online archive
12:00PM
JUN 22 2007
Philosophy, Greece, economics and science
From New Left Review, taking coordinates from Aristotle, Malcolm Bull finds in Agamben’s biopolitics and Nussbaum’s capabilities approach the disconnected fragments of a lost vision of society, adumbrated by Marx, glimpsed and rejected by Arendt. From Open Democracy, living in dialogue Richard Rorty made a matchless contribution to democratic dialogue across cultures in an era of global diversity, says his colleague Ramin Jahanbegloo; and Robert F. Bauer on Richard Rorty and the riches of progressive argument. Guess who’s coming to dinner? The controversial Peter Singer.
From NDPR, a review of Greek Political Thought by Ryan K. Balot. From TLS, Greek lives and times: A review of Richard Clogg Robert Holland and Diana Markides's The British and the Hellenes: Struggles for mastery in the Eastern Mediterranean 1850–1960; Ekeftherios Venizelos: The trials of statesmanship; Elisabeth Kontogiorgi's Population Exchange in Greek Macedonia: The rural settlement of refugees 1922–1930; Marina Petrakis's The Metaxas Myth: Dictatorship and propaganda in Greece; Violetta Hionidou's Famine and Death in Occupied Greece, 1941–1944; and Bea Lewkowicz's The Jewish Community of Salonika: History, memory, identity.
From The Economist, a review of The Chicago School: How the University of Chicago Assembled the Thinkers Who Revolutionized Economics and Business by Johan Van Overtveldt. From Spiked, a review of The Shock of the Old: Technology in Global History Since 1900 by David Edgerton; Imaginary Futures: from thinking machines to the global village by Richard Barbrook; and Fantasy Island by Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson.
A review of Animal Architects: Building and the Evolution of Intelligence by James and Carol Gould. Darwin had to contend with religious dogma and bad poetry. An illustrious successor, Steve Jones, is equally frustrated by bad science. Science and Islam in Conflict: All over the world, no matter what the cultural or language differences, science is more or less guided by scientific principles—except in many Islamic countries, where it is guided by the Koran. This is the ultimate story about science and religion.
From Scientific American, Dog Bites Dog Story: Interpreting a collection of observations is a science in itself; and you may not have rhythm, but your brain does: New research begins to demystify communication between brain regions, potentially paving the way to treating disorders caused by crossed signals. Downtime on the High Frontier: When liberated from the rigors of routine, scientists in space make some remarkable discoveries. Science Imitates (Comic Book) Art: Paleontologists adopt a technical term from The Far Side. From New Statesman, a review of Blame Canada! South Park and Contemporary Culture by Toni Johnson-Woods and South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today.
12:00PM
JUN 22 2007
Animals and food, health, the environment and the Bush administration
From Resurgence, a review of The Science of Oneness: A Worldview for the Twenty-First Century by Malcolm Hollick; and a review of After Eden: The Evolution of Human Domination by Kirkpatrick Sale. An interview with Charles Clover, author of The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat. A review of Planet Chicken: The Shameful Story of the Bird on Your Plate by Hattie Ellis. It’s not only pet food that can kill: A look at the everyday beauty products that just aren’t worth the risk.
Will Michael Moore's Sicko help the universal health care movement, or hurt it? Jonathan Cohn investigates. Mercury Rising: An article on exposing the vaccine-autism myth. New York City's 2006 smoking rate plumets to its lowest on record, and lower than all but five US states. Health officials credit tobacco taxes, indoor smoking restrictions and hard-hitting ad campaigns. Playing with Fire: As Forest Service funding decreases and McMansion subdivisions spread into forested areas, wildfires are becoming more dangerous — and more common — than ever before. Water, water, everywhere — and lots of drops to drink: Bottled water is expensive, wasteful, and sometimes unsafe.
Don't blame the weatherman: Accusing academics of exaggerating climate change could have dangerous consequences. From New Left Review, a review of Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning (and a response by George Monbiot). A review of Solar Revolution: The Economic Transformation of the Global Energy Industry by Travis Bradford. The Best Idea for Reducing Global Warming: It's not a carbon tax and it's not a cap-and-trade system. It's a carbon auction. From Rolling Stone, Robert F. Kennedy on Global Warming: A real solution; and Tim Dickinson on the secret campaign of President Bush's administration to deny global warming (and a companion multimedia slide show).
From Harper's, a series on Undoing Bush: how to repair eight years of sabotage, bungling, and neglect, including Bill McKibben on the environment, Ken Silverstein on civil service, Dahlia Lithwick on the courts, and David Cole on the Constitution. In Praise of Red Tape: When lawmakers and the media failed to hold the Bush Administration to account, it was left to bureaucrats to defend the integrity of government. The Plight of New Orleans Workers: Hands hired to clean up the Big Easy have been subjected to wage theft, exposure to dangerous substances, layoffs, tough discipline and discrimination.
12:00PM
JUN 22 2007
Global issues, Israel and the Middle East
From Foreign Affairs, James Surowiecki reviews The Improving State of the World: Why We're Living Longer, Healthier, More Comfortable Lives on a Cleaner Planet by Indur M. Goklany. Frank Furedi takes on the twenty-first century Malthusians who think everything from poverty to terrorism is a product of too much dirty breeding. A review of Live Working or Die Fighting: How the Working Class Went Global by Paul Mason. How the other half live and die: A review of Planet of Slums by Mike Davis. A look at the Millennium development goals: Are we on track? Universal pensions of just $1 a day in developing countries would significantly reduce old age poverty, a United Nations report finds. Does the United Nations have a future? Suzanne Nossel wants to know.
From America, a review of The Challenge of Human Rights By Jack Mahoney. From Human Rights & Human Welfare, a review of Guantánamo: The War on Human Rights by David Rose; a review of The Humanitarians: The International Committee of the Red Cross by David P. Forsythe; a review of Truth Commissions and Procedural Fairness by Mark Freeman; a review of Understanding Poverty; a review of Human Security and the UN: A Critical History by S. Neil MacFarlane and Yuen Foong Khong; a review of The Economic Life of Refugees by Karen Jacobsen; a review of Spatial Disparities in Human Development: Perspectives from Asia; and a review of Challenges to Peacebuilding: Managing Spoilers During Conflict Resolution. The Numbers Guy on ranking the world’s most peaceful nations.
Victor Kattan (BIICL): The Use and Abuse of Self-Defence in International Law: The Israel-Hezbollah Conflict as a Case Study. Could this be the way the Middle East conflict ends, not with a mushroom cloud or a peace deal but with the slow disappearance of the Jewish state? Peter Hitchens wants to know. A review of Preliminaries, S. Yizhar's landmark novel about coming of age in Israel. Girls with guns: In any western country, Maxim's pictures of female soldiers in their smalls wouldn't raise an eyebrow. They shouldn't shock us in Israel either.
From TAP, recent violence in the Palestinian territories means that the goal of a truly independent Palestinian state has became more remote than at any time since the second intifada. The Enemy of My Enemy: Gaza shows that Islamists are as pragmatic as any of us. Suicide bombers are not mentally ill or unhinged, but acting rationally in pursuit of the benefits they perceive from being part of a strict and close-knit religious enterprise. Efraim Halevy on why the Bush administration needs a backup plan for dealing with Hamas. When Democracy Disappoints: Does promoting peace in the Middle East mean defying the will of the people?
12:00PM
JUN 22 2007
Conservative lit, British lit and life, art and popular culture
From The Hudson Review, a review of Naked in the Marketplace: The Lives of George Sand by Benita Eisler; an essay on The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets; With Critical Observations on Their Works by Samuel Johnson; "I've been reading Schopenhauer to cheer me up": David Mason on The Poetry Circus; Street Dance could be thought of as conceptual art: once you’d read a description of it, you could imagine it or create your own street dance by making up your own score. An interview with Roger Kimball on Counterpoints: 25 Years of The New Criterion on Culture and the Arts.
From TLS, a review of The Letters of A. E. Houseman: Volume One, 1872–1928 and Volume Two, 1929–1936; and a review of Police at the Funeral, More Work for the Undertaker, and The Beckoning Lady by Margery Allingham. From Eurozine, while the Northern Irish literary tradition is closely bound up with the experience of sectarian violence, contemporary poets and prose writers defy the assumption that "the troubles" are all there is to the country's literature.
From Spiked, a review of Welcome to Everytown: a journey into the English mind by Julian Baggini; Queuing for Beginners: the story of daily life from breakfast to bedtime by Joe Moran; and Watching the English: the hidden rules of English behaviour by Kate Fox; and a review of The Angry Years: The Rise and Fall of the Angry Young Men by Colin Wilson. A review of The Voice of the Hammer: The Meaning of Work in Middle English Literature by Nicola Masciandaro. Northern soul: Manchester has always occupied a special place in British culture. Could the arts be Tony Blair's brightest legacy as he steps down as prime minister on Wednesday?
The secrets behind the faces: Rembrandt, Hals and their contemporaries on show in London. Hanno Rauterberg looks at how the Venice Biennale does battle against the Documenta in Kassel. There's a lot of hot air wafting around the Venice Biennale. But one thing is for sure: the art world can party. The Art World Goes Provincial: The once-in-a-decade Sculpture Projects is on in Münster — a laid-back show for a town still thrilled by pumpernickel bread.
From PopMatters, a look at the 50 DVDs every film fan should own. A review of Karaoke: The Global Phenomenon by Zhou Xun and Francesca Tarocco. From Smithsonian, Global Weddings: A look at how "I do" is done around the world. A review of The First Man in My Life: Daughters Write About Their Fathers. Growing Up With the Girl Sleuth: An article on Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Changing Demographic. The seven deadly sins of kid culture: One dad runs interference against the worst of children's entertainment.
