online archive
1:05AM
JUN 3 2007
Publishing, writing and the arts, social life and more
From ReadySteadyBook, an interview with Peter Robertson, Associate Editor of The Mad Hatters' Review. From The Village Voice, how a few black publishers are making a play for the Maxim man. Geek is cool. No, really—in an “I’m so uncool I’m cool” kind of way. Where is US journalism headed? A review of The Rise of the Blogosphere: American Backgrounds by Aaron Barlow. Can Murdoch pass the stink test? Assessing the mogul against the standards of the Dow Jones code of conduct.
From California Literary Review, suppose one’s made a viable, literate translation that succeeds in conveying the narrative or expository sense of an original. What if it turns out that one’s own culture resists it, and refuses to receive it? Form Cabinet, Joshua Foer on a Minor History of Miniature Writing. Into the Fold: Physicist Robert Lang has taken the ancient art of origami to new dimensions. The introduction to Priests and Programmers: Technologies of Power in the Engineered Landscape of Bali by J. Stephen Lansing. Furniture that came in from the cold: Garden chairs and artifacts are the new antiques, and they are migrating indoors. What's so bad about replicas? The Cutty Sark is to undergo yet more restoration work after being ravaged by fire. At what point does it cease to be the original ship?
From FT, culture leaves home: Art forms are breaking out of their traditional domains and London’s Tate Modern is leading the way. A review of The Aesthetics of Disengagement: Contemporary Art and Depression by Christine Ross. Their glossy and frequently rather smug “postmodernism”, which refuses to acknowledge any authority other than previous horror movies, masks a fear that such authority is all too real, and is probably furious with them. A review of Freedom to Offend: How New York Remade Movie Culture by Raymond J. Haberski Jr. From Mute, as the scarcity essential to the cultural commodity is undermined by digital abundance and social networking, social relations and the unique "live" performance are all that's left to sell. Mass market music increasingly resembles relational art with its dream of waking the ‘zombies’ of consumer culture, but are the citizens of Web 2.0 society born again or undead? Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar: An article on BDSM in popular music.
The Royal Me: Not that long ago, only the aristocratic or famous felt entitled to special privileges, but nowadays we seem to be living in an age of excessive exceptionalism. A look at how your name can reveal your status. A Hobby That’s Part Party, Part Debate, All Intellect: Robert Rosenkranz is leveraging his standing — and a small percentage of his wealth — in search of the ultimate dinner party conversation. Here’s great thinking: wine makes you philosophical. She'll Drink to That: In her books, Barbara Holland praises old-time social pleasures.
A review of Love, Life, Goethe: How to be Happy in an Imperfect World by John Armstrong. MySpace vs. Workplace: During the day you're all business; at night you like to let loose and have some fun. No problem with that — unless you share your adventures with others on the Internet. Don't work too hard; it's bad for you: An excerpt from Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success. A review of The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World's Largest Private Company by Charles G. Koch. A review of The Power of Business en Espanol: 7 Fundamental Keys to Unlocking the Potential of the Spanish-Language Hispanic Market. The status of Spanish as America's second language has been confirmed by the 2006 census, which showed the nation's minority population topped 100 million for the first time. Of those more than 44 million were Hispanic.
1:05AM
JUN 3 2007
Philosophy, political theory, cognitive science, economics, and education
From Philosophy Now, a special issue on Human Futures, including an editorial, Enhancing Humanity: Ray Tallis peers into the future, without fear; If we think carefully about our decisions, we’ll wind up living better lives, right? Jean Kazez asks this question in response to three recent books about happiness; Aristotle’s Email – Or, Friendship In The Cyber Age: Tim Madigan ponders the mysteries of friendship; a review of The Kantianism of Hegel and Nietzsche by Robert Zimmerman; a review of Moreel Esperanto by Paul Cliteur; and are there any limits to "less is more"? Death, where is thy sting? A review of Sartre: A Guide for the Perplexed by Gary Cox. A review of Existentialism: A Guide for the Perplexed by Steven Earnshaw. A review of Tales of Unknowing: Therapeutic Encounters from an Existential Perspective by Ernesto Spinelli.
Bruce Ackerman (Yale): The Living Constitution pdf. The introduction to What Democracy Is For: On Freedom and Moral Government by Stein Ringen. A review of A World Beyond Politics? A Defense of the Nation-State by Pierre Manent. From Shangai Daily, Confucius and Aristotle should talk governance: An interview with Michael Sandel. A review of Why Read Mill Today? by John Skorupski. Being There: Leland de la Durantaye is on the trail of Heidegger. An interview with Peter Singer on animal liberation and jailing animal activists as terrorists. Tom Nairn is one of the world’s great thinkers about nationalism and globalisation. His radical, vigorous, and incisive work continues to ignite and provoke. openDemocracy contributors reflect on what makes a friend and colleague forever young.
From Evolutionary Psychology, Daniel Farrelly, John Lazarus and Gilbert Roberts (Newcastle): Altruists Attract; Jonathan Gottschall (WJC): Greater Emphasis on Female Attractiveness in Homo sapiens: A Revised Solution to an Old Evolutionary Riddle; Steven M. Platek (Liverpool) and Jaime W. Thomson (Drexel): Facial resemblance exaggerates sex-specific jealousy-based decisions. Matthias Mahlmann (FUB): Ethics, Law and the Challenge of Cognitive Science (and part 2). A review of Cartographies of the Mind: Philosophy and Psychology in Intersection. An interview with Jill Bolte Taylor, author of My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey.
From German Law Journal, a review of The New Law and Economic Development: A Critical Appraisal. A review of The Chicago School: How the University of Chicago Assembled the Thinkers Who Revolutionized Economics and Business by Johan Van Overtveldt. David Warsh on how the world of non-standard economics is a complicated place. An interview with Robert Frank, author of The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas. A review of Out of the Labyrinth: Setting Mathematics Free by Robert Kaplan and Ellen Kaplan. A review of The Volterra Chronicles: The Life and Times of an Extraordinary Mathematician 1860-1940 by Judith R. Goodstein. The introduction to Across the Board: The Mathematics of Chessboard Problems by John J. Watkins.
From NBER, a report on teacher incentives and student performance. The introduction to Does God Belong in Public Schools? by Kent Greenawalt. Publisher aims to teach kids right from left, seeing too many children's books with liberal views. His titles aim to tilt the shelves the other way. Mark Bauerlein on The Trouble with Tenure. Rich Lowry on The Rout of Military History in the Academy. In a high-tech age of instant communication, old-fashioned history is enjoying a renaissance in U.S. popular culture.
1:05AM
JUN 3 2007
Iraq and the US, social policy, race and religion
From HNN, Philip Zelikow on Legal Policy for a Twilight War. The Moment of Disillusion: The anti-war movement's outrage at congressional Democrats is understandable — but the danger of over-reaction is serious. From The Intercollegiate Review, an essay on Jihadists and the War on Terrorism; an article on Conservatism, Democracy, and Foreign Policy; an essay on Creed & Culture in the American Founding; and a look at The American Difference.
From The Economist, a review of The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America by Jeffrey Rosen. From TAP, Courting Big Business: This week's ruling against employment discrimination protections is yet another in a series of disastrous right-wing decisions by the Roberts Court. Rick Perlstein reviews Selling Free Enterprise: The Business Assault on Labor and Liberalism, 1945-60 by Nancy Fones-Wolfe. An interview with Jim Gilchrist of the Minuteman Project. Timothy Garton Ash on how the US tightening of entry requirements is understandable, but it must not be at the cost of its welcoming reputation. A review of The 50% American: Immigration and National Identity in an Age of Terror by Stanley Renshon. Guests v gatecrashers: An article on the uncomfortable economics of immigration reform. Make 'Em Vote! Thomas Geoghegan on the case for requiring new citizens to register to vote. What the heck is vote caging, and why should we care? Dahlia Lithwick wants to know. The widely acclaimed hate crimes bill is an example of the kind of feel-good legislation that will probably wind up doing more harm than good.
From American Political Science Review, Ismail K. White (UT-Austin): When Race Matters and When It Doesn’t: Racial Group Differences in Response to Racial Cues. From The Situationist, an article on shades of fairness and the marketing of prejudice. Princeton's Susan Fiske on Prejudice & the Brain. A review of Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet Washington. A review of Noxious New York: The Racial Politics of Urban Health and Environmental Justice by Julie Sze and From Welfare State to Real Estate: Regime Change in New York City, 1974 to the Present by Kim Moody. The Rise of the Bottom Fifth: Rob Haskins on how to build on the gains of welfare reform. A look at how welfare recipients respond to complex incentives.
A review of Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce by Elizabeth Marquardt. Contrary to the received wisdom of Republicans and Democrats and virtually every authority in the country who views marriage as the linchpin of social and community ties, marriage actually tends to reduce community ties. Not By Spin Alone: In the battle over reproductive rights, on-the-ground organizing is far more effective than massaging the message. A review of Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valenti. Whither women leaders? A look at the future of female political leadership. What are the origins of the hijab? Jahanshah Rashidian investigates.
From Zeek, Jill Jacobs on The History of "Tikkun Olam"; and Yotam Hotam on Zionism and Gnosticism. Form The Humanist, an interview with Noam Chomsky on secular nationalism and the mother of all book plugs. From America, Holy Terrors: A look at saints who weren't always saintly; a review of American Fascists by Chris Hedges; and a review of Brokers of Culture: Italian Jesuits in the American West, 1848-1919 by Gerald McKevitt. Until a few weeks ago, Francis Beckwith was president of the Evangelical Theological Society, an association of 4,300 Protestant theologians. Now he has returned to the Church of his baptism. An interview with Bob Abernethy, author of The Life of Meaning: Reflections on Faith, Doubt, and Repairing the World. A review of Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence by Hector Avalos. From LA Weekly, an interview with Christopher Hitchens on the essential stupidity of religion.
1:05AM
JUN 3 2007
Asia, Africa and Europe
From The Hindu, does the internal war in Sri Lanka between the government and the LTTE have any security implications for India? A review of Can India grow without Bharat? by Shankar Acharya and The Second Partition by Patwant Singh. An essay on The Last Mughal and the First Empress (an part 2 and part 3). A review of India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy by Ramachandra Guha. A review of Incredible India: Traditions and Rituals by Muthusamy Varadarajan. A caste of millions: India's 160m Dalits, or untouchables, have turned to the internet to combat their mistreatment at home.
Democracy, ready or not: On their king's orders, the citizens of Bhutan must now learn to vote. But in a society where only 3% of people say they are unhappy, what incentive do the people really have to change their government, and it’s democracy for some as Bhutan refuses to allow more than 100,000 Bhutanese Hindu refugees to return home. A review of Perfect Hostage: A Life of Aung San Suu Kyi by Justin Wintle and The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma by Thant Myint-U. Prisoner of virtue: Aung San Suu Kyi is saintly, but is she right? Once a Muslim, always a Muslim in Malaysia: The country’s highest court rules that a Kuala Lumpur woman can’t convert to Christianity.
From Foreign Policy, Japan is on the cusp of a constitutional revolution. To an overstretched West, a newly muscular Tokyo promises stability in a rapidly shifting region. Yet, in its rush to overturn six decades of official pacifism, the Japanese government is stifling the serious national debate required in a modern democracy. Is anyone paying attention? Why are there so many suicides in Japan? Christopher Beam investigates. A review of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. by Roland Kelts. From The New Atlantis, Jeff Kueter, president of the George C. Marshall Institute, on China's space ambitions — and ours. A review of The Writing on the Wall: China and the West in the 21st century by Will Hutton (and more). Gita Aravamudan talks about how Disappearing Daughters, her book on female foeticide, happened.
In the past 30 years Agnes has had unprotected sex with up to 2,000 infected men. Yet she and a small number of her fellow sex workers are still free from Aids. Stephanie Nolen travels to Majengo, a slum in Nairobi, to meet the extraordinary women and researchers who are changing the history of HIV. After fighting neglected diseases in Africa for a quarter century, former president Jimmy Carter takes on one of the continent's biggest killers—malaria. With an annual inflation rate of 3,714 percent, Zimbabwe appears to be caught in a tailspin of hyperinflation. The introduction to Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies Are Reshaping Anglicanism. As asylum seekers from Africa drown or are abandoned at sea trying to cross to Europe, a UN official charged the governments of Mediterranean countries with turning the waters between them into a "wild west" where the lives of immigrants had little value.
From Der Spiegel, it used to be that residents of southern Spain would head to Germany as guest workers. Now, the region hosts guest workers of its own — from Morocco. The program may become a model for migrant labor across the European Union. Forced labour is widespread in Europe. But until policy makers recognize the need to manage the demand for migrant workers, there will continue to be a market for those prepared to risk exploitation. A review of The Future of Europe: Reform or Decline by Alberto Alessina and Francesco Giavazzi.
