A few days after this issue hits our desks, we'll huddle in the conference room for our issue critique, a monthly conclave for us editors to tell each other what was good, bad and ugly about the issue. It's best to check your ego at the door and slip on a bulletproof vest, as the slings and arrows can fly fast and furious - especially if a headline you wrote, an article you edited or a modifier you dangled is standing before the firing squad. To be sure, the criticisms outnumber the compliments, but it's a constructive, collegial and courteous exercise aimed at helping us publish a better magazine and forcing us to think like readers, not editors. We once called them slash sessions, but thought issue critique wouldn't hurt as much.