online archive
6:00PM
NOV 6 2007
Human rights and wrongs
From Social Research, a special issue on "Difficult Choices", including Edna Ullmann-Margalit on Difficult Choices: To Agonize or Not to Agonize?, Isaac Levi on Identity and Conflict; Jonathan Moore on Deciding Humanitarian Intervention and Mary Anderson on To Work, or Not to Work, in "Tainted" Circumstances: Difficult Choices for Humanitarians. Staying neutral: A new report furthers the debate on how far aid organisations are moving away from the "political humanitarianism" of recent years. A look at how the free rider theory provides a novel explanation of why the world regularly fails to halt genocide. An excerpt from Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur by Ben Kiernan. A review of Helen Fein's Human Rights and Wrongs: Slavery, Terror, Genocide. A review of The Slave Ship: A Human History by Marcus Rediker and A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom, Including Their Own Narratives of Emancipation by David W. Blight (and more and more and more). A review of Inventing Human Rights: A History by Lynn Hunt. From Yes!, a look at 100 years of human rights in the US. Say Anything: Anthony Grafton on what the Renaissance teaches us about torture. Innocence is constantly perceived to be “lost” at various moments in American history: An excerpt from Tourists of History: Memory, Kitsch, and Consumerism from Oklahoma City to Ground Zero by Marita Sturken.
5:00PM
NOV 6 2007
Why Putin wins
From NYRB, Sergei Kovalev on why Putin wins. From Der Spiegel, an article on Russian youth and the Putin cult known as the Nashi movement. From Chronicles, here's an article by the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, that was offered to the editors of Foreign Affairs for publication and rejected. A look at how Russia is pouring billions in oil profits into nanotech race. A review of One Soldier's War in Chechnya by Arkady Babchenko. A review of Beslan: The Tragedy of School No. 1 by Timothy Phillips. An October for us, for Russia, and for the whole world: Appeal of 17 Russian intellectuals and artists. A review of The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings, 1947–2005. Orlando Figes on why his archive of Russian voices will preserve the truth about Stalin's reign of terror. From The Moscow Times, a review of Simon Sebag Montefiore's Young Stalin (and more and more); a massive social advertising campaign is covering Moscow's billboards with paternalistic advice on everything from looking beautiful to sex; and how bloggers are giving birth to a vigorous consumer democracy in Russia.
4:00PM
NOV 6 2007
David Lynch discovers transcendental meditation
From What is Enlightenment, a special issue on searching for utopia, including Andrew Cohen and Ken Wilber on community and the utopian impulse in a post-postmodern world; an interview with Fritzie P. Manuel, co-author of Utopian Thought in the Western World; and an article on the viability of a world government: Exploring humanity's timeless quest for heaven on earth. From Tricycle, a review of One City: A Declaration of Interdependence by Ethan Nichtern. Law, Buddhism and social change: An interview with the 14th Dalai Lama. 21st-Century Monk: Another interview with the Dalai Lama. The installation of the Dalai Lama as a distinguished professor at Emory is the culmination of a relationship spanning nearly two decades; and Naropa University’s Buddhist-inspired teaching is aimed at giving students "a critical perspective on their inner lives". As much as she would like a quiet life, Jetsun Kushok, Tibetan Buddhism's foremost female lama, is in demand and a role model to Western followers. A review of Foundations of Dharmakirti's Philosophy. What is happiness, and how can we all get some? Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard investigates. When David Lynch discovered transcendental meditation it changed his life — now he wants it to change yours.
3:00PM
NOV 6 2007
The second civil war
From The Washington Monthly, divide and concur: Bipartisanship in Washington is dead—maybe now we can get something done. From The Wilson Quarterly, an article in praise of the values voter: Pundits blame agitation over hot-button moral issues for alienating voters and short-circuiting reasoned debate — they are wrong on every count. Jonathan Yardley reviews The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America by Ronald Brownstein (and more). I'm with Barry: Why Goldwater has emerged as an important figure in the presidential campaign — and why Hillary Clinton is among his fans. An interview with Paul Krugman on how the right-wing media machine is destroying social progress. A review of See You in Court: How the Right Made America a Lawsuit Nation by Thomas Geoghegan. From Frontpage, an interview with David Harsanyi, author of Nanny State; and an interview with Thomas A. Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste. Washington Weiner: Eve Fairbanks on the K Street hot dog in the age of reform. Meghan Daum on how things have never been better for kick-ass bloviators.
2:00PM
NOV 6 2007
It's time to fight Hefnerism
Why men and women argue differently: Women want to talk about it, men are more likely to retreat into stoney silence, and the science behind how we argue. The difference myth: We shouldn't believe the increasingly popular claims that boys and girls think differently, learn differently, and need to be treated differently. Why immigrant women may be the stronger sex: A new report suggests they are leaving their male counterparts in the dust. A look at literature offers some compelling reasons why. From Christianity Today, the trouble with bodies, for women especially: A review of Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body by Courtney E. Martin and Marks of His Wounds: Gender Politics and Bodily Resurrection by Beth Felker Jones. Not tonight, dear; in fact, not ever: Feminism gave women control of their sex lives, but has it gone too far? Many women are risking their relationships by saying "no". A review of Husbandry: Sex, Love & Dirty Laundry - Inside the Minds of Married Men by Stephen Fried. Sexing the handbag: It's time to fight Hefnerism with radicalisation not restriction. A review of Porn Studies. Is pornography a catalyst of sexual violence? Recent research suggests the opposite is true. Public vs. private space: It has become one of the more outlandish events the Scots have seized upon – and made light of. "He was," some are saying, "bike-curious".
1:00PM
NOV 6 2007
Towards a new cultural studies
From the latest issue of Anthropoetics, John O’Carroll (CSU) and Chris Fleming (UWS): Towards a New Cultural Studies; and Amir Khan (Windsor) A Call to Passion. A review of (Mis)representations: Intersections of Culture and Power. From Axess, a special issue on Orientalism/Saidism, including Ibn Warraq on how tendentious theory blocks our view: When Said’s disciples analyse Oriental pictorial art, they fall back on completely arbitrary interpretations; Robert Irwin on how Edward Said’s influential work is characterised by a falsification of history and academic snobbery; and Mohamed Omar on how Swedish tradition of scholars and adventurers who had a real passion for Muslim culture refute Said’s absurd argument that orientalists were merely the product of imperialism. Being inside and outside simultaneously: The writing of Assia Djebar turns the tables on the postcolonist, so that the question now is not, "Can the subaltern speak and write?", but "Can the non-subaltern hear and read?"
12:00PM
NOV 6 2007
Let us leave our musical islands
From Commentary, Terry Teachout on the Amateur as Critic: Can a cricket correspondent become a foremost writer on classical music? Let us leave our musical islands: Music critics Alex Ross and Ben Ratliff discuss the state of classical, jazz, and pop. The great 20th century composers revolutionized music, only to be rewarded with obscurity — can the New Yorker's Alex Ross revive them in a world of Britney Spears? From PopMatters, Josh Timmermann rises in defense of Britney. Thanks to a seven-year-old Will Ferrell sketch, the whole concept of cowbell in music has been turned into one big joke, but cowbell deserves better. Air guitar comes out of the bedroom, having not only its own stars but now a documentary movie devoted to it.
11:00AM
NOV 6 2007
How life should be lived and knowledge absorbed
A new issue of The New York Times' "Education Life" is out, including a look at how the consensus today is that globally fluent graduates are essential to American competitiveness, making study abroad a must-have credential. But are American students ready — and willing — to experience the real world? (and more); and a section on niche colleges: Some colleges have a particular philosophy about how life should be lived and knowledge absorbed, and they want their students to follow it, day in and day out — sound intense? It is; at the College of the Atlantic, it’s all about the environment — everyone majors in human ecology, the study of how people relate to their natural and cultural environments; and at Shimer College, there are no lectures — books, not professors, are considered the teachers, and the path to learning relies on the Socratic method of discussion. From Inside Higher Ed, why the rich universities get richer: Analysis documents gaps between the wealthiest and everyone else — and suggests that some strategies used to build mega-endowments may not work indefinitely. College towns escape the pain: As the inner cities, along with much of Florida and the interior of California, face the prospect of a foreclosure meltdown, American college towns appear to be islands of stability. While politicians ponder the future of gambling in the state, maverick Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson is bringing Texas Hold 'em into the classroom. Beyond rankings: An article on a new way to look for a college. Despite the negative reputation of "helicopter parents," those moms and dads who hover over children in college and swoop into their academic affairs appear to be doing plenty of good.
10:00AM
NOV 6 2007
Musharraf’s monster
From Open Democracy, the Pakistani president's martial-law decree is targeting lawyers, human-rights activists, political opponents and the media. Can it work? Lawyers against Musharraf: Why are attorneys taking to the streets in Pakistan? The freedom agenda fizzles: Fred Kaplan on how George Bush and Condoleezza Rice made a mess of Pakistan. Joshua Kurlantzick on why the US needs to stop supporting Musharraf right now. Lee Smith on the case for standing by Musharraf. From CJR, an article on Musharraf’s Monster: In Pakistan, independent TV is young, powerful, and biting the hand that fed it. A review of Yasmin Khan's The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. A review of The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cell Phone: Reflections on India, the Emerging 21st-Century Power by Shashi Tharoor. A review of Leela Fernandes's India's New Middle Class: Democratic Politics in an Era of Economic Reform. The New Untouchables: The abysmal socioeconomic status of Muslims is the Achilles' heel of India's highly touted secular democracy.
9:00AM
NOV 6 2007
The busy person's guide to travel
From H-Net, a review of The Travelers' World: Europe to the Pacific by Harry Liebersohn (and more). A review of Perspectives on Travel Writing. A review of Wanderlust: A Social History of Travel by Laura Byrne Paquet. A review of Spontaneous Tourism: The Busy Person's Guide To Travel by James Samans. From National Geographic, the world's most appealing destinations—islands—are the ones most prone to tourism overkill. Experts vote on which ones avoid the danger, which are succumbing to it, and which hang in the balance. Sun, sex and Stalinism: Tourists bring back tales of life in Kim Jong Il's grim theme park. A dramatic rise in tourism ignites a debate in Mexico: Should a private family own an archaeological treasure? A review of City Lights: Stories About New York by Dan Barry and The World in a City: Traveling the Globe Through the Neighborhoods of the New New York by Joseph Berger. From New York, a series of articles on how to escape airport hell.
