archive

All such easy polarities

Suzanne Preston Blier (Harvard): Animalia: the Natural World, Art, and Theory. From Intellectum, an interview with Ernesto Laclau on the uses of populism, why radical democracy has nothing to do with liberalism, and how lack of political competition benefits the far-Right. From Discover, Delthia Ricks on the intellectual property fight that could kill millions. From The Believer, might some new style be necessary, one that’s neither “plain” nor “lyrical” but dissolves the line between all such easy polarities? From The Exiled, Mark Ames on Being Tim Geithner: A brief excursion into the marble-floored mind of our Treasury Secretary; and Cakewalking into Yemen: One more chapter in the decline and dementia of America’s war party. On first looking into Chapman’s Holden: Daniel Stashower on speculations on a murder. Repression's Capital, Europe's Canary: Kafka's home city of Prague has a lot to hide — these unwelcome truths are bad for business. From Double X, a look at how the earthquake killed Haiti's feminist movement. Is aid without climate adaptation a waste of time? All camped out: A look at how Glee became an after-school special. Secularism and multiculturalism: An encounter with Charles Taylor. An interview with Martin Amis on his new book, Philip Larkin's sex life, and why JM Coetzee is no good. Peter Augustine Lawler on our hero Socrates, the introduction to Nalin Ranasinghe’s Socrates in the Underworld: On Plato’s Gorgias. The police suicide problem: Being a cop is a dangerous job and not just for the obvious reasons — suicide kills more officers every year than homicides or accidents at work.