Features
Acacias in the desert: Breaking the cycle of drought
Freelance theologian: Anna Madsen sets up shop
Set apart: The Haredim in Israel
Black Swan
Director Darren Aronofsky performs a psychological pas de deux with composer Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky in Black Swan, a fractured, fascinating study of the high-pressure world of big-time New York ballet.
Natalie Portman (who studied ballet in her teens) plays Nina Sayers, a timid but talented ballerina who has sacrificed a normal life in order to make it as a dancer. Her chances for stardom are fading, however, because of age, injury and the constant emergence of young dancers.
Where our money goes: An itemized tax receipt
Voices
Suzanne Guthrie
The sound of silence
I was the only woman in a seminary course on negative theology. One day, a young man raised his hand and asked, “What about an ordinary housewife? How could a person like that live this life of prayer?”
Philip Jenkins
A second spring
Much media attention has gone to Venezuela. But leftist regimes have sprouted elsewhere in Latin America--regimes that are friendly with liberationist thinkers and communities.