Government & Politics

In December, Congress is poised for another showdown on the deficit and taxes, in what is now being called the fiscal cliff. In his new book Red Ink, David Wessel explains how the federal budget got to the point where it is today -- and where to go from here.

Ruby Sparks and Killer Joe tell of an author who conjures a woman from his typewriter and a corrupt detective hired to kill an aging mother, respectively. But Fresh Air's David Edelstein says the films share a common trait: both take their stories beyond common reality to more fascinating parts of the psyche.

In The Twilight War, historian David Crist outlines the secret history of America's 30-year conflict with Iran. based on interview with hundreds of officials as well as classified military archives, the book details how the covert war has repeatedly threatened tot bring the two nations into open warfare.

The actress play smart, tough Secretary of State Elaine Barrish in the new USA Network miniseries Political Animals. It's another strong role for Weaver, who has starred in films like Alien, Ghostbusters and Gorillas in the Mist.

Reporter David Kirkpatrick, the Cairo bureau chief for The New York Times, reflects on his time reporting on the Arab Spring and discusses what the election of President Mohammed Morsi means for Egypt, the United States and Israel.

Greg Berlanoti's new series on the USA Network stars Sigourney Weaver as the secretary of state and former first lady. Critic John Powers says he suspects that "even a Martian" would realize Weaver's character is based on Hillary Clinton -- and that's not a bad thing.

New Yorker reporter Dexter Filkins just returned from his latest reporting trip to Afghanistan. "The United States is leaving: mission not accomplished," he writes.

Brian Castner commanded two Explosive Ordnance Disposal units in Iraq, where his team disabled roadside IEDs and investigated the aftermath of roadside car bombings. He returned home a completely different man, which he details in his memoir, The Long Walk.

Oliver Stone's new film Savages is a violent thriller starring Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson as pot growers caught up in a Mexican drug war. Critic David Edelstein says the movie is deeper and more complicated than Stone's famously bloody Natural Born Killers.

The health care case wasn't the only important decision rendered by the court during its recent term. New York Times reporter Adam Liptak rounds up the session's most important cases -- including ones addressing immigration, campaign finance and Guantanamo detainees.

Anne-Marie Slaughter left her position as the State Department's director of policy planning to spend more time with her children. Slaughter, now a Princeton professor, details what needs to change both in workplaces and in society to create equal opportunities for all working women.

The evangelical radio host recently made national news for leading an attack against Mitt Romney's openly gay national security spokesman, who later resigned. But Fischer's viewpoints on abortion, gay marriage, education and taxes have been influencing his listeners long before this.

In The Price of Inequality, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz argues that widely unequal societies don't function effectively or have stable economies. Even the rich will pay a steep price if economic inequalities continue to worsen, he says.

Louisiana imprisons more people per capita than any other state or country in the world. One out of every 86 adults in the state is behind bars. Times-Picayune reporter Cindy Chang says the state's correctional system has created financial incentives for local sheriffs to keep prisons full.

New York Times chief Washington correspondent David Sanger details how President Obama accelerated the use of innovative weapons to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and sped up a wave of cyberattacks against Iran to destroy its nuclear centrifuges.

Actor and writer Sacha Baron Cohen is famous for taking his characters — Ali G., Borat, Bruno — into the real world, interacting with people who have no idea that they're dealing with a fictional character. But his new movie, The Dictator, is a scripted comedy about a tyrant on the loose in New York.

Yemen is now considered to be "the greatest external threat facing the U.S. homeland in terms of terrorism," says investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill.

There was Ali G, Borat and Bruno -- and now, in The Dictator, Sacha Baron Cohen has a new character to add to his repertoire: the capricious ruler of an oil-rich country who travels to the U.N. to assert his right to have nuclear warheads.

In Private Empire, investigative journalist Steve Coll explains how Exxon Mobil has used its money and power to wind significant influence in Washington, D.C., concerning issues like climate change.

Journalist Peter Bergen outlines the decade-long search for the al-Qaida leader in his new book Manhunt. Bergen is the only journalist to gain access to bin Laden's Abbottabad compound before it was razed by the Pakastani government.