Lineup for August 13, 2008

John Koblin asks, What's the matter with Jersey? "Since the start of summer, The New York Times emptied out its two New Jersey bureaus in Trenton and Newark; in June, The Record of Bergen County announced it would shut down its headquarters and its reporters would be homeless; in July, The Star Ledger announced that it was cutting about a third of its newsroom, and its owners said they would consider selling the paper."

Leon Neyfakh talks to author Jonathan Mahler about his book, The Challenge, which found itself released the same week as its subject, Salim Hamdan, was in the news: "[Mr. Mahler] hadn’t expected the trial so soon, and the timing made him self-conscious. What if readers thought his book, a rigorous chronicle of the Supreme Court case that led up to the trial, was just some thrown-off quickie meant to expire and disappear within a few news cycles?" Plus: Tribunal and Error.

Felix Gillette meets Jeremy Bronson, who went from producing for MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews to writing for Comedy Central's Chocolate News with David Alan Grier. "This will be much funnier than Morley Safer," Mr. Bronson promises.

Plus: Weeds... Ron Suskind... Daniel Mendelsohn.