online archive
5:00PM
MAR 12 2008
Surprising insights from the social sciences
From Reset, a special issue on secularism, including Alessandro Ferrara on three meanings of secularism. From The Boston Globe, an article on uncommon knowledge: Surprising insights from the social sciences. Nat Hentoff wants Obama to Read This Book! Why we fall for fakes: Has "reality" fare spawned the phony memoir? From The Washington Monthly, a special issue: "No torture, no exceptions". From The Guardian, here's a list of the world's 50 most powerful blogs. The introduction to Putting Liberalism in Its Place by Paul Kahn. Flying off the shelves: An article on the pleasures and perils of chasing book thieves. In academia, where the use of prescription drugs to boost mental performance seems to be on the rise, some begin to worry about a pop-pills-or-perish future. From Commentary, William F. Buckley on Goldwater, the John Birch Society, and Me; and John Podhoretz on the election, the GOP—and Iraq. Masculinity, sexuality and dependency: Civisiling femininity is good for men. What do the results so far tell us about Clinton and Obama as general election candidates? Jeff Greenfield investigates. How do you get a terrorist to talk? The torture debate doesn’t answer the question of what works. An excerpt from Dreams of Peace and Freedom: Utopian Moments in the Twentieth Century by Jay Winter. A review of Knut Hamnsun's Hunger and Growth of the Soil.
1:00PM
MAR 12 2008
Who are the true barbarians?
A review of The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes (and more and more and an excerpt and an interview). The "A" word: Is there one political story the press shouldn’t report? A review of Philip Davis’s Bernard Malamud: A Writer’s Life. Who are the true barbarians? Ancient people lived less violently than modern advanced societies and left a lighter footprint on the earth. The accuracy rate of “conventional wisdom” in this presidential election has plummeted to new lows — here’s a look at which “widely held beliefs” have succumbed to reality. From The New York Times Magazine, a special issue on Money. From Lacan.com, Slavoj Zizek on Violence, or Ecology as a New Opium for the Masses (and part 2). A self-described "centrist" is minding Barack Obama's economic policy store — will this centrist prove a pitchman for plutocrats, or should the wealthy start to worry? The joy of boredom: Don't check that e-mail; don't answer that phone; just sit there — you might be surprised by what happens. More and more on The Sexual Paradox: Men, Women and the Real Gender Gap by Susan Pinker. A review of Everyman News: The Changing American Front Page by Michele Weldon. Orc Holocaust: An article on the reprehensible moral universe of Gary Gygax's Dungeons & Dragons.
9:00AM
MAR 12 2008
The best of all games
From Cato Unbound, George Kateb on Patriotism: What's it good for? From Boston Review, Jonathan Zittrain on protecting the Internet without wrecking it: How to meet the security threat (with responses); and the best of all games: John Rawls puts philosophy to the service of baseball. Prince Valiant: Britain's Prince Harry should've stayed in Afghanistan. Inside Wall Street's Black Hole: For years, investors have relied on a complex formula to manage risk, but what happens if the Black-Scholes model is wrong—and we're in bigger trouble than ever? Group living in the nation’s capital is nothing new, and the presence of a blogger house reflects the increasing number of online pundits in the capital. From TNR, Michael Crowley on the long history of the McCain-Obama grudge; and how should liberals who admire McCain wrestle with his current positions? Bookforum talks with Jerome Charyn, author of Johnny One-Eye: A Tale of the American Revolution. From Dissent, monsters and double standards: On Samantha Power's resignation; and an article on the school for wives: On the Spitzer apology. How do you go off the record? Why Samantha Power couldn't take back her monstrous gaffe (and more). Writing books about a fast-moving presidential campaign can be risky. From TED, Craig Venter is on the verge of creating synthetic life, and Alan Kay on a powerful idea about teaching ideas.
