5:00PM
MAY 15 2008
Big box panic
From National Journal, the Marine Corps is facing big bills to pay for the future force the Corps says it needs; and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is using his vast fortune to help finance conservative, pro-Israel, and pro-business causes. Does charisma originate in the individual, in the followers, or in the situation? Joseph Nye investigates. An excerpt from Outright Barbarous: How the Violent Language of the Right Poisons American Democracy by Jeffrey Feldmann. An interview with Mary Lefkowitz, author of History Lesson: A Race Odyssey. True pacifists believe all violence is counterproductive — what to do, then, about World War II? A review of The Woman Racket: The New Science Explaining How the Sexes Relate at Work, at Play and in Society by Steve Moxon. Western experts promised Africans that free-market ideology would save them from poverty and famine — now, one African country is showing that sometimes, a little protectionism can work wonders. Ayn Rand 101: A glance at the free market coursework sponsored by BB&T. Big box panic: Why retail giants like Wal-Mart won’t take over the world. Age of consent: It seems we're in a state of cultural cognitive dissonance when it comes to Lolita issues. Everyone in favor, say yargh! Some of the world's earliest democracies flourished aboard pirate ships. More on Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism.
1:00PM
MAY 15 2008
Insistently superficial aesthetic politics
From Mute, Paul Helliwell exhumes the Althusserian preconditions of Jacques Ranciere’s insistently superficial aesthetic politics. From Sens Public, despite the tendency of decennial commemorations to cement the "official version" of May '68, important questions remain unanswered. Scientific American on why the next president needs a powerful science adviser. What does it mean to be "pro-Israel"? The election, and the creation of a new dovish Jewish lobby group, brings the question to the fore. Susan Neiman makes the case for Kant's Critique of Pure Reason as one of the 50 greatest books. The new journal Evolutionary Applications aims to promote the science of "applied evolution". Learn to love the classic New York blood feud: "It’s a bitch to have a billionaire as an enemy". A review of Harpoon: Into the Heart of Whaling by Andrew Darby. The first chapter from China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society by Daniel A. Bell. From Arion, Raymond Geuss on Richard Rorty at Princeton. From the University of Chicago Press, an excerpt from The Irony of American History by Reinhold Niebuhr; and an excerpt from Instructions for American Servicemen in France during World War II. A review of books on parenting: Do we push too much, spend too much, fret too much? More on Worst-Case Scenarios by Cass Sunstein.
9:00AM
MAY 15 2008
Armageddon in retrospect
From New Humanist, Henri Lefebvre, the theoretician of the Paris uprising of 1968, saw that society’s most profound truths were etched on everyday life; while secularists sleep well-funded creationists are on the march in Europe; and religion has always been an election issue in America, but in the current campaign it’s not just the Republicans who are courting the faith vote. From Monthly Review, Fred Magdoff on the world food crisis: Sources and solutions. How to feed the world: Eight leaders in the fight against hunger offer up food crisis action plans. A review of Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace by Kurt Vonnegut. A review of Wealth, War & Wisdom by Barton Biggs. A look at why it is time to rethink the role of culture and language study in the US. From Scientific American, an article on regulating evolution and how gene switches make life. Meditators always thought happiness could be learned; now scientists are agreeing. Every time a trackworker goes into the tunnels, there’s a chance he won’t come back out: What the world looks like when a 400-ton train is barreling toward you at 30 miles per hour. A review of Body Shopping: The Economy Fuelled by Flesh and Blood by Donna Dickenson. An article on the importance of pronouncing Ban Ki-moon, Kofi Annan and other names correctly.
5:00PM
MAY 14 2008
Why do New Yorkers seem rude?
From CT, a review of Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America by Matthew Avery Sutton; and a review essay on the art of biblical interpretation. A look at how Second Life affects real life. Taking your own life is a mortal sin, says the Catholic Church — unless you happen to be a bishop. Making a dictionary of Wapisiana – an indigenous language spoken in South America – was time-consuming, but not as dull as Samuel Johnson declared. From Literary Review, Michael Burleigh reviews The Return of History and the End of Dreams by Robert Kagan; a review of For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond by Ben Macintyre; and a review of The 60s Unplugged: A Kaleidoscopic History of a Disorderly Decade by Gerard DeGroot. A review of Why Truth Matters by Ophelia Benson and Jeremy Stangroom. From City Journal, Saul Bellow’s prophetic 1970 novel Mr. Sammler’s Planet captured New York’s unraveling and remains a cautionary tale. Why do New Yorkers seem rude? Joan Acocella has a few ideas. Resurrecting Leslie Fiedler, a high priest of pop culture: The legacy of the literature critic is born again in a new collection of his essays. A review of The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn by Solomon Volkov. Can the Bill James approach to numbers work in basketball?
1:00PM
MAY 14 2008
Things both goofy and grand
From Slate, a series of articles on procrastination. Pictionary: Why people are paying $2,600 for a dictionary with no definitions. The introduction to The China Diary of George H. W. Bush: The Making of a Global President (and an interview). Money doesn’t buy happiness, but success does — capitalism, moored in values of hard work, honesty, and fairness, is key. A review of Cuba: How the Workers & Peasants Made the Revolution by Chris Slee. Is time travel possible? Not all scientists agree but according to Einstein and quantum theory, time travel could be possible. This, from that: A new breed of tinkerers mix science and craft to make things both goofy and grand. A review of The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul. Silver lining for Obama: A bruising primary season has had the unintended side effect of laying general-election groundwork. Will whites vote for him? John Judis on the political psychology of race. Google announces a free service that allow any Web site to become a social site (and more). Sean Wilentz on why Ronald Reagan didn't completely suck. From Le Monde diplomatique, a review of The Holocaust Is Over: We Must Rise from Its Ashes by Avraham Burg; and an article on the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestine: Are the Jews an invented people? Carlin Romano on Israeli history at 60: A history of contention over a contentious history.
9:00AM
MAY 14 2008
Humans, the strangest species
From LiveScience, a series of articles on humans, the strangest species. From Freezerbox, is legislation the answer to ending anorexia in the fashion industry?; and what is it with men and torture? Behind closed doors: An article on the secret consumption of sex. What will some of today's most well-known hip-hop artists be doing in 2035? Lil Wayne and Baby sitting in a tree: A gay hip-hop insider brings to light a hidden subculture of sex parties and closeted stars. Why is everyone so obsessed with Miley Cyrus, ''The Hills,'' ''Gossip Girl, and the like? It's a new teen age in entertainment. OMG: Teens are letting emoticons and other forms of chat-speak slip into their essays and homework. A review of The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein. From IHE, is the bachelor’s degree obsolete? Lefty Colorado University bid to endow a "conservative" chair leaves both sides uneasy. Steven Pinker on the stupidity of dignity: Conservative bioethics' latest, most dangerous ploy. Ronald Bailey on the genetics of ensoulment: What's an embryo and what's not? The Neural Buddhists: The cognitive revolution is not going to undermine faith in God but faith in the Bible. The human brain is a less-than-perfect device; Kludge explains how our minds work and sometimes don't (and more). The less you know, the more wisely you seem to choose: An article on the mental toolbox you use when the facts are scarce.
5:00PM
MAY 13 2008
When chick flicks get knocked up
From The New Yorker, an article on using simulation to treat a new generation of traumatized veterans; and a review of The End of Food by Paul Roberts. Why do some people continue to hold Rachel Carson responsible for millions of malaria deaths? John Quiggin and Tim Lambert want to know. A look at what condoms have to do with climate change. Jonathan Cohn on what really ails Medicare. When chick flicks get knocked up: Is the new fertility-movie genre feminist or conservative? A review of Bamboo Goalposts: One Man’s Quest to Teach the People’s Republic of China to Love Football by Rowan Simons. It's not them, it's us: Exposing three myths about the costs of private health insurance. An excerpt from Self-Concern: An Experiential Approach to What Matters in Survival by Raymond Martin. A review of Torture Team: Deception, Cruelty and the Compromise of Law by Philippe Sands. An excerpt from Standard Operating Procedure by Philip Gourevitch and Errol Morris. A review of The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of Aids by Elizabeth Pisani. The Queen of the New Age: How the publisher Louise Hay unified psychics, mindhealers, angel therapists and positive thinkers of all varieties into a self-help spirituality empire. Things fall apart: Is the post-9/11 imagination disintegrating? More on Superclass by David Rothkopf.
1:00PM
MAY 13 2008
What steampunk is about
From Quadrant, an article on diagnosing the new British disease; and a review of books on America as the new Rome. From Literary Review, a review of Alfred & Emily by Doris Lessing (and more, and an interview at Bookforum). Craig Newmark is capitalizing on his success to promote causes he holds dear. Technostalgia: An article on what steampunk is about. Their darkest dealings often go unreported and unnoticed, but from Nairobi to Sao Paulo, many urban gangs are becoming more sophisticated, more brutal, and more powerful than ever. Michael Kinsley on genetic discrimination: Unfair or natural? From US News, an article on ranking the politics of Supreme Court Justices. An interview with Robert Pollock on how The Wall Street Journal editorial page gets made. The Mysteries of the Suicide Tourist: Why the same things that attract millions of happy visitors to New York—the glamour, the skyline, the anonymity—also draw people from around the world to kill themselves here. The evolving Web of future wealth: The web of connections among goods and services in an economy may be the long-missing key to understanding how novel innovations and new wealth arise. From NYRB, Frank Rich on how to cover an election; a review of books on Churchill and his myths; a review of books on the rise of the Muslim terrorists; and a review of books on Iraq: Will we ever get out?
9:00AM
MAY 13 2008
This is the dumbest generation
From Doublethink, an article on the perils of keepin’ it real: From rappers to novelists to our very own lives, the cultural demand for authenticity has never been higher; and academia is the last vestige of the crush, but what does it really mean to have a thing for the prof? Here are 8 reasons why this is the dumbest generation. From Boston Review, an interview with Hans Blix on his new book, Why Nuclear Disarmament Matters; and an article on how urban decline is moving to the suburbs. From Canon, here is the conversation Ellen Killoran will never have with Chuck Klosterman. More on Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler. Can Israel survive for another 60 years? Perhaps, but not necessarily as a Jewish state. Ten thought experiments exploring the possibility of Hillary Clinton, nominee. From Cato Unbound, we all own stolen goods — and how defending property rights can help the world’s most oppressed people. Civilization's last chance: The planet is nearing a tipping point on climate change, and it gets much worse, fast. What's your baby's carbon footprint? 8lbs, 21 inches, and 3,800 diapers worth of planet-pummeling joy. From CJR, Ezra Klein on the future of reading and Amazon's Kindle. Who killed the sea lions? A salmon shortage, dead mammals — inside a maritime mystery.
5:00PM
MAY 12 2008
Humanity’s last rage
Jacob Levy (McGill): Not so Novus an Ordo: Constitutions without Social Contracts. Let Them Eat Arugula: Hillary sure has become a populist these last few weeks—a conservative populist. A review of Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America by Rick Perlstein (and an excerpt at Bookforum). More on The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement by Steven M. Teles. Land of the free? Liberty in America is not quite as revered as its leaders pretend. A review of Aristotle's Politics Today by Lenn E. Goodman and Robert B. Talisse. Has science made belief in God obsolete? An excerpt from The Big Questions in Science and Religion by Keith Ward. Radar goes inside the world's elite secret societies. A look at why a growing number of universities are offering co-ed rooms. From New Statesman, a special issue on 1968, including humanity's last rage: Peter Wilby wonders whether 1968 changed everything — or nothing at all; and more by Eric Hobsbawm and more by Noam Chomsky. 1958, the war of the intellectuals: Fifty years ago, American critics worried about the collapsing distinction among highbrow, middlebrow and lowbrow. Two Cornell psychologists found we have two separate systems for memories, which helps explain how we can "remember" things that never happened. Rules of abstraction: Two rival critics argue over Pollock and De Kooning.
