online archive
12:00PM
JUL 18 2007
Academia and science
From The Chronicle of Higher Education, Decline and fall: Two loyal Antioch alumni dreamed of returning to their college town. But when they did, they saw up close an institution in its ugly death throes; the battle over Jacques Derrida's papers began even before the philosopher died. It ended in victory for his family — and a black eye for the University of California at Irvine; The Purloined Bibliography: An assistant professor discovers that some major scholars have plagiarized his online work; the latest way to discriminate against women: In our litigious era, one group that's not suing colleges for discrimination would have a remarkably good case; and the Athletics Department of the Future: More academic tie-ins. Increased accountability. Less down time. Welcome to college sports, circa 2017.
Oxford University staff are logging on to Facebook and using evidence they find on student profiles to discipline students. Trans-Atlantic Rift: British academics' threat to boycott Israel perplexes American colleagues. In an urgent effort to save a critical mass of scholars unlike any initiative undertaken since World War II, the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund is finalizing plans to rescue hundreds of Iraqi professors beginning in the coming months.
From CT, a review of Train Up a Child: Old Order Amish and Mennonite Schools by Karen M. Johnson-Weiner. Will conservatives leave education reform behind? At an American Enterprise Institute event, conservatives considered whether to throw their support behind reforming No Child Left Behind, or let the law continue to hobble along as an unfunded mandate. Professors in Colorado receive death threats for teaching evolution. Sexual selection, plumes and plumage: How the industrial accident in Chernobyl has helped evolutionary theory.
A review of Law and the Brain. Research finds culture influences brain cells: Brain's mirror neurons swayed by ethnicity and culture. From Scientific American, Race in a Bottle: Drugmakers are eager to develop medicines targeted at ethnic groups, but so far they have made poor choices based on unsound science. Erasing Memories: New research shows that people can learn to suppress memories. It also suggests new avenues for treating post-traumatic stress disorder. Spite is a uniquely human emotion: Experiments show that even our closest relatives, chimpanzees, are not capable of being spiteful – raising questions about altruism too. Funny, I Only Like Him When He’s Upwind: Surreptitious odors may be the key to wild and sexy behavior in fruit flies, mice, and people.
12:00PM
JUL 18 2007
Sex, marriage and the family
From Sirens, if governments are given the authority to ban body-covering religious clothing, are our short-shorts next? Julie F. Kay on the politics of sex. Dana Milbank on sex and the conservative. Scared Straight: The religious right's ex-gay movement is scouting local recruits. Even the Founding Fathers had to worry about gay-baiting: An excerpt from Long Before Stonewall: Histories of Same-Sex Sexuality in Early America.
How We Love Now: Jewcy writers on the complications of modern romance. Mad About You: An article on modern day stalking, an old fashion passion. Research finds the truth: gentlemen, in fact, prefer brunettes. Vexed by Beauty: Whom next to blame for society’s infatuation with beguiling young women? Quit your bitching about those sky-high heels—they’re a privilege you can’t fully appreciate until you’ve sacrificed your femininity for your country. A review of An Intimate Affair: Women, Lingerie, and Sexuality by Jill Fields. Test your Carnal Knowledge: A quick quiz to determine how keenly you're attuned to the science of sex - and whether that's a good thing. A review of The Ontology of Sex: A Critical Inquiry into the Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Categories by Carrie Hull.
Final Period: Is menstruation so terrible it needs to be “cured”? An interview with Lisa Jean Moore, author of Sperm Counts: Overcome by Man's Most Precious Fluid. Your Gamete, Myself: Using donor eggs for in vitro fertilization is one of the fastest-growing infertility treatments today. But women struggle with many questions as a result of it. The Politics of Stillbirth: A new movement seeks to award special certificates to fetuses that are stillborn, but pro-choice advocates worry that this is yet another step toward fetal personhood that could endanger abortion rights. The Pregnancy Taboo: As a mother-to-be, Jody Santos is experiencing not unremitting joy but depression. Her situation isn't unique. A review of Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression by Brooke Shields.
Reader, don't marry him: No one ever quite managed to popularise the idea that marriage itself is unfeminist. Meet. Marry. Move On.: When you're looking for a soul mate, why let a spouse slow you down? There's a new emphasis in marriages on emotional togetherness, a standard some relationships just cannot meet. Good thing nobody bats an eye anymore when young, childless couples divorce. Dispatches from the Mommy Wars: Are full-time working moms losing the battle? If two people can agree, before they ever marry, on how they would divide their assets, they ought to also be able to make sane arrangements for dividing time with their children. Leave those kids alone: The idea that adults should be playing with their kids is a modern invention — and not necessarily a good one. A review of Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture by Jon Savage.
12:00PM
JUL 18 2007
Global warming, Russia, the Middle East and American politics
From The Progressive, Scandinavia gets serious on Global Warming. Today, an Indian child consumes one ninetieth of the energy of her American counterpart. Such comparisons discredit the consensus that it is simply the mass activity of "man" which is responsible for global warming. Russia Claims the North Pole: Putin looks to deliver on his promise of an "energy empire" by claiming vast swaths of hydrocarbon-rich polar territory. The Tyrant's Turn: Russian President Vladimir Putin was supposed to be a pro-American reformer. So what went wrong? You thought the mullet would never come back. That it had passed into the dustbin of hairdo history, forever. The Mullet. It's back, it's everywhere in Russia, and it's bigger than ever, and more than anything, these mullets are 100% irony-free.
From The American Conservative, the Bosnian Connection: Brendan O'Neill on the civil war that inspired both liberal hawks and Islamist jihadis. Why did the Cairene cross the road? To help Americans understand how democracy works in the Middle East. The World’s Stupidest Fatwas: No central authority controls doctrine in Islam, one of the world’s great religions. The result? A proliferation of bizarre religious edicts against targets ranging from Salman Rushdie to polio vaccinations. More Troops for What? Hoping to sound tough on terror, US politicians and pundits of all political stripes are calling for a massive expansion of the U.S. military. But adding more troops has nothing to do with fighting terrorism, and would merely serve the same failed strategy that gave us Iraq Exit Strategies: Would Iran take over Iraq? Would Al-Qaeda? The debate about how and when to leave centers on what might happen after the US goes.
From Government Executive, what's the Big Idea? Coming up with a moon-shot goal can be tricky, but fear of failure is no reason not to try; and Rules are Cool: Sometimes it's better to embrace red tape, not cut it. A career executive in the federal government, earning the maximum salary allowed by law, draws an hourly wage of $80.50. That's not shabby, but it underscores the old saying that people do not go into public service expecting to get rich. E. J. Dionne Jr. on how reformers need to be more creative when it comes to the supply side of the political money equation. Shankar Vedantam on how campaign contributions change priorities, not beliefs.
From TNR, Fred Thompson has become a front-runner for the Republican nomination, thanks largely to his unusual brand of masculinity. But is he really man enough for the job? A review of A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Carl Bernstein and Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr. Alan Dershowitz on how the Democrats can lose the presidential election.
12:00PM
JUL 18 2007
Literary criticism, literature and culture
From Britannica, works of literary criticism have identified an extraordinary array of schools and movements defining the content and styles of novelists, poets, and dramatists who have flourished in the past 100 years. Here is a short list. From Bryn Mawr Classical Review, a review of Oxford Readings in Ancient Literary Criticism; and a review of Ghosts of the Past: Latin Literature, the Dead, and Rome's Transition to a Principate.
From Der Spiegel, German writer Gunter Wallraff wants to stir things up in his hometown of Cologne. He is proposing reading the Satanic Verses in a controversial new mosque. The religious foundation building the mosque says it'll think about it; and a leading historian wants Mein Kampf to be republished in Germany. Copyright issues have kept it off the shelves since World War II, but in 2015 it will enter the public domain. Then, anyone will be allowed to print it — including neo-Nazis. From Haaretz, a review of Hannah Arendt in Jerusalem; and we need the eggs: A review of Jews and American Popular Culture; and where have all the critics gone? Over the last decade, critics who shaped literary taste have mostly disappeared, and writers of book reviews seem reluctant to speak their mind. When criticism bites, some readers snap back: Arts and entertainment critics do occasionally hear from a performer they've just reviewed, but the more common source of blowback is disgruntled fans.
From The Atlantic Monthly, a 1958 review of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. From n+1, Robert Walser on The New Novel. A review of Inner Workings: Literary Essays 2000-2005 by J.M. Coetzee. From The Nation, Kings of the Road: Two big literary anniversaries: Jack London's forgotten gem The Road turns 100, and Jack Kerouac's On the Road hits 50. Dead blondes, bad books: From Marilyn to Diana, biographies are too often trashy. But readers must take a share of the blame. A review of Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Portraits of Married Life in London Literary Circles 1910 - 1939 by Katie Roiphe.
From New York, Don’t Call David Adjaye a Starchitect Lauded and pilloried (well, by one client), the U.K. sensation heads to our shores; and The Sad Hatter: Isabella Blow, discoverer of Alexander McQueen and Philip Treacy, wearer of the extravagant, darling of the beau monde, loved fashion more than life. But by the end, even fashion couldn’t save her. From Print, with high-concept campaigns that sell a dream, marketers have shaped the luxury condo craze. Welcome to the branded life; a week’s worth of time, money, and resources—gone in a flash! Or is it? Four artists known for their clever online record-keeping show exactly how they spent those precious 604,800 seconds; and an interview on the connection between consumer culture and art.
