Melissa Bellanta (Queensland): Leary Kin: Australian Larrikins and the Blackface Minstrel Dandy. The introduction to Bourbon for Breakfast: Living Outside the Statist Quo by Jeffrey A. Tucker. A review of The Digital Cast of Being: Metaphysics, Mathematics, Cartesianism, Cybernetics, Capitalism, Communication by Michael Eldred. Globalization and Materialism: Kyle Bristow on the mortal dangers to the soul of Western man. Peter Darbyshire, the author of The Warhol Gang, thinks modern society is screwed. When you think about it, Robert Louis Stevenson was probably right about Victorian times and he is not all that wrong now. A review of American Idol after Iraq: Competing for Hearts and Minds in the Global Media Age by Nathan Gardels and Mike Medavoy. Check your pockets carefully — it’s possible that nearly half of our moon rocks are missing. James Surowiecki on the dangers of financial illiteracy. From the RSA, a special report on mastering our behaviour through instinct, environment and reason. One way to get popular with ladies: Set out to walk around the world in an iron mask. Christopher Lehmann reviews Hope in a Scattering Time: A Life of Christopher Lasch by Eric Miller (and more). The Son of Gutenberg: How WordPress changed the way we publish. A review of How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like by Paul Bloom (and more and more and more and more). It's hard enough to predict the challenges we'll face in 20 years, let alone to guess the solutions; the only thing we know for sure is that science can deliver. A review of The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry and Invention by William Rosen (and more). Thought a black president would lead to more diversity on cable news? The TV landscape has only gotten whiter.
