Taking stock of people and ideas in the news.

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• Cheating Athletes Who dopes, why they dope, and who it hurts.
  Bill Gifford Dec. 10, 2004
  
• James Dobson The religious right's new kingmaker.
  Michael Crowley Nov. 12, 2004
  
• Yasser Arafat Survivor: Palestine.
  Warren Bass Nov. 5, 2004
  
• Britney Spears The pop tart in winter.
  Adam Sternbergh Oct. 28, 2004
  
• Eliot Spitzer How New York's attorney general became the most powerful man on Wall Street.
  Daniel Gross Oct. 21, 2004
  
• Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines Don't blame him for the mortgage giant's scandal … yet.
  Henry Blodget Oct. 7, 2004
  
• Dan Rather The anchor as madman.
  Bryan Curtis Sept. 21, 2004
  
• Kitty Kelley Colonoscopist to the stars.
  Michael Crowley Sept. 15, 2004
  
• Laura Bush Why liberals shouldn't like her.
  Julia Turner Aug. 31, 2004
  
• Zell Miller Why the Democratic senator loathes Democrats.
  Michael Crowley Aug. 27, 2004
  
• Iyad Allawi Is Iraq's new strongman strong enough?
  Ed Finn Aug. 3, 2004
  
• Jenna and Barbara Bush The party girls reconsidered.
  Michael Crowley July 23, 2004
  
• Isaac Asimov How I, Robot gets the science-fiction grandmaster wrong.
  Chris Suellentrop July 16, 2004
  
• Bill Cosby America's granddad gets ornery.
  Debra Dickerson July 13, 2004
  
• Abu Musab al-Zarqawi The mysterious man behind the beheadings.
  Eric Umansky June 29, 2004
  
• Milk How a wholesome drink became a villain.
  Chris Suellentrop June 18, 2004
  
• David Brooks Why liberals are turning on their favorite conservative.
  David Plotz June 14, 2004
  
• Garfield Why we hate the Mouse but not the cartoon copycat.
  Chris Suellentrop June 11, 2004
  
• John Kerry's Long Shortlist Who he'll pick as his running mate and why.
  Michael Crowley May 28, 2004
  
• Douglas Feith What has the Pentagon's third man done wrong? Everything.
  Chris Suellentrop May 20, 2004
  
• U.N. Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi Can he save Iraq?
  Chris Suellentrop May 13, 2004
  
• Friends A great soap opera masquerading as a great sitcom.
  Chris Suellentrop May 5, 2004
  
• All Those Teen Actresses Where did they come from? Why are there so many of them? And how can you tell them apart?
  Jill Hunter Pellettieri April 29, 2004
  
• The Depressive and the Psychopath At last we know why the Columbine killers did it.
  Dave Cullen April 20, 2004
  
• The Kerry Tribes The seven factions fighting for control of his campaign and his presidency.
  Michael Crowley April 15, 2004
  
• Mark Burnett Saving the world one reality show at a time.
  Bryan Curtis April 12, 2004
  
• Jesus Christ Choose your own savior.
  Chris Suellentrop April 9, 2004
  
• Former Sen. Max Cleland How the disabled war veteran became the Democrats' mascot.
  Michael Crowley April 2, 2004
  
• Scooby-Doo Hey, dog! How do you do the voodoo that you do so well?
  Chris Suellentrop March 26, 2004
  
• Socialists The zombies who won the Spanish election.
  Chris Suellentrop March 18, 2004
  
• Baseball Why it's always dying.
  Josh Levin March 12, 2004
  
• George Soros Is the billionaire speculator the Democrats' most powerful weapon?
  Sebastian Mallaby March 10, 2004
  
• Howard Stern The shock jock in winter.
  Bryan Curtis March 2, 2004
  
• Sen. Orrin Hatch If this conservative senator isn't safe from conservative attacks, is anyone?
  Michael Crowley Feb. 20, 2004
  
• The Tragedy of Colin Powell How the Bush presidency destroyed him.
  Fred Kaplan Feb. 19, 2004
  
• Hermetic Hotties What is Anne Carson doing on The L Word?
  Meghan O'Rourke Feb. 11, 2004
  
• Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Husaini Sistani Why we'd better listen to Iraq's influential cleric.
  Ed Finn Feb. 4, 2004