From The Bulletin, an a brief history of climate change and conflict. A look at how anthropogenic global warming started when people began farming. A review of Heart of Dryness: How the Last Bushmen Can Help Us Endure the Coming Age of Permanent Drought by James Workman. Could it be that our genes and evolutionary heritage are responsible for our failure to tackle climate change? Research suggests psychological factors help explain slow reaction to global warming. "Holy schmoly! What are we going to do about this darn graph?": Here are five easy lies about global warming. A look at how marketing and psychology can help the planet stay cool. Climate disobedience is on the rise and it's not just for radical activists anymore. What is the collective impact of 6.7 billion human beings on one planet? David Suzuki on the problem of exponential population growth. From Scientific American, a new study suggests the best thing you can do for the planet might be having fewer children; can the world unite to combat climate change, and should troops be used to clean up the environment? United Nations peacekeepers already are. Can the environmental movement be saved, or is our last chance to preserve life on Earth slipping away?

From SPLC, a special report on the return of the militias. From LRB, Walter Benn Michaels reviews Who Cares about the White Working Class? Theory and morality in the new economy: Adam Smith turns out to be a useful guide to the ways President Obama is trying to reshape the economy. Has Whole Foods' CEO gone completely bananas? John Mackey's attack on health care alienated every possible ally — but it was still useful. Here's a look at the most outrageous U.S. lies about global healthcare. Rx Xbox? Researchers explore mental health benefits of video games. An interview with Marko A. Rodriguez, a scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, on computational eudaemonics. A review of Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier by Robert Emmons. The fat cats vs. Blazing Cat Fur: The Dominion of Canada feels a bunch of ingrate impecunious bloggers is out to get it. The curse of monkey-eared people: Nothing like a new iPhone to make one feel self-conscious about one's ears. From Granta, Anita Sethi goes beyond the hype about Skype: A dispatch from cyberspace. From 3:AM, Richard Marshall reviews the Savage Messiah zines, numbers one to nine. Poetry Over Positivism: An article on the work of Owen Barfield.

Soccer versus Malaria: The world's biggest sport is uniting philanthropists, players and a glassblower in the global fight. Rattawut Lapcharoensap reviews The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Soccer by David Goldblatt. A review of Why England Lose and Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski (and more). The bad girl of soccer: Why Hope Solo — loudmouth, jerk — may be the best thing that’s ever happened to her sport. Can soccer become to Americans what it is to the rest of the world: a vigorous and passionate spectator sport? Brett Favre, Cal Ripken, and why consecutive-game streaks are meaningless. Why we play fantasy football: What is it about drafting an imaginary team in an imaginary league for an imaginary season that gets us so excited? The not-quite-Ultimate Fighting Championship: Will the absence of the world's best fighter, Fedor Emelianenko, halt UFC's ascent to the big leagues? The merits of going barefoot: A review of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall (and more and more and a review essay on running). How sports will dramatically change: Stadiums will shrink, players may be robotic duplicates, fans? Not necessary.

An interview with Robert Morse, the man behind U.S. News college rankings. The first chapter from Taming the River: Negotiating the Academic, Financial, and Social Currents in Selective Colleges and Universities. The truth about tuition: The conversation about college costs shouldn't end at student loans. From Mother Jones, here's their Mini College Guide. Don't have sex with your students: Why is this the first piece of advice that new TA's get? "Annoying Habits of College Professors" (circa 1935 to 1937): A look at the timeless pet peeves of American university students. Higher education has destroyed young Americans’ ability to express themselves on the page — or in their own minds. A review of How Professors Think: Inside the Curious World of Academic Judgment by Michele Lamont. Tyler Cowen on autism as academic paradigm. An interview with Cynthia Franklin, author of Academic Lives: Memoir, Cultural Theory and the University Today. A review of Revenge of the Women's Studies Professor by Bonnie Morris. An article on why women's colleges are still relevant. From THES, a look at the transparency culture, its political uses and the dangerous implications for scholarly freedom. Steve Fuller and Alan Haworth debate the merits of a "Statement of Academic Freedom".