6:00PM
NOV 21 2008
Living a simple life
From Americana, a special issue on John Dewey. From Dissent, Suzanne Nossel on a human rights agenda for the new administration; and a review of Torture and Democracy by Darius Rejali. Nathan Glazer reviews Who's Your City?: How the Creative Economy is Making Where You Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life by Richard Florida. Very silly and deeply serious: For three decades, Laurie Taylor has constantly reminded us of our better and freer intellectual selves. More on It's a PC World by Edward Stourton. Untapped riches: Greenland braces for independence and wealth. Rational choices, reasoned discussions, respect for lawful institutions — that's what Clive James wants from his action heroes. The Observer profiles Bashar Assad, no longer the pariah President. Living a simple life: The apparently insatiable urge to possess things is a form of violence, too. A review of The Real All Americans: The Team That Changed a Game, a People, a Nation by Sally Jenkins. Extra! Extra! Newspapers and auto makers take heart — history shows that flexibility (and luck) can hold off the angel of death. From Business Week, a look at the six unknowns that are roiling the stock market; and an article on the end of instant messaging (as we know it). A review of Autophobia: Love and Hate in the Automotive Age by Brian Ladd.
3:00PM
NOV 21 2008
The future of a genre
From the Middle East Quarterly, Caroline Sevier (AEI): The Costs of Relying on Aging Dictators; and Efraim Karsh and Rory Miller (King's): Did Edward Said Really Speak Truth to Power?; Jonathan Fine (HUJ): Contrasting Secular and Religious Terrorism; and an essay on the fallacy of grievance-based terrorism. Executive search engines: Does it make sense to pony up for $100K-plus job sites? A review of The Soiling of Old Glory: The Story of a Photograph that Shocked America by Louis Masur. An interview with David Hendrickson, author of Cause for Depression: A pictorial guide to the financial crisis. George Soros on the crisis and what to do about it. Kaboom! A look at the world's biggest non-nuclear explosions. From The Jury Expert, a review of American Juries: The Verdict by Neil Vidmar and Valerie Hans; and do liberals and conservatives punish differently? A review of What Blood Won't Tell: A History of Race on Trial in America by Ariela J. Gross. A review of Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey by Colin Grant. From Slate, a look at how Europe deals with immigration. From New Scientist, a special section on science fiction: The future of a genre. From Cosmos, the beauty industry makes some wild, and seemingly scientific, claims about anti-ageing products, but how do they hold up under the harsh light of science?
12:00PM
NOV 21 2008
The mass of decent people
From Australian Book Review, a review of How to Do Biography: A Primer by Nigel Hamilton (and more); and a review of Castles, Battles, and Bombs: How Economics Explains Military History by Jurgen Brauer and Hubert van Tuyll. More on The Politics of the Veil by Joan Wallach Scott. From New Statesman, here come the liberals: For decades American conservatism defined global politics, but now we are about to witness a seismic change in Washington; and against the liberalocracy: Brian Cathcart, the editor of the Daily Mail, sees himself as a victim, desperately leading the defence of the values of the mass of decent people; and a review of The American Future: a History by Simon Schama and Will America Change? by Ziauddin Sardar and Merryl Wyn Davies. Michael Lind on Obama and the dawn of the Fourth Republic: His victory really may mark the beginning of a new era in American history. A review of Al' America: Travels Through America's Arab and Islamic Roots by Jonathan Curiel. Is Sarah Palin a cultural alien? Robert Lang wants to know. From Mental Floss, a look at 12 oddly specific museums preserving our history. A review of A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir by Donald Worster. An article on Ingrid Newkirk, the loudest voice the animal kingdom has ever known.
9:00AM
NOV 21 2008
Do you want to kill your father?
From the International Journal of Zizek Studies, Jan De Vos (Ghent): From Panopticon to Pan-psychologisation or, Why do so many women study psychology?; Nathan Coombs (SOAS): Rejecting both Mao and Deng: Slavoj Zizek and Waiting for the Leftist Critique to Come; and how badly do you want to kill your father? From Against the Current, a review of Globalisation: A Systematic Marxian Account by Tony Smith; a review of Trinity of Passion: The Literary Left and the Antifascist Crusade by Alan M. Wald; a review of Socialist Register 2008: Global Flashpoints, Reactions to Imperialism and Neoliberalism. From Academe, a review of Color and Money: How Rich White Kids Are Winning the War over College Affirmative Action by Peter Schmidt; a review of New Players, Different Game: Understanding the Rise of For-Profit Colleges and Universities by William G. Tierney and Guilbert C. Hentschke; and when did faculty become the bad guys in The Chronicle of Higher Education? More on Stop Me If You've Heard This : A History and Philosophy of Jokes by Jim Holt. A review of Scramble for Africa: Darfur Intervention and the USA by Steven Fake and Kevin Funk. A review of The Culture of War by Martin van Creveld (and more). Jacques Alain Miller on Obama: Metis and hermaphrodite.
6:00PM
NOV 20 2008
Act boldly, act swiftly
From Flashpoint, Ellen Cardona (CC): Pound’s Early Years, 1885-1924: The Evolution of a Suburban Prejudice; and "Our friend the atom": An article on Walt Disney and the atomic bomb. Scott McLemee says farewell to a man of letters, John Leonard. There is another way to spend your philanthropic time and money: going to parties. A review of Mindboggling: Preliminaries to a Science of the Mind by Roy Harris. A review of Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed and Forgery in the Holy Land by Nina Burleigh. Jewcy takes a look at the financial crisis, in six easy pieces. Advice to Democrats: Act boldly, act swiftly, and stop worrying about losing seats in the midterm elections. An excerpt from Make It Plain: Standing Up and Speaking Out by Vernon Jordan. From Seed, mathematician Steven Strogatz and architect Carlo Ratti discuss the laws that govern urban behavior and how those laws might shape the cities of the future. An interview with Niall Ferguson on Obama and the global crisis: "A world war without war". Misleading by petition: Just what is the consensus on global warming? A look at how Barack Obama's victory made New York rejoice in its promise. A review of Honest Signals: How They Shape Our World by Alex (Sandy) Pentland. A review of The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread by Maria Balinska.
3:00PM
NOV 20 2008
The true meaning of the word
From Greater Good, a symposium on "The Psychology of Power"; a symposium on "The 21st Century Family"; and a special section on play as human development. The Cybercafe Lives: A musty business model allows gamers a way out of isolation and into productive fantasy and social connection. A review of The Earth after Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks? by Jan Zalasiewicz. The flag that Francis Scott Key saw flying over Fort McHenry was loved almost to death; now, after a decade's conservation, the Star-Spangled Banner returns to its place of honor on the National Mall. A review of Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer by Fred Kaplan. Obama in the history books: An excerpt from America: The First Quarter Millennium, copyright 2026. What is an election? It depends which country you live in, but the true meaning of the word can only be realised where there is real democracy. A review of Loot: The Battle Over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World by Sharon Waxman. Is a semi-reformed payday lender the right guy to bring the urban poor into the banking system? How did Barack Obama win over white, blue-collar Levittown, Pa.? Brace yourselves: Power's shifting, but not in the way you expect. A review of The Enemy Within: 2000 Years of Witch-Hunting in the Western World by John Demos (and more).
12:00PM
NOV 20 2008
Go figure
From The Hudson Review, Brooke Allen on The Multi-Tasking Marquise; and Richard Hornby on An American Lear. A journey that maps the life of ideologies from the French revolution via Marxism to neo-liberalism opens a space to explore what may come next, says Tom Nairn. The hunter’s evidence: An interview with Carlo Ginzburg. An article on the secret world of female circumcision. Creativity and mood: The myth that madness heightens creative genius. In some ways it's strange that President-elect Barack Obama has been bouncing ideas off Chicago economists and counts some of them as his closest advisers. Terry Eagleton reviews The House of Wittgenstein: A Family at War by Alexander Waugh. Michael Shermer v. John Lennox on the Great Debate: Does God exist? From Strange Maps, a look at the ‘claves of Liechtenstein. From the Olympics to urban explosion to the rowdiness of its people, a tour of China is like a trip to 19th-century America. A review of Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles by Richard Dowden. A review of The Eager Dead: A Study in Haunting by Archie E Roy. What should an obit say? Jeff Weinstein investigates. Eels on Wheels: The life history of the eel is more complicated than you think. The host of one of the stupidest television shows in history, " Fear Factor", turns out to be a standup comic of surprising intelligence — go figure.
9:00AM
NOV 20 2008
Fears run deep
From First Principles, sharing the wealth: James V. Schall, S.J. on redistributionism. An interview with Mark Juergensmeyer, author of Global Rebellion: Religious Challenges to the Secular State. Jihadists for Obama: What are the Islamist message boards saying about America's next president? Susan Wise Bauer on why public confession speaks to a secular America. From Discover, an article on science's alternative to an intelligent Creator: The multiverse theory. Lee Smolin on how science is like democracy. John Kay on Milton Friedman and the limits of academic pluralism. KC Johnson on Obama and the Campus Left. New studies show academics do not influence their students' politics, but fears run deep. John McWhorter on the Revenge of the Black Nerd: Finally, an end to the myth that being bookish means you’re “acting white”. Can Barack Obama's "No Drama" motto survive the transition? Surgical Prep: Jonathan Cohn on the Democrats' secret health care plan. The new baseball economics: An interview with Craig Calcaterra, Mr. ShysterBall. From The Walrus, an article on the lynching of Louie Sam: In 1884, an American mob brought frontier justice to the Canadian border; and an essay on the Archipelago of Fear: Are fortification and foreign aid making Kabul more dangerous? A review of Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America by Jay Parini.
6:00PM
NOV 19 2008
Punks grow old
From Essays in Philosophy, Per Bauhn (Kalmar): The End of Duty; and Eric Smaw (Rollins): From Chaos to Contractarianism: Hobbes, Pojman, and the Case for World Government; and a review of Inhuman Conditions: On Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights by Pheng Cheah. Paul Rogers on the latest SWISH Report: In light of Barack Obama's victory in the United States presidential election, the al-Qaida movement once more solicits advice from the renowned management consultancy. The US has power — what it needs is authority. A look at how the US can fix its damaged reputation abroad. More on The American Future: A History by Simon Schama. Jeffrey Sachs on how to rebuild America: The era of small government is dead — we need a strong, skillful Washington again to start rebuilding America from the ground up (and an interview). In search of answers to his country's financial crisis, Charles P. Pierce goes to a place where he, and only he, can control his gains and losses. Robert Hepple on the right to equality, then and now. Sinclair on James Bond, the genius of Ian Fleming's literary creation. From the Annals of Improbable Research, can punks grow old gracefully? Millions once moved to California for its boundless promise, but time has not been kind to the Golden State. Here are 5 ways to stop trolls from killing the Internet.
3:00PM
NOV 19 2008
Can science save the world?
From NYRB, a review of Can't Remember What I Forgot: The Good News from the Front Lines of Memory Research by Sue Halpern; and a review of books on Iraq. Detroit's Big Three are a national disgrace — but we still need to save them. From Counterpunch, RIP: the Experts, 1929-2008. Ed Kilgore on the anatomy of conservative self-deception. Three conservatives plot the future of the GOP, and handicap the chances of Sarah Palin and other 2012 contenders. The green conservative: An interview with Jim DiPeso of Republicans for Environmental Protection. Are human beings hard-wired to ignore the threat of catastrophic climate change? Can science save the world? Martin Rees investigates. From Science News, an article on how to (really) trust a mathematical proof. What really drew Russia and Georgia into conflict this summer? James Rubin wants to know. Of Genital Thieves: Andrian Kreye on the exploration of economic irrationality. Michael Perelman on the hegemony of Internet porn. From TLS, longitude forged: How an eighteenth-century hoax has taken in Dava Sobel and other historians. Selective Testing: Does Big Pharma stand to gain the most from new genetic tests for drug therapy? When the deity knows you're dead: How do different religions define death? A review of The Language of Things by Deyan Sudjic.
