Electronic Pen

Gary Younge Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s arrest most certainly was a "teachable moment" in the racial conversation--but we've learned nothing.

• Eric Alterman: Class, Not 'Race'

Benjamin Paloff Polish poetry has been captive to our most flattering verdicts about history.

• Steven Epstein: A Gross Unfairness
• Ruth Scurr: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin

Steven Epstein A new book scrutinizes the machinery of the "straight state."

• Benjamin Paloff: Cures for the Common Cold War
• Ruth Scurr: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin

John Nichols America's banks and financial institutions were never 'too big to fail.' Our state and local governments are.

• Georgia Levenson Keohane: Our Tattered Safety Net

Eric Alterman No racial profiling took place with Henry Louis Gates Jr. and it's not the 'teachable moment' many are understandably craving.

• Gary Younge: Beer and Sympathy

Video The Nation's Chris Hayes joins Countdown guest host Gov. Howard Dean for a frank discussion about the political impact of the fringe right-wingers who insist President Obama is not an American citizen.