From TAP, Paul Waldman on how there is no Social Security crisis; here's a piecemeal approach to undoing Bush's wrongs; and conservatism may seem dead, but it isn't nearly as dead as it should be. Why are Republicans so damn Republican? An article on Mike Evans, the most influential (and self-promotional) Christian Zionist you've never heard of. Why are even smart, liberal men freaked out by abortion? Superfans: An article on Larpers, Gothic Lolitas, Star Wars freaks, and Nintendo game devotees lurk among us. An article on understanding the complex lives of the transgender community. Perhaps reintroducing Neanderthals to planet Earth could keep the human race from becoming too boring. A look at how the best way to improve children’s performance in the classroom may be to take them out of it. Ultimately, we know that all writers do what they can and what they must; truly extreme productiveness (like its opposite) is beyond the absolute control of the author. Bruce Hood, author of Supersense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable, celebrates The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins and Descartes' Baby by Paul Bloom. What's cooking: An article on the evolutionary role of cookery. “Yellow ants”, fundamentalists, and cowboys: An interview with Remi Brague. An art exhibit showcases a collector who says he has unlocked a secret of design - - using math.
From ARPA, a look at why political parties need to differ — within reasonable limits. Is Wall Street evil? Americans have always hated the moneymakers, rather than hate themselves. A review of Equal: Women Reshape American Law by Fred Strebeigh. A look at how beauty affects men's and women's brains differently. A review of The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets by Alan Boss. The Grand Gesture: Texans with true style have an unerring authenticity in the way they carry and adorn themselves, and they tend to believe that it’s very important that others take notice. From Sexual Intelligence, here's the Annual Awards Issue. An interview with M. Edward Whelan III, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, on original meaning and judicial restraint. What Galileo and Darwin should really be remembered for: making us feel smaller. Why can't mothers be intellectuals? More on Reborn: Journals and Notebooks, 1947–1963 by Susan Sontag (and more from Bookforum). An excerpt from Craig M. Mullaney’s The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier’s Education. A review of Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed. A review of Sum: Forty Tales From the Afterlives by David Eagleman (and an excerpt). A review of Dean Keith Simonton's Genius 101: Creators, Leaders, and Prodigies.
From Newsweek, do populist outbursts like the one sparked by the AIG bonuses represent a threat to capitalism — or an opportunity? One perilous consequence of the crash has only recently made its appearance: increased civil unrest. Sen. Bernie Sanders on why AIG should give back the bonus money — all of it. Alan Blinder on why Obama is no socialist. Game theory: Can a round of poker solve Afghanistan's problems? Disgrace to democracy: Jorg Haider has just won the elections in the state of Carinthia. From Dark Roasted Blend, a look at the world's strangest theme parks. Could James Lovelock really solve the earth's problems? Peter Forbes is almost convinced. A review of Daniel Gorman's Imperial Citizenship: Empire and the Question of Belonging. A review of Robert F. Barsky's The Chomsky Effect. Pop goes the market: The strange connection between Billboard hits and stock prices. The experience of excitement: While bad news has universal effects, the experience of excitement is much more individual. One of the left's most significant ideological failings in recent years has been its habit of issuing shrill and hostile rhetorical assaults against the State of Israel. From McSweeney's, here are ways Charles Darwin could jump the shark. Christopher Buckley remembers WFB, a year later. Here's a radical plan for Obama's presidential library: Let's cancel it.
From The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Edward Demenchonok (FVSU): Philosophy after Hiroshima: From Power Politics to the Ethics of Nonviolence and Co-responsibility. From NYRB, a review of Hiding Man: A Biography of Donald Barthelme by Tracy Daugherty (and more; and from Bookforum, James Wolcott on The Beastly Beatitudes of Donald B.: Newly published stories remind us that Donald Barthelme’s antic fiction influenced a generation of post-postmodernists). From American, Charles Murray on The Europe Syndrome and the Challenge to American Exceptionalism (and a response). From The New Yorker, James Surowiecki on how, far from wild-eyed leftists, Europeans are looking downright conservative; economy vs, environment: David Owen on the ecology of recessions; and the United States holds tens of thousands of inmates in long-term solitary confinement — is this torture? Is foie gras torture? Sarah DiGregorio investigates. Al Qaeda, online: Taking out the terrorists one chat room at a time. New York goes inside Obama’s Economic Brain Trust; financial analyst Meredith Whitney is slick, smart, and she sniffed out the sorry state of the banks before almost anyone else — and now she’s trying to, yes, leverage all that; and an article on Cara Muhlhahn, the fearless — some say too fearless — new leader of the home-birth movement.