Pacific Standard July-August 2013 Cover

Our July/August 2013 Issue

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The Problem With Psychiatry, the ‘DSM,’ and the Way We Study Mental Illness

Psychiatry is under attack for not being scientific enough, but the real problem is its blindness to culture. When it comes to mental illness, we wear the disorders that come off the rack.


All Pacific Standard Cover Stories

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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.


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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.


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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.