online archive
5:00PM
MAR 24 2008
The celebration of decadence
Anne Babeau Gardiner (John Jay): Feminist Literary Criticism: From Anti-Patriarchy to the Celebration of Decadence. Here's the latest issue of Real-World Economics Review (formerly the Post-Autistic Economics Review). A review of Archipelagic English: Literature, History, and Politics 1603-1707 by John Kerrigan. Tim Berners-Lee, believes Google will be “superseded” by the Semantic Web. Using 40,000 text fragments from women's magazines, British artist Graham Rawle challenges the conventions of the novel. Which better explains how ideas move through society: diseases or social networks? The anti-Koran film "Fitna" by Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders has put the Dutch government in a politically impossible situation — Gelijn Molier looks to nineteeth century philosopher John Stuart Mill for advice. A review of The Man Who Pushed America to War: The Extraordinary Life, Adventures and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi by Aram Roston (and more and an interview). Given the urgency of the situation in Middle East, can Europeans afford the luxury of being against Europe? Don't pity the farmer: Silly subsidies and a high demand for grain has made some rather lucky lately. Environmentalism 2.0: Tree-hugging goes only so far — the modern-day breed of environmentalist has bigger, better, higher-tech solutions for fixing global climate change.
1:00PM
MAR 24 2008
Only a promise of happiness
With a "Brave New World" movie coming from the team of Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio, and reissue orders climbing, Aldous Huxley is making a comeback. With Bush and Cheney having lost nearly all credence with their "macho militarism", Kissinger's realism may be the only alternative in a very desperate situation, says Immanuel Wallerstein. From Japan Focus, an essay on “trophy capitalism,” Jefrinomics, and dynastic travail in Brunei. A review of Patrick Sookhdeo’s Global Jihad: The Future in the Face of Militant Islam. A review of The Return of Ulysses: a Cultural History of Homer’s Odyssey by Edith Hall. A review of Only a Promise of Happiness: The Place of Beauty in a World of Art by Alexander Nehamas. An interview with Sebastian Faulks on identity, hearing voices and adjusting to the pace of 007's world. For a man, there’s an order in life — it all starts with a good truck. It's the clever way to power: The Oxbridge elite continues to dominate Britain's political and cultural establishment; almost half of undergraduates still come from private schools, so what is keeping state-educated children out? A review of Alice Becker-Ho and Guy Debord’s A Game of War. A review of America's Rasputin: Walt Rostow and the Vietnam War by David Milne. A review of Servants of the Supernatural: The Night Side of the Victorian Mind by Antonio Melechi.
9:00AM
MAR 24 2008
A post-fact society
From Asia Times, Spengler on the peculiar theology of black liberation. From CLR, a review of Coffee with Dickens by Paul Schlicke and Coffee with Aristotle by Jonathan Barnes. A review of The Great Wall: The Extraordinary History of China's Wonder of the World by John Man. Chile's disaffected "Pokemones" don't care much about politics — they're too busy having sex. From Slate, a conversation on True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society by Farhad Manjoo. Balls are plentiful in Vienna and almost anyone can buy a ticket — however, it is not easy to have an authentic experience like the Jagerball. A review of Carl Wilson’s Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste. Is military experience necessary to be a good commander-in-chief? Here's the evidence left by the leaders of the 20th century. An article on how we can learn from failed development aid in Africa. The college acceptance game has become a kind of social control, so don’t goof off: “Harvard” might not like it. London and Paris are about to hold mayoral elections — which has the brighter future? As nature writing can show, it's not obligation but love that leads to protection of the land. If you look at GDP per head, the world is a different—and, by and large, a better—place. Man has been trying to unlock the mathematical ratio pi for millennia; but why are we driven to find the answers behind it?
