Another issue of Commonweal is headed for your mailbox and available now online. Free for everyone to read:

• John Connelly's cover story on how one East German town helped bring down the Berlin Wall, and what the citizens have learned in twenty years: "The Price of Freedom"
• Celia Wren's review of a new production of A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Cate Blanchett: "Mind Games"
• Our editorial on this week's USCCB general assembly: "When Bishops Meet"

Subscribers can log in to read Stephen M. Barr's article on the false belief in physical determinism (and the idea that human free will is an "illusion"), "More Than Machines." Todd Flowerday (who may be familiar to dotCommonwealers) explains how the Church ought to be promoting adoption: "Children First." Columnist John Garvey reacts to the Vatican's new plan for Anglican converts, and E. J. Dionne argues that politicians ought to be making the case for government spending.Tina Beattie reviews Miri Rubin's Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary; David Fergusson reviews Jennifer A. Herdt's Putting on Virtue: The Legacy of the Splendid Virtues; and Charles R. Morris reviews Robert Skidelsky's Keynes: The Return of the Master. Film critic Rand Richards Cooper checks out a handful of scary movies (including the not-so-frightening new adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are). Christine Neulieb contributes a "Last Word" about her experience living in community with other women as a grad student. And the letters cover same-sex marriage, the Vatican visitation of U.S. nuns, and health-care reform.Not a subscriber? Sign up now and join us for our eighty-sixth year of covering religion, politics, and culture! And while you're thinking about holiday shopping: don't forget, a subscription to Commonweal makes a great gift.