Sally F. Goldfarb (Rutgers): Who Pays for the “Boomerang Generation”? Katharina Thalmann (Freiburg): “John Birch Blues”: The Problematization of Conspiracy Theory in the Early Cold-War Era. Tomohiro Ishizu and Semir Zeki (Wellcome): A Neurobiological Enquiry into the Origins of Our Experience of the Sublime and Beautiful. Elizabeth Brake (Arizona State): Recognizing Care: The Case for Friendship and Polyamory. Adam Higginbotham on the unbelievable skepticism of the Amazing Randi. The poison-the-well myth, and how politics really works: If Republicans wanted to pass an immigration overhaul, they would do so, regardless of whether President Obama were being confrontational. There’s never been a safer time to be a cop — or a more dangerous time to be a criminal. James Miller on how state-run lotteries may help explain why alternative public policies meant to promote a more egalitarian society are now a political non-starter in a country still ostensibly dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. On the value of toleration: Is the defence of free speech and toleration merely another name for indifference, asks Piers Benn. Kevin Melchionne on the point of everyday aesthetics. How did the concept of the spiritual guide leap from Native American tradition to Internet irony? With the help of Tumblr, the Times, and Samuel L. Jackson. Simpler and more foreign: The future of the English language in world where just one-third of speakers do so natively. John H. McWhorter on the conquering tongue: If languages don't preserve world views, what makes them worth saving? The mysterious world of the deaf: Gavin Francis reviews I Can Hear You Whisper: An Intimate Journey Through the Science of Sound and Language by Lydia Denworth.
