The Latest

ISIL murders journalist Steven Sotloff; Satan in Moscow and Detroit; and Florida police play Cherries Waffles Tennis

Netter, a painting by Bradley Castellanos, whose work was on view last year at the Miami Project Art Fair, in Miami. Courtesy the artist and RYAN LEE, New York City. This image appears in the Readings section of the September 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

What Japan’s automats portend for American restaurant chains

An alumnus reflects on the possibility of female students at Deep Springs

Kurdish and Shia forces battle ISIL in Iraq; a ceasefire takes hold in Gaza; and Barack Obama’s audacious taupe

“Black Swans, Kellidie Bay,” a photograph made using a motion-detecting infrared camera, by Kate Breakey, whose work is on view this month at Etherton Gallery, in Tucson, Arizona, and Stephen L. Clark Gallery, in Austin, Texas. © The artist. This image appears in the Readings section of the September 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

William Deresiewicz discusses the miseducation of the American elite

At the New Museum’s latest show, Arab artists take up — and look past — regional politics to question their own modes of expression

Demilitarizing Ferguson; the disparate fates of Middle East hostages; and the long and short of German sausages

Motorcycle in Landscape, a painting by Terry Rowlett, whose work will be on view next month at the Georgia Museum of Art, in Athens. © The artist. This image appears in the Readings section of the September 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

“Fishing Boats at Hastings” and “The Sculler,” photographs made from decayed glass-plate negatives, by Tessa Traeger, from the Chemistry of Light series. Traeger is taking part in the Water Tank project. Her water tank can be seen at 110 Fulton Street, in New York City. Courtesy the artist. These images accompany the Findings section of the September 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

The talking cure comes to Kurdistan

Police crush protests in Ferguson, Missouri, an Iranian woman wins the Fields Medal, and jihadis appreciate the work of Robin Williams

“Mauer Park,” an embroidered photograph by Diane Meyer, whose work was on view last month at Robert Mann Gallery, in New York City. © The artist. Courtesy Robert Mann Gallery, New York City. This image appears in the Readings section of the September 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

Where Israel and Palestine can go from here, Washington D.C.’s enduring legacy of racial strife, Edward O. Wilson on free will, and more

Police in Missouri kill an unarmed teenager, the U.S. government expands its terrorist database, and Justin Bieber saves a Russian fisherman

Montecito Palms, white-gold leaf with pigment print, oil pastel, oil paint, and resin on panel, by Susan Goldsmith. Courtesy the artist; Gallery Henoch, New York City; and Lanoue Gallery, Boston. This image accompanies the Findings section of the August 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

Astra Taylor discusses the potential and peril of the Internet as a tool for cultural democracy

Inventing the instruments of the future

Alternating shelter bombings and ceasefires in Gaza; a do-nothing Congress whimpers feebly into recess; and India hires a troupe of black-faced-langur imitators

“Mark Under Breaking Wave,” a photograph by Wayne Levin, whose work is currently on view at Clic Bookstore & Gallery, in New York City. © The artist. Courtesy Clic Bookstore & Gallery, New York City. This image appears in the Readings section of the August 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

New evidence of the author’s suffering, and reflections on the scholarly debate

Bowe Bergdahl, the political-entertainment complex, and the personal costs of scandal

The quixotic quest for a Gaza ceasefire; West African doctors face mortal peril; and Russian gecko porn, restored

Trappers, a painting by David Salle, whose work was on view in June at Maureen Paley, in London. © The artist. Courtesy Maureen Paley, London. This image appears in the Readings section of the August 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

An anthropological dispatch from the landfill dig to unearth Atari’s E.T.

The “mystery” of who shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17; the theater of war in Gaza; and ritual crime in Iceland

Untitled Polaroids by Tom Bianchi, whose work was on view last month at Fahey/Klein Gallery, in Los Angeles. Bianchi’s monograph Fire Island Pines, Polaroids 1975–1983 was published last year by Damiani Editore. © The artist. These images appear in the Readings section of the August 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

“It gradually dawned on me that since 1967, I had made very little progress in seeing Arabs or empathizing with their plight.”