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American film critic Pauline Kael was a brash, exuberant female writer at a time when most of her colleagues were buttoned up — and male. The Age of Movies, a new collection of selected essays and movie reviews from Kael, showcases the gutsy and passionate style that made her a household name.

It's a strategy some countries have adopted to boost falling fertility rates. Here's why it often fails.

Even before the March tsunami hit, the fishing town of Kesennuma in northeast Japan was on the skids. But to their surprise, residents began to see the tsunami as less a catastrophe than a chance to start from scratch. Now, they are taking bold, counterintuitive steps to remake their hometown.

An Occupy London protest aimed at highlighting social injustice, the greed of bankers, and the incompetence of politicians has ended up causing unexpected havoc within the Church of England. Two senior clerics from St. Paul's Cathedral have resigned in a row over how to respond to the protesters, who have a camp outside the landmark church. Internal divisions arose when the cathedral authorities began legal moves to evict the campers — proceedings that they've now dropped.

Historians have long struggled to explain how the West became the preeminent political and economic force in the modern world. In Civilization, historian Niall Ferguson credits six "killer apps" and explains how China is quickly catching on — and catching up.

Two years after the death of her husband, Joan Didion suffered the untimely loss of her only daughter. She pieces together her memories of Quintana Roo in her new memoir, Blue Nights.

It is possible that there are many other universes that exist parallel to our universe. Theoretical physicist Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe, explains how that's possible in the new book, The Hidden Reality.

The grandest expression of the world's population growth is the word "megacity." In them, people and ideas clash: The ancient collides with the modern; secular with religious; global with local. In Karachi, Pakistan, those forces can be seen in the story of a single piece of real estate.

At its core, John le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy isn't really about espionage, says critic John Powers. The 1974 novel, adapted for the screen in 1979 by the BBC, is actually about secrets and lies and shifting identities — which is to say, a metaphor for our own daily lives.

Criminologist David M. Kennedy's strategy for reducing gang violence has dramatically reduced youth homicide rates nationwide. In his new memoir, Don't Shoot, Kennedy outlines how community meetings and interventions have worked to curb youth violence in more than 70 cities.