Eric A. Feldman (Penn) and Ronald Bayer (Columbia): The Triumph and Tragedy of Tobacco Control: A Tale of Nine Nations. The Age of Ships: Michael Anton on a time before passenger jets, when ocean liners were “the greatest of the works of man”. From NYRB, do the classics have a future? Mary Beard investigates. Winifred Gallagher, author of New: Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change, on exploring your inner neophiliac, on curiosity and boredom, and on Aristotle’s ideal, killed by the Web. David Bank on self-organization and the hierarchy of institutions. Gladwell vs. Shirky: A year later, scoring the debate over social-media revolutions. The Pirate Bay’s new plan to destroy capitalism: The piracy giant's offering up an idea that, if it goes right, could topple the economy and change digital exchange as we know it. A review of Occupy! Scenes from Occupied America by Astra Taylor, Keith Gessen et al. While the difficulties of winter have taken their toll, Occupy Wall Street organizers say they are confident that an "American Spring" is in the making. Here is a list of 5 rulers whose idiot siblings nearly screwed the world.
