David M. Jenkins (South Florida): Was It Something They Said? Stand-up Comedy and Progressive Social Change (Dissertation). A look at how fantasy sports employees bet at rival sites using inside information. Paul Theroux on the hypocrisy of “helping” the poor: Rich benefactors promise to lift the poor out of poverty, but it was their outsourcing decisions that made people poor in the first place. Emailgate is a political problem for Hillary Clinton, but it also reveals why she’d be an effective president. “My degree in medieval history and philosophy has come in handy,” Carly Fiorina said Sunday night, “because what ISIS wants to do is drive us back to the Middle Ages, literally”. Jia-Chen Fu on the secret Maoist Chinese operation that conquered malaria — and won a Nobel. Meredith Farkas on why the next Librarian of Congress should be an actual librarian. What’s really hot on dating sites? Proper grammar. James Bedford, first cryonaut, is now the longest-surviving human being ever.
Texas professors warn allowing guns in class will inhibit free speech. Could Congress actually pass new gun-control laws? Margaret Hartmann investigates. Eleanor Clift on how the Brady Campaign hopes we’re about to see a cultural shift in the debate over guns — and has a plan to capitalize on that change. Alex Pareene on why the gun control movement needs its own pro-life fanatics. Matt Valentine on the myth of the good guy with the gun. Were the Oregon shooting victims Christian martyrs? Erik Loomis on guns, slavery, and America’s permanent white wingnuttery. Thinking beyond the moment: “In other words, yes, we really do want to take your guns. Maybe not all of them. But a lot of them” (but).
