online archive
12:10PM
JUN 4 2007
Conservative political theory, education, history and culture and more
From The Intercollegiate Review, a symposium on 20 Years since The Closing of the American Mind, including R. V. Young on The University Possessed Peter Augustine Lawler on The Socratic Philosopher and the American Individual and Wilfred McClay on Recovering the Western Soul; a review of My Life Among the Deathworks: Illustrations of the Aesthetics of Authority by Phillip Rieff; a review of The Strange Death of Marxism: The European Left in the New Millennium by Paul Edward Gottfried; and a review of The Conservative Soul by Andrew Sullivan. An article on James Q. Wilson and the power of his written word: His thoughts have left an indelible impression on Los Angeles and the nation.
From The Chronicle, The Nature of Foul Matter: In a new monthly column, Rachel Toor explores the writing and publishing process in academe. From New Statesman, when politicians use their brains: Peter Wilby on telling the truth about grammar schools. A review of Exposing the Great White North: Whiteness, Privilege and Identity in Education in Canada. As a former college president, John McCardell knows all about binge drinking on campuses. What he wants to do about it might surprise you.
From Al-Ahram, who built the pyramids? The Giza Plateau Mapping Project is searching for the human hand in the construction of these powerful symbols of remote antiquity which have intrigued and fascinated people for generations. An all-inclusive field school supported by the American Research Center in Egypt with a USAID grant is heralding a new age for Egyptology and other disciplines. A review of After Tamerlane: The Global History of Empire by John Darwin. Mutiny of the aristocrats: The English civil war was about defending noble power rather than democratic ideas, The Noble Revolt argues. More on A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr. A look at the Inglehart-Welzel Cultural Map of the World from the World Values Survey.
The true mysteries of mathematics lie at the limits of our thinking - infinity. Reach beyond what you think is possible and you start to explore the wonders of maths at the extremes. The planet hunters: The search for alien life is yielding weird new worlds at a remarkable rate. Biologists always thought life required the Sun's energy, until they found an ecosystem that thrives in complete darkness. The Language of the Bees: An interview with Hugh Raffles. Macaques can do sums based on probability, if they have enough time and the promise of a drink afterwards. Kids can add and subtract without arithmetic: Knowing how to count lets kindergartners do arithmetic before they learn its rules. Smell is the most mysterious of the five senses - scientists are still not exactly sure how the nose decodes odors. Horsemen of the Esophagus: Among the super-gluttons, on the front lines of competitive eating.
12:10PM
JUN 4 2007
Economics, technology, and the environment, left politics and lifestyle politcs
From Daedalus, Daron Acemoglu on the Economic Origins of Democracy. Adam Parsons on the end of economic growth. A review of The Real Wealth of Nations by Riane Eisler. Shock of the new: The economic impact of information technology will take decades to become clear. James Surowiecki on how technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder. Technology drives the forces of globalization. But when we replace our computers and flat-screens with the newest in high-tech cool, what happens to the hardware we throw away? Welcome to the digital dumping ground, where the poor make a living off other people’s spare parts. From Freezerbox, The Bored Whore of Kyoto: European johns line up to tap Russia's carbon reduction potential; and did lefty pundit Alexander Cockburn and corporate behemoth General Motors secretly agree to swap climate positions? A look at how the rightists want all of Earth's worth; some greens side with them. An interview with May Berenbaum on the role of cellphones, pesticides and alien abductions in the honeybee crisis.
From Think Tank, an interview with Anne Applebaum, author of The Gulag: A History. From The Moscow Times, a review of Comrades! A History of World Communism by Robert Service. Love me, I'm a liberal: A review of Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing: The New Liberal Menace in America by Stephen Marshall. Al Gore suggests that we cannot have both television and democracy in The Assault on Reason (and an interview). The struggle among conservatives to define their movement in the post-Bush era may be getting more attention these days, but liberal intellectuals and writers are doing some soul-searching of their own. William Vollman on The Great Exception: For hundreds of years, the rules didn't seem to apply to America the Perfect.
A review of Clean: A History of Personal Hygiene and Purity by Virginia Smith and The Cleaning Bible: Kim and Aggie’s Complete Guide to Modern Household Management by Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie (and more). Breaking Free of Suburbia's Stranglehold: Families simplify lifestyles in quest for meaning that constant hustle obscured. Outsourcing Your Life: Sending work offshore has transformed the U.S. economy. Now, some families are tapping the same approach for personal tasks, getting them done for a fraction of what they'd cost at home. Taking your to-do list global. Growing Up in Public: The conventional wisdom has it that younger people will one day regret disclosing so much personal information online. But the conventional wisdom's wrong. Volunteer Blues: What if helping people doesn’t make you feel better? From American Sexuality, Mad About You: An article on modern day stalking, and old fashion passion; and The Invisible Woman: Is acknowledging the biological divide key to achieving equality between the sexes? When everyone is offended by mere words, language’s real victims lose out.
An article on weird drinking laws of the USA. Fear of Frying: Here's brief history of trans fats. The Science of Appetite: There's a lot more to feeling hungry than you think. New research into what drives us to eat may teach us how to control the urge; and How the World Eats: In the face of Westernization, families across the globe are abandoning traditional diets and dining habits. With summer about to begin, four people artists, architects and designers — imagine playgrounds that could attract the modern adolescent. New Yorkers — as well as all Americans faced with anti-dance restrictions — should stand up and take action. A record number of Americans own pets—and they are spending a record amount of money feed, clothe and care for their wee beasts. But is all the attention actually good for the critters?
12:10PM
JUN 4 2007
Global politics and economics, Eastern Europe and the war on terror
From Monthly Review, John Bellamy Foster on The Imperialist World System. From Radical Notes, an article on Globalisation and Primitive Capital Accumulation. A suggestion for the well-meaning souls preparing to heed Jeffrey Sachs' call. This year, before donning a plastic wristband and heading for the agreed march route, why not buy a copy of The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier? Daniel Drezner on The Power of the State in a Global Economy (and more on Drezner). Harvard's Robert Rotberg on Improving Nation-State Governance. If there is one thing upon which members of group of eight industrialised states can agree, it is that they do not want to allow any new members into their elite club. It was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration at the G8 meeting. But suddenly, it turned into a war with anarchists battling it out with police. Almost 1,000 people were injured. But what went wrong?
From Demokratizatsiya, Graeme Gill (Sydney): Nationalism and the Transition to Democracy: The Post -Soviet Experience. The best and worst of Russia's present mind-set was on full display in the weeks leading up to May 9, when Russia celebrates its victory over Nazi Germany. Russia's wars in Chechnya, which the Kremlin says are over, have shaped the country that Russians and the world are now living with. Almost two decades after the fall of communism, a number of Eastern European countries are still struggling to establish stable democracies. From radical right-wingers to authoritarian post-communists, the political landscape lacks a center. Poland's terrible twins: Poland's president and prime minister, former freedom fighters, are reintroducing the habits of authoritarianism. The Baltic Sea's Renaissance: How the region that rings the Baltic has become a 21st century economic powerhouse. Estonia is Under Siege on the Web: A cyber assault on websites in Estonia is a warning to governments and businesses everywhere.
A review of The New Cold War: Revolutions, Rigged Elections and Pipeline Politics in the Former Soviet Union by Mark Mackinnon. Ukrainian democracy might be highly chaotic and immature – but at least it's a democracy. Nevertheless, there's still a lot to do before the country achieves anything like stability. Serbian or not quite Serbian? A review of Realm of the Black Mountain: A history of Montenegro by Elizabeth Roberts. The birthday country: On its first birthday, Montenegro looks reassuringly normal.
From The Globalist, a look at why Ireland's economic boom is no miracle. Geoffrey Wheatcroft reviews Gordon Brown’s Courage: Eight Portraits (and more). A review of Fantasy Island: Waking Up to the Incredible Economic, Political and Social Illusions of the Blair Legacy by Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson. The call of duty: As Tony Blair said in South Africa today, interventionist policies are often mocked. But our moral duty to help the developing world should be beyond dispute.
From Newsweek, Beyond Bush: Fareed Zakaria on why what the world needs is an open, confident America. Bin Laden, Still Haunting Bush: Al Qaeda had a plan—and it is working. Al-Qaeda’s Waiting Game: Michael Sheuer on how Bush isn’t winning in his battle against our real enemy. A review of The Power of the Vote: Electing Presidents, Overthrowing Dictators, and Promoting Democracy Around the World by Doug Schoen. Containing Iran: An excerpt from Containment: Rebuilding a Strategy Against Global Terror by Ian Shapiro. Michael Kinsley on how supporters of the war think they've outsmarted its opponents. They're wrong. Immanuel Wallerstein on ending the Iraq War: Two competing plans.
12:10PM
JUN 4 2007
Literary life, global cultures and non-fiction
The New York Times asks a handful of writers what books they’ve enjoyed most over the last few months, and why. Their choices are idiosyncratic and instructive. From Salon, from the pursuit of a lost Shakespeare manuscript to a chilling tale of missing sisters, these recommendations will add sizzle to your beach book list; and Opus Day: An interview with Berkeley Breathed, Salon's new Sunday cartoonist. The Skim Trade: At New York's BookExpo, the literary event of a lunchtime. In Praise Of The Small Press: There are numerous other small presses out there. Check them out - you might discover a gem of your own.
From Harper's, an article on Why Dickens Matters. Orhan Pamuk's prosecution for "insulting Turkishness" made headlines around the world but he is not interested in engaging directly with politics. He is delighted to find that people are finally talking to him about his novels. A review of You Must Set Forth at Dawn: A Memoir by Wole Soyinka. A review of When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided By Race by Judith Stone. A review of Neal Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle" (Quicksilver; The Confusion; and The System of the World). Ten questions with marketing maven and Chasing Cool author Noah Kerner about generating an authentic vision and why "the process is the prize". From Literary Review, a review of What is the What by Dave Eggers; and intrepid foreign correspondent Jason Burke finds harmony in the spare prose of the late Ryszard Kapuscinski's final work, Travels with Herodotus.
From Smithsonian, an interview with Jay Levenson, guest curator of the exhibition "Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries". A review of Christian Demonlogy and Popular Mythology: Demons, Spirits, Witches, vol. 2 by Gabor Klaniczay and Éva Pocs. From Strange Maps, here's a look at the first, false map of the "True North". A review of The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures by Louis Theroux.
More on Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg. A review of Age of Betrayal: The Triumph of Money in America, 1865 – 1900 by Jack Beatty. Jonathan Yardley reviews FDR by Jean Edward Smith. More on Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Vincent Bugliosi. A review of The Invincible Quest: The Life of Richard Milhous Nixon by Conrad Black. David S. Broder reviews Gerald R. Ford by Douglas Brinkley. More on Presidential Courage by Michael Beschloss. A review of Courage: Eight Portraits by Gordon Brown and Instruction to Deliver by Michael Barber (and more).
A review of Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire and the Birth of Europe by William Rosen (and more). A review of The Noble Revolt: The Overthrow of Charles I by John Adamson. A review of The Pursuit of Glory: Europe, 1648-1815 by Tim Blanning. A review of William Wilberforce: The Life of the Great Anti-Slave Trade Campaigner by William Hague. A review of Garibaldi: Invention of a Hero by Lucy Riall. A review of Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore. A review of Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions that Changed the World 1940-41 by Ian Kershaw (and more). A review of The President, the Pope and the Prime Minister by John O'Sullivan (and more). A review of The Berlin Wall: A World Divided, 1961–89 by Frederick Taylor.
