Americans are giving diesels a second look

After years of trying, automakers are again taking a stab at selling diesel-powered cars in North America.

By Doron Levin, contributor

FORTUNE -- Mazda grabbed a moment in the spotlight by announcing this week that it's importing a diesel-powered Mazda6 sedan next year to the U.S. -- a rare move for an Asian automaker in a land where diesel-powered cars occupy a tiny niche.

Next year is also the projected date for General MORE

Leadership lessons from Thomas Jefferson

In a new biography, Jon Meacham shows how modern politicians can learn a lot from our nation's third president.

By David Whitford editor-at-large

FORTUNE -- Thomas Jefferson, Jon Meacham writes, "is the founding president who charms us most." Not just us. He charmed his contemporaries, too, and not only but definitely also the ladies. One of my favorite stories in Meacham's masterful and intimate new biography, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of MORE

Inside the highest hotel in the world

The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong has the distinction of being the highest hotel in the world.

By Jennifer Abbasi, contributor

FORTUNE -- Last week, news broke that construction on the new tallest building in the world begins this month in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, China. If the reports bear out, the proposed Sky City will rise to a height of 2,749 feet, besting the record-holding Burj Khalifa in Dubai by a MORE

Lion of American labor: A final conversation with Marvin Miller

Marvin Miller, baseball legend and renowned labor organizer, died Tuesday. In his last in-depth interview, Miller spoke to Fortune last month about everything from steroids to Bud Selig to his legacy.

By David A. Kaplan

FORTUNE -- For professional baseball players, Marvin Miller—who died Tuesday morning at 95—was Moses, the leader who brought them to the Promised Land and with it millions of dollars in fair-market wages for their preternatural skills. But MORE

Torn apart after Sandy, the Seaport community comes together

The second installment of Fortune's #SaveTheSeaport series looks at the changing marketplace in South Street Seaport post-Sandy.

By Ryan Bradley, senior editor

FORTUNE -- From the beginning, in 1642, the market was the center of things—the feature that tied South Street Seaport together and gave it purpose. Produce, meat and dairy from Brooklyn farms came in across the East River on the Fulton Ferry, and around the landing grew a neighborhood MORE

What business can learn from Occupy Wall Street

Insubordination can be a managerial virtue, argues James C. Scott in Two Cheers for Anarchism.

By Michael Schrage, contributor

FORTUNE -- Should you hold even the slightest sympathy for the Occupy Wall Street crowd and the anti-globalists who took on the World Trade Organization in the "Battle in Seattle," you'll find that James C. Scott's Two Cheers for Anarchism makes their arguments far more coherently than they do. Even if you MORE

5-Hour Energy maker raids major counterfeit operation

Living Essentials, which manufactures the energy drink that is currently being investigated for its ties to 13 deaths, seized nearly two million fake bottles, according to court documents.

By Allan Dodds Frank

FORTUNE -- Already under scrutiny about the safety of its products, the manufacturer of 5-Hour Energy drinks has uncovered and is shutting down an illegal counterfeiting network that flooded the nation with millions of bottles of fake versions of MORE

How George Tenet Brought The CIA Back From The Dead (Fortune, 2003)

Editors note: Every week, Fortune publishes a story from our magazine archives. On Friday, November 9, former CIA director David Petraeus resigned from his post after admitting to an extramarital affair with his biographer, fellow West Point graduate Paula Broadwell. The complexities of Petraeus' career will unfold over time, but as the term of one CIA director ends, Fortune turns to the career of another: George Tenet. Tenet served under President Clinton MORE

Coffee table book nirvana

New, beautifully illustrated doorstoppers on boxing, glaciers, antique postcards, modern India, and New York City.

By Lawrence A. Armour, contributor

FORTUNE -- Coffee table books typically dominate the publishing world at this time of year, and 2012 is no exception. Hundreds of new titles have appeared in recent weeks, all vying for your gift shopping dollars. From this vast selection I chose five very different but equally sumptuous volumes.

First up: Howard MORE

Why there are no Red Cross shelters in New York City

The relief organization isn't permitted to set up shelters in New York City, thanks to a snarl of bureaucracy and red tape. Meanwhile, 20,000 residents remain displaced after Sandy's devastation.

By Katie Benner

FORTUNE -- What has been conspicuously absent from the areas of New York City hardest hit by Superstorm Sandy are shelters set up by the American Red Cross, an organization that as part of its mission statement provides MORE