A rock genre born in the West in the 1970s is cranking up the multicultural volume in the Islamic world, writes Mark LeVine.
Ali Azmat (left) and Salman Ahmad, of Junoon, a heavy-metal band from Pakistan, perform at the MTV Immies at the Goregaon Sports Club in Mumbai on December 12, 2003. (Photograph by Daniel Berehulak, Getty Images)

• METAL MECCA: A closer look at the scene in Morocco.
• METAL AROUND THE MIDEAST: The genre in Pakistan and Egypt.

Now prescribed largely to children for attention-deficit disorder, but used — and abused — far more widely, amphetamines have sped back into American culture, writes Nicolas Rasmussen.

Many academics are wary of a Pentagon effort to finance social-science research relevant to national security.

Archaeology must be shielded from nationalistic laws and politics, writes James Cuno.

Books & Arts

Reported nonfiction is the acclaimed genre of the moment, and women are underrepresented in its top ranks, writes Anne Trubek.

Nota Bene

University presses experiment with multimedia marketing.

NEW SCHOLARLY BOOKS

Observer

Writing a complex biography takes a decade — and a substantial toll on a marriage, writes Warren Goldstein.