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Department Index
Explainer 2002:
Answers to your questions about the news.
If you'd like to sort this department listing by headline, author or date, please use the Slate search.
- How Do Super-Intelligent Billboards Spy on Your Car Radio?
Brendan I. Koerner Dec. 31, 2002 - What—and Where—Is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
Brendan I. Koerner Dec. 26, 2002 - Why Does the Ku Klux Klan Burn Crosses?
Brendan I. Koerner Dec. 17, 2002 - How Do You Get Rid of the Senate Majority Leader?
Chris Mooney Dec. 13, 2002 - What Does the Treasury Secretary Do All Day?
Brendan I. Koerner Dec. 12, 2002 - What Is Sodomy?
Brendan I. Koerner Dec. 10, 2002 - What Happens When a Church Goes Bankrupt?
Chris Mooney Dec. 4, 2002 - How Do You Pronounce "Qatar"?
Brendan I. Koerner Dec. 4, 2002 - What Is the Cosmic Radiation That's KO'ing Our Astronauts?
Brendan I. Koerner Nov. 26, 2002 - What Is Ovaltine, Please?
Brendan I. Koerner Nov. 22, 2002 - Which Country Signed Off on the Sunken Oil Tanker?
Brendan I. Koerner Nov. 20, 2002 - Did the United Nations Authorize "No-Fly" Zones Over Iraq?
Chris Mooney Nov. 19, 2002 - How Do You Authenticate a Sound Recording?
Christine Kenneally Nov. 15, 2002 - What's the Most Powerful Political Job in China?
Brendan I. Koerner Nov. 15, 2002 - Why Does Louisiana Have Such an Odd Election System?
Chris Mooney Nov. 13, 2002 - What's Up With John Lee Malvo's Guardian?
Brendan I. Koerner Nov. 12, 2002 - How Do You Become a Weapons Inspector?
Brendan I. Koerner Nov. 8, 2002 - How Do You Stop a Lava Flow?
Brendan I. Koerner Nov. 1, 2002 - What Kind of Rifle Training Did John Muhammad Get in the Army?
Phillip Carter Oct. 30, 2002 - Who Gets To Prosecute the Sniper Suspects First?
Brandt Goldstein Oct. 29, 2002 - Did Criminal Profilers Blow It in the Sniper Case?
Brendan I. Koerner Oct. 25, 2002 - How Hard Would It Be To Trace the Sniper's Phone Calls?
Brendan I. Koerner Oct. 24, 2002 - Can You Sue a Journalist for Fraud?
Brendan I. Koerner Oct. 22, 2002 - Why Can the Army Help Cops Catch the D.C. Sniper?
Phillip Carter Oct. 17, 2002 - Serial Killers and Spree Killers: What's the Difference?
Brendan I. Koerner Oct. 17, 2002 - What Is International Law?
Kate Taylor Oct. 15, 2002 - What Happens to Recalled Meat?
Brendan I. Koerner Oct. 14, 2002 - Where Do Tarot Cards Come From?
Brendan I. Koerner Oct. 10, 2002 - Did the United States Expose Iraqi Civilians to Radiation?
Brendan I. Koerner Oct. 7, 2002 - How Many Palaces Hath Saddam?
Brendan I. Koerner Oct. 3, 2002 - How Does a U.N. Security Council Resolution Get Passed?
Kate Taylor Oct. 2, 2002 - What's the Deal With the Bright Light You See Before Dying?
Brendan I. Koerner Oct. 1, 2002 - Is Barbershop Right About Rosa Parks?
Brendan I. Koerner Sept. 27, 2002 - What Is an Irish Traveler?
Brendan I. Koerner Sept. 24, 2002 - Can Private Citizens Negotiate With Saddam?
Chris Mooney Sept. 19, 2002 - Why Does Bush Go "Nucular"?
Kate Taylor Sept. 18, 2002 - How Do the Pentagon's "War Games" Work?
Brendan I. Koerner Sept. 17, 2002 - What Is a Person of Interest?
Eric Umansky Sept. 10, 2002 - Did Mohamed Atta Meet an Iraqi Spy in Prague?
Kate Taylor Sept. 3, 2002 - How Will Michael Kopper's $12 Million Get Divvied Up?
Brendan I. Koerner Aug. 22, 2002 - Why Do Busted Companies Always File for Bankruptcy on Sundays?
Brendan I. Koerner Aug. 16, 2002 - Horses Have a West Nile Vaccine; So Why Don't We?
Brendan I. Koerner Aug. 14, 2002 - Will Charlton Heston Have To Give Up His Guns?
Bryan Curtis Aug. 9, 2002 - What's a Reverse Stock Split?
Brendan I. Koerner Aug. 8, 2002 - Inmates can't vote. So why can they run for Congress?
Kate Taylor Aug. 5, 2002 - Explainer Mailbag: Does James Traficant Get To Keep His Pension?
Brendan I. Koerner Aug. 2, 2002 - Why Did That Amtrak Train Jump the Tracks?
Brendan I. Koerner July 30, 2002 - What Are Civil Service Protections?
Brendan I. Koerner July 29, 2002 - How Do You Figure the Odds of an Asteroid Hitting the Earth?
Brendan I. Koerner July 26, 2002 - What Are Terroristic Threats? Why is an NBA star charged with making terroristic threats?
Bryan Curtis July 12, 2002 - You Have the Right To Remain Silent. But How Silent?
Julie Hilden July 9, 2002 - How Will the Palestinian Elections Work?
Kate Taylor July 2, 2002 - What's the Name of the South Korean Soccer Team?
Kate Taylor June 27, 2002 - When Can You Make a Reporter Testify?
Brandt Goldstein June 25, 2002 - When Can a Judge Throw Out a Jury's Verdict?
Jonathan Ringel June 20, 2002 - How Did the Afghan Loya Jirga Elect the Country's New President?
Daniel Rosenheck June 14, 2002 - How Does a Fire Burn for 92 Years?
Maureen Sullivan June 12, 2002 - How Do You Dump the FBI Director?
Kate Taylor June 11, 2002 - Can New York Bowdlerize Elie Wiesel?
Kate Taylor June 4, 2002 - Can You Violate Copyright Law With a Magic Marker?
Brendan I. Koerner June 3, 2002 - Is Zacarias Moussaoui Really the 20th Hijacker?
Kate Taylor May 30, 2002 - Can the FBI Punish the 9/11 Whistle-blower?
Julie Bosman May 29, 2002 - Can a Witness Who Fails To Out a Murder Defendant Be Charged With a Crime?
Laura Hodes May 25, 2002 - How Do You Identify a Dead Body?
Kate Taylor May 23, 2002 - Did the Media Misreport Zacarias Moussaoui's Suspicious Activities?
Kate Taylor May 21, 2002 - How Can Accused Terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui Refuse a Psych Exam?
Brandt Goldstein May 17, 2002 - Why Does Jamal Mashburn Have Ear Rocks?
Brendan I. Koerner May 16, 2002 - Can Americans Travel to Cuba?
Kate Taylor May 14, 2002 - Can a Likud Party Vote Prevent a Palestinian State?
Julie Bosman May 13, 2002 - What Is a Palestinian Refugee Camp?
Julie Bosman May 10, 2002 - Did Thomas Jefferson Father a Child With Sally Hemings?
Kate Taylor May 8, 2002 - Can Someone Under House Arrest Host a Dinner Party?
Julie Bosman May 6, 2002 - Explainer Mailbag: Who Is That Missing Osbourne?
Julie Bosman May 3, 2002 - Cardinal Bishop, Cardinal Deacon, Cardinal Priest: What's the Difference?
Julie Bosman April 29, 2002 - What's the Difference Between France's President and Prime Minister?
Kate Taylor April 26, 2002 - What Is the Church of the Nativity?
Julie Bosman April 25, 2002 - What Are the "Special Circumstances" of the Robert Blake Murder Charge?
Julie Bosman April 24, 2002 - Can Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize Be Revoked?
Julie Bosman April 19, 2002 - What's Next for Convicted Felon Rep. James Traficant Jr.?
Julie Bosman April 17, 2002 - What Did Al Gore Mean by a "Side-Wind"?
Kate Taylor April 16, 2002 - Can a Company Be Charged With a Crime?
Brandt Goldstein April 12, 2002 - Why Do British Royals Wear Military Uniforms?
Julie Bosman April 11, 2002 - What Is the Islamic Group?
Council on Foreign Relations April 11, 2002 - What Are the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia?
Staff of the Council on Foreign Relations April 8, 2002 - What are the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades?
Council on Foreign Relations March 29, 2002 - How Do You Pronounce That AtlanticWriter's Name?
Kate Taylor March 28, 2002 - Why Don't Movie Studios Advertise During the Oscars?
Kate Taylor March 27, 2002 - What Is the Arab League?
June Thomas March 26, 2002 - How Does a Pentagon "Background" Briefing Get Posted on the Web?
Eric Umansky March 20, 2002 - Can I Really Copy DVDs?
Brendan I. Koerner March 14, 2002 - Do Tonya and Paula Need a License To Box?
Kate Taylor March 13, 2002 - Why Is Napster Shut Down but Grokster's Still Running?
Brendan I. Koerner March 8, 2002 - Why Is Andrea Yates Charged With Three Drownings Instead of Five?
Chris Suellentrop March 7, 2002 - Why Are Bush's Steel Tariffs Legal?
Chris Suellentrop March 5, 2002 - How Did the "Louima" Defendant Win a New Trial?
Dahlia Lithwick March 1, 2002 - Explainer Mailbag: Department of Corrections
Chris Suellentrop March 1, 2002 - Song, Record, Album of the Year: What's the Difference?
Chris Suellentrop Feb. 28, 2002 - Can You Trademark the Phrase "Let's Roll"?
Chris Suellentrop Feb. 27, 2002 - Explainer Mailbag: Medalling Kids?
Chris Suellentrop Feb. 22, 2002 - Why Isn't Boston's Cardinal Law in Jail?
Chris Suellentrop Feb. 20, 2002 - How Did Colin Powell Insult the French Foreign Minister?
Kate Taylor Feb. 19, 2002 - Explainer Mailbag: Ad It Up
Chris Suellentrop Feb. 15, 2002 - Does Your Spit Have Fifth Amendment Rights?
Chris Suellentrop Feb. 15, 2002 - Why Is Jennifer Connelly a Supporting Actress?
Chris Suellentrop Feb. 12, 2002 - Where Did the Fifth Amendment Come From?
Dahlia Lithwick Feb. 12, 2002 - Who's Drilling Enron on Capitol Hill?
Chris Suellentrop Feb. 8, 2002 - Explainer Mailbag: Free Base?
Chris Suellentrop Jan. 25, 2002 - Can John Walker Be Stripped of His U.S. Citizenship?
Eugene Volokh Jan. 25, 2002 - What Is the Symbionese Liberation Army?
Chris Suellentrop Jan. 24, 2002 - How Did the U.S. Get a Naval Base in Cuba?
Chris Suellentrop Jan. 18, 2002 - How Is the Enron Scandal Like Whitewater?
Chris Suellentrop Jan. 17, 2002 - No Relation No. 17: John Whitehead
Chris Suellentrop Jan. 11, 2002 - Write-Offs, Write-Downs, Pretax Charges: What's the Difference?
Chris Suellentrop Jan. 10, 2002 - Is Spending Money Good or Bad?
Chris Suellentrop Jan. 9, 2002 - Abdullah? Or Abdullah Abdullah?
Chris Suellentrop Jan. 4, 2002
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