A new issue of Education Next is out. From LRB, a review of Philosophy in Turbulent Times: Canguilhem, Sartre, Foucault, Althusser, Deleuze, Derrida by Elisabeth Roudinesco. From The Smart Set, an article on the myriad benefits of toilets, and why the world needs more of them; and the large mammals are our closest relatives — so why is our relationship with them so tense? From Seed, how physicist Garrett Lisi published and vetted his revolutionary work signals the potential future of an open, transparent peer review process; and reviewing peer-review: ScienceBloggers discuss the advantages of open science and debate the necessity of the current peer-review system. Here are 6 sex myths as explained by science. If you’re American, geographically inclined and a bit of a stickler, East-West cartographic incongruity is a bit of an annoyance. From Reason, Brian Doherty on 40 years of free minds and free markets: An oral history of Reason; where did the Libertarian Party go wrong? A postmortem on Bob Barr's presidential run; and how the Second Amendment was restored: The inside story of how a gang of libertarian lawyers made constitutional history. How social pressure can drive eco-consciousness: It worked with smoking in the last decade — can social stigmatization persuade people to change their behavior with respect to the environment?

From The Nation, how Wood works: A review of How Fiction Works by James Wood. Too small to fail: While the behemoths of Wall Street stumble and fall, humble local banks are doing just fine, thank you; their surprising resilience holds a key lesson for twenty-first-century global finance. A review of The Comfort of Things by Daniel Miller. Into a vacuum goes the Manhattan Institute: With the GOP in ruins, the Broken Windows group sees an opportunity. From Eat the State, "why do you hate America so much?": Jeff Stevens on un-hating America; and how Clinton doomed the spotted owl: A cautionary tale for greens in the Age of Obama. From Prospect, Michael Lind on the meaning of Obama; and Sarah Palin for poet laureate: She's not to everyone's political taste, but she's a mean poet. A drama-free transition? Obama's transition is downright boring. Reflecting on race barriers: Obama's breakthrough provokes a global race to capitalize on, and build on, his win. Is Obama the Antichrist? The winning lottery number in Illinois was 666, which, as everyone knows, is the sign of the Beast. How country music lost the election — and why that may be the best thing to happen to the genre in years. The hunt is on for more men to lead classrooms. From IHE, a look at when Austrian economics and Jesuit theology don’t mix; and an article on the illusion of race-blind admissions.

From Prospect, the severity of the credit crunch has taken the world’s central bankers by surprise, but they might have foreseen it had they not been intellectually enslaved by the ideas of the recently-deceased uber-economist, Milton Friedman; the prices of contemporary art works have risen to astonishing levels in recent years; insiders say it’s because we have been living through a golden age of art — nonsense, it is a classic investment bubble; and the curse of Leopold: China’s grab for Congo’s mineral wealth is behind the current wave of fighting, not ethnic tensions. Assembly Line: Jonathan Cohn on debunking the myth of the $70-per-hour autoworker. Here are six myths about the Detroit 3 and their vehicles, and the reality in each case. A revolutionary reworking for Marx's Kapital: Treatise on capitalism to be turned into manga comic 140 years after publication. Irony is dead?: Are ironic sensibilities — the detachment of mind, the appreciation of the folly of taking things at face value — really disappearing? With the election of Barack Obama, political correctness ain’t what it used to be; to help you navigate the new ins and outs, here are a few of the words, phrases, ideas and people that have now been officially blacklisted. Welcome to Cyberairspace, where you can fly from Chicago to Atlanta without leaving your living room.

From Fortune, an article on how to love trillion-dollar deficits: This reformed fiscal conservative has stopped worrying about the nation's ballooning deficit — you should too; and amid the doom and gloom, the case for optimism. From The American Lawyer, a profile of Eric Holder. Form TNR, a profile of Tim Geithner (and more from TAP). The closest of frenemies: In all the dizzying personal and political complexities of Hillary at State, one thing is clear: Obama has nerve. Christopher Buckley on Obama's awkward group photo: Bush is photographed aboard (gulp) an aircraft carrier, while Obama's staff is in full genital protection mode. Did talk radio kill conservatism? Nate Silver investigates. Mankind's new best friend? Trained giant rats sniff out land mines, tuberculosis. A review of Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet by Oliver Morton. A review of Hysterical Men: The Hidden History of Male Nervous Illness by Mark Micale. A review of Children on Demand: The Ethics of Defying Nature by Tom Frame and Enhancing Evolution: The Ethical Case for Making Better People by John Harris. Here are four philosophical questions to make your brain hurt. The good side of bad books: They're hateful, but they also provide useful lessons in how not to write. Pot, meet kettle: Vulgarity is for rightists, say vulgarians on the left. Here are personal ads from an Ayn Rand fan dating site.