A loyal reader since age 23, I somehow got busy with life and allowed my subscription to expire. Many months went by and I realized something was missing, so I resubscribed. My timing was perfect, as I received my first “new” NEWSWEEK the day before I left on vacation. Your July 9 issue, “181 Things You Need to Know Now,” was awesome! I was particularly pleased to see that I had voted incorrectly, answering “true” to the article “True or False: We Are Losing the War Against Radical Islam.” If this issue is an example of the quality to come, I will be a loyal reader for another 26 years. Mary Ward Smitherman Birmingham, Ala.

Sometimes there is a magazine issue that should be leather-bound and added to every public and private library. This is one of them. As I proceeded from the first page to the last in a single sitting, I was unaware that I was force-feeding myself with the smorgasbord of information provided because it was presented in such an easily digestible form. Editor Jon Meacham’s pride in this issue and the staff that produced it is indeed justified. Although I was humbled by the pop quizzes, I began to get the feeling that my IQ was higher for having read this issue. Do it again! Gus Rose Wood Dale, Ill.

I was really disappointed by your July 9 issue. By reducing well-thought-out, nuanced pieces by Fareed Zakaria and Stephen Prothero into true-or-false questions, Robert Samuelson’s provocative essay on the biggest threat to the U.S. economy to a single, debatable answer and interesting facts about female movie stars to “gotcha” questions, the articles trivialized rather than enforced the information they presented. Sharon Begley’s “How to Think Like a Scientist,” however, should be turned into a poster and placed in every science classroom and Board of Education meeting room in the country. Dave Jaffe Austin, Texas

A part of global literacy is some level of Biblical literacy. So, I found the concluding paragraph of “What You Need to Know Now” interesting. Jon Meacham writes, “To whom much is given, however, much is expected.” Jesus said this at the conclusion of a difficult parable in Luke 12:48. Knowing the parable gives a different depth to Meacham’s writing. Thank you for a profound analysis of literacy. Becky Killion, Pastor Underwood Hills Presbyterian Church Omaha, Neb.

Access to information and services to prevent unplanned pregnancies and its consequences is key to reducing maternal mortality (“What Kills One Woman Every Minute of Every Day?”). Planned Parenthood is one of many groups with programs that do this in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Simultaneously, we are fighting for U.S. policies that will protect global reproductive health and rights. The most appalling thing about maternal mortality is not just that it occurs, but that we already have every tool at our disposal to nearly eliminate it. What we lack is the political will to ensure that every woman who chooses to be a mother can do so willingly and safely. We should all help women have that choice. Veena Siddharth VP, International Programs Planned Parenthood Federation of America New York, N.Y.

You presented interesting information on a wide range of topics, but some of the questions posed as true or false were really a matter of perspective. For example, “The Major Religions Are Essentially Alike” was said to be false. Sure, they are different, but they are alike in fundamental ways: their founders tried to teach the same universal values, and their teachings are, for the most part, universally ignored. Despite their entreating us to treat each other with love, kindness and respect, man’s inhumanity to man rages on. Ironically, your Global IQ test describes Buddhism, one of the few religions not guilty of slaughtering people in the name of God, as “atheistic.” Whatever it is, we need more of it. Michael Steely Medford, Ore.

Stephen Prothero answers “false” to the question as to whether “Major Religions Are Essentially Alike” and bases his response on the diversity of words, practices and institutions used to create systems of faith around the world. I answer “true” because the key concepts of love, charity, social justice, forgiveness, humility and courage provide the foundation for all major religions. As a Christian, my faith has been strengthened by studying and teaching the world’s religions. Certainly differences need to be understood and respected, but the realization that the core values of the major religions’ founders and true followers are indeed very similar provides me with hope and comfort. People of all faiths strive in different ways toward deeper understanding and practice of those values essential to meaningful faith. Chris Heacock Rapid City, S.D.

In “Links Between Past and Present” (“What You Need to Know Now,” July 9), we should have said that the Pakicetus, which was found in 1980, is an ancestor of ancient whales and a descendant of four-legged land mammals, not the other way around. NEWSWEEK regrets the error.