Pacific Standard March-April 2013 Cover

Our May/June 2013 Issue

pluralistic-ignorance

Alone With Everyone Else

Ever found yourself at odds with what you thought was the majority opinion? There’s a name for that.


alhambra

The Melting-Pot Gazette

Can a sociologist and a journalist get an ethnically fractured city engaged?


the-big-one-cow

The Big One

Tiny numbers, big impacts.


shoppers-babel

The Shoppers of Babel

Inside the most lucrative and perhaps most sophisticated duty-free shop on Earth.


prospector-naet

Why Would a Medical Doctor Embrace an Unproven Treatment?

The curious case of NAET.


trade-mirage

Why Focusing on Exports Doesn’t Make Economic Sense

Promoting exports as a means to rebuild America’s middle class is a lovely vision, but the U.S. needs to do more than that to improve business.


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What Does It Take for Traumatized Kids to Thrive?

About a decade ago, Washington State embarked on an early social experiment to educate people about the impacts of stress on children. The results are starting to show.


gun-medicine

California’s Gun Medicine

Why we should be treating gun violence as a disease—and why most states can’t.


conference-call-hacker

Conference Call: What’s Happening in May and June—and Why It Matters

From the HackMiami 2013 Hackers Conference to On Walking, academic gatherings you should be aware of.


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Datebook: What’s Happening in May and June—and Why It Matters

From the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition to the murder trial of George Zimmerman, events you should be aware of.


pound-foolish

Pound Foolish

The causes and consequences of obesity are settled science, right? Wrong.


Hoarder_final copy

Why Do You Hoard?

Most of us have a friend, a relative, or a neighbor who seems to pack his or her home with unnecessary stuff. Researchers are just beginning to understand why.


road-map-fiction

Forget the Maps: Why All the Data in the World Won’t Make You a Better Traveler

Travel writer Paul Theroux on why planning your trip can be a lesson in frustration.


brainism-brain

Brainism: Understanding Our Recent Obsession With Stress and the Mind

What kind of worldview is lurking in all the chatter about neuroscience?


ham-sandwich

How the Fate of a Spanish Cold Cut Explains Global Finance

The ham sandwich at the eye of the storm.


since-we-last-spoke

Since We Last Spoke

Updates to past Pacific Standard print stories.


fortenberry

Contributors

Meet some of the people behind the May/June 2013 issue of Pacific Standard.


maria-streshinsky

The Last Mile

Introducing the May/June 2013 issue of Pacific Standard.


trailer-park-end-of-world-lead

How the Trailer Park Could Save Us All

A healthy, inexpensive, environmentally friendly solution for housing millions of retiring baby boomers is staring us in the face. We just know it by a dirty name.


paisley-1

It Gets Better, Y’all

If the South is really such a backward place, why is it so in love with Brad Paisley?


All Pacific Standard Cover Stories

trailer-park-end-of-world-lead

How the Trailer Park Could Save Us All

A healthy, inexpensive, environmentally friendly solution for housing millions of retiring baby boomers is staring us in the face. We just know it by a dirty name.


Muller Lyer Illusion 3

We Aren’t the World

Joe Henrich and his colleagues are shaking the foundations of psychology and economics—and hoping to change the way social scientists think about human behavior and culture.


polarbearcentered

The Fuzzy Face of Climate Change

Advocates and scientists have tied the Earth’s fate to that of the polar bear. But what happens if this lumbering giant proves more resilient than the rest of us?


This picture taken on June 9, 2012 shows

A Giant Leap Forward

Forced to go it alone into space, China has reaped the benefits of building an aerospace industry from the ground up. Now that the future of America’s program looks most uncertain, China may be poised to slingshot ahead.


Photo by Alex Farnum

The Governor’s Last Stand

California’s Jerry Brown–now pragmatic, but still profane–is banking on a last-gasp proposal known as Proposition 30 to save the biggest economy in the nation.


Navy SEAL candidates hit the beach

A State of Military Mind

To train future soldiers, the Department of Defense is using new technologies and centuries-old techniques, like yoga and meditation, to hone their minds, help them make better decisions on the battlefield, and prevent trauma.


Why Obama Is Looking West

Why Obama Is Looking West

The nations that ring the Pacific have half the world’s consumers, half the world’s trade, and half the global GDP. No wonder the administration is quietly shifting its policies westward.