online archive
11:30AM
JUN 13 2007
Richard Rorty, academia and science
From Inside Higher Ed, the late Richard Rorty was a pragmatist philosopher and a generous soul. Scott McLemee looks back. From Open Democracy, Roger Scruton on Richard Rorty’s legacy. The provocateur's philosopher: Richard Rorty became widely known because he was widely hated, but he was also philosopher who couldn't be ignored (and more from Stanford).
From Princeton, what’s the big idea? Professors Cornel West and Robert George, ideological opponents, are unlikely partners in this popular freshman seminar. From ZNet, the Harvard Law School faculty and deans are no longer fit to educate lawyers, members of the Bar, and officers of the court. They are a sick joke and a demented fraud. From 01238, every admissions office gets it wrong sometimes. Here’s our list of Harvard’s biggest mistakes. An interview with Nader Baydoun, coauthor of The Rush to Injustice: How Power, Prejudice, Racism, and Political Correctness Overshadowed Truth and Justice in the Duke Lacrosse Case. Academic groups say the government's practice of denying visas to scholars without explanation is harming the United States' reputation for intellectual freedom. The Army Goes on Spring Break: Enticing half-naked college kids to look up from their beer guzzling and beanbag tossing and contemplate enlistment.
From The Chronicle, Authority 3.0: As the Web evolves, so will the ways we measure scholarly authority. Scholars, universities, and publishers will have to adapt to the changes. One of the 6 myths about work: Going to grad school open doors. A math lesson on college loans: Expanding the direct lending program is a sensible and cost-effective way for Congress and the Department of Education to help more of our young people realize the American Dream. In your parents' footsteps: Early findings show that a family tradition of university still has a huge influence on prospective students. America's Teaching Crisis: Saving public education begins with how we handle its most important part: teachers. Do away with public schools: Government is inept at running schools. It should subsidize education for needy students, then get out of the way.
From Discover, Soul Search: Will natural science pin down our supernatural essence? A look at how Richard Dawkins explains questions in evolutionary biology, and then answers them in a profoundly satisfying manner, in The Selfish Gene. Sleek, fast and focused, the cells that make Dad Dad: Sperm are some of the most extraordinary cells of the body, a triumph of efficient packaging, sleek design and superspecialization. Daddies' girls choose men just like their fathers: Women who enjoy good childhood relationships with their fathers are more likely to select partners who resemble their dads, research suggests.
Steve Jones on Jeremy Bentham, James Watson and the price to pay for our DNA. As Tony Blair seeks his place in posterity, he should heed the example of the scientists who identified the structure of DNA and then tried to shape their own place in history. Today, virtual games. Tomorrow, virtual worlds where you can turn into DNA, play a piano, and merge with your computer. More information confirms what you already know: Study says values win over facts when it comes to tech risks. The Science of Team Success: A growing body of research shows that groups can systematically enhance their performance. Think you've previously read about this? Researchers pinpoint the part of the brain that causes déjà-vu, which could lead to new memory-boosting therapies.
11:30AM
JUN 13 2007
American democracy, marriage, feminism, immigration and more
From TNR, Supreme Leader: Jeffrey Rosen on the arrogance of Justice Anthony Kennedy. Crisis of Confidence: The latest terror ruling suggests that the courts do pretty well in a crisis. A review of Nation of Secrets: The Threat to Democracy and the American Way of Life by Ted Gup. An interview with Gore Vidal on Europe and why the US is not a democracy. Democracy is not just about elections. It is about living under law rather than the whim of power.
Race against history: Merlin Chowkwanyun on why genes don't determine race. From Writ, an article on the fortieth anniversary of Loving v. Virginia: The personal and cultural legacy of the case that ended legal prohibitions on interracial marriage (and more). From Democracy, Jonathan Rauch reviews The Future of Marriage by David Blankenhorn. A review of America's Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage, and a review of Queers in Court: Gay Rights Law and Public Policy by Susan Gluck Mezey. A review of The War Between the State and the Family: How Government Divides and Impoverishes by Patricia Morgan. From Slate, a series of articles on Weddings. Why do brides buy and grooms rent? Robert Frank investigates.
From Salon, Lucy Kaylin, author of a new book on mothers' complicated relationship with nannies, talks frankly about playground politics, nannycams and how the "mommy wars" play into childcare choices. Why feminists fight with each other: An interview with Deborah Siegel, author of Sisterhood Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild. A review of What Makes Women Happy by Fay Weldon. A review of Redefining Seduction: Women Initiating Sex, Courtship, Partnership, Peace by Donna Sheehan and Paul Reffell.
From Scientific American, putting a price tag on death: Economists say balancing the pain of loss with the right amount of money could lead to more rational court awards. One-Fifth of an American: How much is an immigrant's life worth, exactly? Steven Landsburg investigates. Eric Rauchway on why immigration reform should wait until 2009. Out of unenforceable laws, amnesties are born: The elephant in the room is that the existing immigration law that underlies the debate has no connection with reality. James Surowiecki on guest workers. They Came Here to Work: The punitive rage directed at illegal immigrants grows out of a larger blindness to the manual labor they perform that makes our lives possible. The Trouble With the Super-Rich: A bloated overclass can drag down a society as surely as a swelling underclass.
George Will reviews The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America’s Politics and Culture by Brink Lindsey. A review of The Silent Majority: Suburban Politics in the Sunbelt South by Matthew D. Lassiter. As smart growth gains ground among academics and activists, conservatives are whipping themselves up into a frenzy over the perils of what they term "anti-sprawl policy". An article on Proposition 13, the tax revolution that gave us today’s government mess.
11:30AM
JUN 13 2007
Africa, Europe and American politics
From Tanzania, the Hadzabe, one of the last remaining tribes of hunter-gatherers on the planet, is on the verge of vanishing into the modern world. An article on the uprising in Guinea and problems facing African liberation. Pushers' paradise: The drugs trade in Guinea-Bissau, the continent's first narco-state, is booming. A Continental Voice: An article on the urgent need for an African magazine. South Africa's Thabo Mbeki promises an "African renaissance". But why does that include hostility to Israel and the west? As China becomes a major influence in Africa, it faces mounting resistance and a profound dilemma: How does a nation devoted to nonintervention become a global power? Finding Refuge in Literature: Three recent books raise awareness of African refugees in America. A review of The Invisible Cure by Helen Epstein and 28: Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen. Raising the "bottom billion": Paul Collier on how aid made the G8 headlines, but it is a sideshow alongside the real-world anti-poverty measures people in Africa. The G-8 aren't the only ones: What good are the Group of Eight's promises without rapidly developing countries like China and Brazil?
Europeans are now taller than Americans for the first time in history, thanks to better national health-care systems in most European countries. Europe’s Christian Comeback: Alarmist pundits prophesize that a secular Europe risks being overcome by its fast-growing Muslim population. Yet for all we hear about Islam, Europe remains a stronger Christian fortress than people realize. Recent geopolitical developments have raised the question of whether allowing European judges to operate independently from political powers might enable them to fight international criminals. Transcitizens of the world unite: Not quite resident, not quite alien, John Sutherland describes the peculiar state of living between two countries.
From TNR, Al Gore explains what went wrong with democracy. Even now, after grudging recognitions that Gore was often right and even prescient, the major news media still can’t let go of its reflexive habit of demeaning him. The media's assault on reason: Such is life for Al Gore when dealing with the Beltway press, where his vociferous critics cannot be bothered with the simplest fact-checking task.
The System at Work: Politicians' tendency to blame the system is a convenient way of leaving no one accountable. Why Washington can’t get much done: On issues ranging from immigration to global warming, lawmakers are paralyzed by partisanship, fear, denial (and the Constitution). What's the Matter with Massachusetts? An article on defending one of America's most enlightened states. Here's a revealing look at how state politics works. Okay, wonks: Think you know how the political game works? Now you can actually play it, or at least one part of it, from within the window of a computer browser. MAPlight.org, a Berkeley-based online watchdog, is breaking ground by using technology to track how political contributions shape legislation. More Money, More Problems: Any serious campaign finance reform must recognize that money is the mother's milk of politics.
Bush no money magnet: Financial projections for the President’s Dinner confirm that Republican confidence in the president is in a state of collapse. Is even Texas becoming a tough business climate for conservative operatives? Or is this lobby and consulting firm motivated by something other than money? And Still They Rise: Conservative pols booted out of office have a way of hanging around Washington. From The Politico, with signs of hope in the gloom enveloping Republicans, how do Democrats capitalize on this opportunity to begin building up a new Modern Majority?
11:30AM
JUN 13 2007
World literature, fiction, books, art and more
Things Fall Apart author Chinua Achebe wins Booker Prize for fiction, beating out Philip Roth and Ian McEwan. The new face of Nigerian literature? Growing up in a house once occupied by famous Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe was "a lovely coincidence", Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says, but it may have been where she first caught the literary bug. One Hundred Years of Solitude has had 40 years of admiring company. Yet still it stands alone, writes Ilan Stavans.
From The New Yorker, a special issue on Summer Fiction. Philip K. Dick goes legit with Library of America canon. From Dissent, four new novels revisit a particularly tumultuous era of American history: A review of Eat the Document by Dana Spiotta; American Woman by Susan Choi; The Darling by Russell Banks; and The Company You Keep by Neil Gordon. Four thrillers to keep you pleasantly frightened: A review of The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan; Restitution by Lee Vance; Requiem for an Assassin by Barry Eisler; and Stalin's Ghost by Martin Cruz Smith.
From New York, an interview with Bob Stein. director of the Institute for the Future of the Book. From Britannica, Gregory McNamee on 10 things you (maybe) didn’t know about books. A publishing quandary: Do excerpts help sales? This Book Club is one tight literary circle of African-American women. The Scorn of the Literary Blog: Despite what the bloggers themselves believe, the future of literary culture does not lie with blogs — or at least, it shouldn't. How to hook the reluctant boy reader: Gags, gadgets and adventure — sure fire recipes to make boys (and girls) read.
From Der Spiegel, the German Pavilion in Venice, designed by Isa Genzken, is a surreal world of mysterious cases, hovering spacesuits and rubber reptiles. In the British Pavilion Tracey Emin explores sex, desire and gender, while France's Sophie Calle examines the female reaction to rejection. Just some of the many enticing exhibitions at this year's Biennale. The Minister of Information: If this messy world is becoming easier to understand, thank Edward Tufte. From Seven Oaks, accepting art as your personal saviour: A review of The Colorful Apocalypse: Journeys in Outsider Art by Greg Bottoms.
From The Medieval Review, a review of A History of the English Language Richard Hogg and David Denison. A review of Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language by Seth Lerer (and more). One of the week's best invented words: "Mantagonist".
From Newsweek, a review of The Diana Chronicles, an interview with Tina Brown, and an excerpt. Former queen of buzz Tina Brown conjures a golden heyday. The Princess and The Profiler: Will Tina Brown's new book about Princess Di persuade the public to join her once again at the convergence of highbrow and low? (and more and an interview)
