Christopher Hitchens, Ira Glass, and the melting economy

I love Christopher Hitchens--I'd read a Hitchens commentary on the phone book. He just did a piece for Vanity Fair titled "America the Banana Republic", in which he skewers the powers that got us into this mess. Best line:

Remember the scene at the end of Peter Pan, where the children are told that, if they don’t shout out aloud that they all believe in fairies, then Tinker Bell’s gonna fucking die? That’s what the fall of 2008 was like, and quite a fall it was, at that.

Also, back in May, This American Life did a very popular episode explaining the then-breaking mortgage crisis in layman's terms for those generally unfamiliar with financial doublespeak. This week they did part two of the series, covering the global financial meltdown--pretty good, if terrifying.