online archive
5:00PM
MAR 31 2008
Have I got a guy for you
From NYRB, a review of Shakespeare's Wife by Germaine Greer; a review of books on Guantanamo; Robert Skidelsky reviews Making Globalization Work by Joseph E. Stiglitz; and Elizabeth Drew on how the Democrats didn't expect so much pain. The Urbane Tomboys: Eschewing makeup, enjoying a game of pickup basketball, and maybe eyeing your boyfriend! It’s the New York woman’s answer to the metrosexual. A review of Have I Got a Guy for You: What Really Happens When Mom Fixes You Up. An interview with Jeff Gordinier, author of X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything From Sucking. A review of Enhancing Evolution: The Ethical Case for Making Better People by John Harris. A review of Julie Doucet’s 365 Days: A Diary. From IHE, an essay on Howard Gardner's "multiple intelligences" at 25. The introduction to International Political Economy: An Intellectual History by Benjamin J. Cohen. Here's a look at 10 trailblazing scientists about to change your future. From The Futurist, a series of interviews on artificial intelligence. Adam Gopnik and Malcolm Gladwell have often pointed out to their US readers how things work in Canada, the country where they were raised. Graham Allison, Alan Robock, and Jonathan Schell on the time to bury the dangerous legacy of nuclear weapons.
1:00PM
MAR 31 2008
The lessons of likeness
From The American Scholar, an essay on The Art of Literature and the Science of Literature: The delight we get from detecting patterns in books, and in life, can be measured and understood; The Liberal Imagination of Frederick Douglass: Honoring the emotions that give life to liberal principles; passing the torch: Why the eons-old truce between humans and fire has burst into an age of megafires, and what can be done about it; and an article on the lessons of likeness: being a true history of Thomas Eakins’ Portrait of Walt Whitman (with an added three-percent of narrative speculation). The introduction to The Roman Predicament: How the Rules of International Order Create the Politics of Empire by Harold James (and a review). Physicist Michio Kaku believes our planet is doomed and is working on an escape route for humans — but he's no pessimist. From Spiked, a review of The Politics of Chaos in the Middle East by Olivier Roy, and a review of Framing Post-Cold War Conflicts: The Media and International Intervention by Philip Hammond. A look at the top ten craziest things John McCain has said while you weren't watching. A review of French Laughter: Literary Humour From Diderot to Tournier by Walter Redfern. Timothy Garton Ash on why a historic compromise with France is exactly what Britain needs. Does evolution explain why we hate to pay more for scarce goods?
9:00AM
MAR 31 2008
Live to witness the Singularity
From The Nation, victim 'hood: Chris Lehmann on an account of the most recent installment in the nation's sick love affair with literary exhibitionists. Has reading about books replaced the real thing? The sheer amount of reviews we can now access has taken some of the joy out of books. From The Economist, a special report on how America's foreign policy may change under the next president, but confusion over Iraq, worries about overstretch and divisions over the country's role in the world will remain. Does Clinton secretly want Obama to lose to McCain so she can take another crack at the White House in four years? The introduction to School Lunch Politics: The Surprising History of America's Favorite Welfare Program by Susan Levine. Double negative: David Greenberg on the return of doughface liberalism. From Wired, futurist Ray Kurzweil pulls out all the stops (and pills) to live to witness the Singularity. A study suggests increased knowledge about global warming leads to apathy. Legal Bondage: Jeffrey Rosen on why we like restrictions on sex. Rich men behaving badly: Meet the super-rich, the dysfunctional class threatening American values. A review of Villages of Vision: a Study of Strange Utopias by Gillian Darley. From TNR, a review of The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Davis (and more). Dani Rodrik on globalization and the beautiful game.
