg-Roll-Joke-Making, Insult-Hurling Chinese-American Rapper
by Ta-Nehisi Coates, New York Times
Jin tries to find his place in the hip-hop nation.

How I Learned To Love Larry
by Hilary Rosen, Wired
She was the champion of the music industry. He was the voice of the people. It was a deathmatch made in heaven — but they found common ground.

Censorship — Yes, But Whose?
by Rupert Christiansen, Telegraph
With society so fragmented and our values so relative, there can be no such consensus today. Unsatisfactorily, one is left to conclude that the only workable form of censorship is access to the off-switch.

Bono's New Casualty: 'Private Ryan'
by Frank Rich, New York Times
Merely the threat that the F.C.C. might punish a TV station or a network is all that's needed to push them onto the slippery slope of self-censorship before anyone in Washington even bothers to act. This is McCarthyism, "moral values" style.

There's Only One Stuffing: Ask Any Cook
by Julia Moskin, New York Times
Whether called stuffing or dressing, made with old crusts of corn bread or French-style pain au levain, moistened with Armagnac or applesauce, this unglamorous, gloriously flavored mixture is the true taste of Thanksgiving for many Americans.

How They Count The Enemy Dead
by Phillip Carter, Slate
Why's it so hard? Let us count the ways.

How Often Can They Discover Atlantis?
by Brendan I. Koerner, Slate
The lost city that's always being found.

An Audience Finally Catches Up To 'The Amazing Race'
by Joe Rhodes, New York Times
In the relatively short history of reality television there seems to have been on inescapable pattern: a show is either successful right out of the gate or it sputters and quickly dies. Slow starts are rarely allowed. That makes CBS's late-blooming "Amazing Race" a notable survivor.

The Pleasures Of Fiction
by Denis Dutton, Philosophy And Literature
Human beings expand staggering amounts of time and resources on creating and experiencing art and entertainment — music, dancing, and static visual arts. Of all of the arts, however, it is the category of fictional story-telling that across the globe today is the most intense focus of what amounts to a virtual human addiction.

Something Borrowed
by Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker
Should a charge of plagiarism ruin your life?

What Is A Foreign Movie Now?
by A. O. Scott, New York Times
From Belgium to Taiwan, directors are capturing the drift, loneliness and moody perplexities of our time and fashioning a vibrant, new world cinema.

Why Isn't Maggie Cheung A Hollywood Star
by Susan Dominus, New York Times
It's somewhat mystifying that one of Asia's finest actresses is virtually unknown to Hollywood audiences, as if celebrity were the one export too fragile to make the 7,000-mile trip across the Pacific.

Let Them Eat Cake
by Mimi Spencer, The Guardian
They don't diet and they don't spend hours panting round the gym. So how can French women put away as much ice-cream, rich pastries and steak frites as they want and yet stay so slim?

Building A One-Man Magazine, One Impossible Feat At A Time
by David Carr, New York Times
Pull back the cover of Esopus and you will find only Tod Lippy, designer, editor, conjuurer. Just Tod Lippy, with his one d and his conceit that he can make the magazine he wants and that people will give him $10 for each one and that then he can make another one.

Granddaddy Of Piano Teachers Steps Out
by Anthony Tommasini, New York Times
Say the name Carl Czerny to most pianists, and you will probably see their fingers start to twitch from motor memory.

Here Comes Ramen, The Slurp Heard Round The World
by Julia Moskin, New York Times
"Ramen?" you ask. "That plastic-wrapped block of dry noodles and powdered soup?" But freshly made ramen is another thing altogether.

How 'Lost' Careered Into Being A Hit Show
by Joe Rhodes, New York Times
The speed with which ABC's Wednesday night breakout hit drama "Lost" went from a network executive's half-baked suggestion to one of the most elaborate and expensive pilots ever filmed was brain blurring.

Pavlov's Brother
by Andy Borowitz, New Yorker
Before Dr. Ivan Pavlov won worldwide fame for his experiment proving that dogs could be made to salivate at the ringing of a bell, he performed a nearly identical experiment on his younger brother, Nikolai.

My Hands Are Tied
by Bryan Lonegan as told to Paige Williams, New York Times
As an immigration lawyer in the wake of 9/11, I find people's fate are too often sealed by the time I meet them.

So You Want To Move To Canada?
by Kevin Berger, Salon
All you need to know about becoming a legal resident. Tip No. 1: Brush up on the prairie provinces.

News That's Not Fake Enough
by Priya Jain and Corrie Pikul, Salon
At "The Daily Show" election party, the comedy that helped us through the last four years can't quite mask the sadness.

Vote Or Lie
by Hua Hsu, Village Voice
Americans love to vote — for pop singers, soft drinks, or World Series predictions.