8 December 2010: Afternoon

As it turns out, some suicide bombers aren't ideological martyrs, but just depressed kids.

America's leading terrorist expert is a 31-year-old who garnered all his expertise from the web.

If you want to be an expert deceiver, master the art of self-deception. Professor recalls his days as a luxury jewelry salesman.

Professor defends the romance of diamonds, even if societal obsession is based on marketing campaigns.

Eighty rejections in, a psychologist-turned-novelist is still plugging away.

Military campaign names are the result of branding--deploy "noble" words for emotional appeal.

Nations skipping Nobel prize ceremony seek future rewards from China--none are "fully fledged" democracies.

The story of the first American cookbook: One woman wrote it, another made it better against the former's will.

Tribal area shaman and middle-class Harry Potter fans fuel India's illegal owl trade.

Lift-quotes from John Lennon's soon-to-be-published final interview; audio of more excerpts.

Shout out your mentor, your helmet sponsor, your guitar tech: Write your 2010 liner notes.

Jason Feifer wants his fellow Hall & Oates fans to stand up since, you know, you're at a concert?

Europe's experimental "car trains" cede steering to a pro, freeing drivers to tweet unfettered.

I guess I was a bit deferential. Nick Baumann discovers his antibiotic's troubling side effects.