"Fourteen years before Kirsten Gillibrand succeeded Hillary Rodham Clinton as senator from New York, she heard her future mentor say these life-changing words: 'Decisions are being made every day in Washington, and if you are not part of those decisions, you might not like what they decide, and you'll have no one to blame but yourself.' A young corporate lawyer at the time, Gillibrand felt as if she'd been struck by lightning. She instantly knew that...

"Horizontal Vertigo: the title refers to the fear of ever-impending earthquakes, which led Mexicans to build their capital city outward rather than upward. With the perspicacity of a keenly observant fl�aneur, Villoro wanders through the city seemingly without a plan, describing people, places, and things, while brilliantly drawing connections among them, the better to reveal, in all its multitudinous glory, the vicissitudes and triumphs of Mexico...

The first feature film on homosexuality from sub-Saharan Africa. While "coming out" may have become primetime fare in the U.S., this film was met with angry protests when it was shot in the director's native Guinea and has generated heated debate among Africanists here as well. But beyond its controversial topic, Dakan is a contemporary African reinterpretation of the age-old Romeo and Juliet conflict between love and social convention. Director Mohamed...