online archive
5:00PM
FEB 20 2008
From knowledge to wisdom
From Transformations, a special issue on Walter Benjamin and the Virtual. A review of Walter Benjamin's Archive: Images, Texts, Signs. From LiveScience, a look at the truth about sensational kidney thefts. From The Hedgehog Review, a special issue on secularization, including Grace Davie (Exeter): Is Europe an Exceptional Case?; Wilson N. Brissett (Virginia): Secularization in the Global South: The Case of Ethiopia; an interview with Peter Berger; and a review of Susan Jacoby's Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism (and more). A review of Impotence: A Cultural History by Angus McLaren. James Fallows on how China’s Great Firewall is crude, slapdash, and surprisingly easy to breach — and here’s why it’s so effective anyway (and an interview). Julian Baggini reviews Violence by Slavoj Zizek. A review of From Knowledge to Wisdom: A Revolution for Science and the Humanities by Nicholas Maxwell. A review of Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed, and My Sister Stole My Mother’s Boyfriend by Barbara Oakley. A review of Structures of Scientific Collaboration, by Wesley Shrum, Joel Genuth and Ivan Chompalov. From Black Agenda Report, a look at the ten worst places to be black. Neurostimulation: Is it a good idea to drill holes in people's heads to treat them for depression? An article on what to read about wine.
1:00PM
FEB 20 2008
The greatest threat to us all
From Policy Review, the advantage to Islam of Mosque-State separation: What the American Founders can teach. From Quadrant, a look at why the recognition of complexity and uncertainty that has been the key to the success of the West. Missing the "right" babies: Christian-right activists look at falling birthrates among whites and rising Muslim immigration in Europe and warn of a looming "demographic winter". The New Barbarians: Local bloggers are shaking up the media and politics as usual. From Entertainment Weekly, a look at the successes and shortcomings of McSweeney's creator, Dave Eggers (and more on his inner circle). Have you seen the latest issue of Paranoia magazine? No? Well, that's not surprising, is it? A review of Fulgencio Batista: From Revolutionary to Strongman by Frank Argote-Freyre. Japan's historical and geographical isolation has created a unique culture, a society seemingly operating just slightly out of kilter. From TNR, Lewis Lapham's new journal is dedicated to providing historical perspectives that align perfectly with Lapham's own. An article on mythbusting Canadian health care (and part 2). From NYRB, a review of books on nuclear weapons, the greatest threat to us all. Family firms are important in business — so why, then, do dynasties fare so poorly in politics? More and more and more on Tim Harford's The Logic of Life.
9:00AM
FEB 20 2008
A cathedral for the god of motors
From The New Yorker, an article on debating torture and counterinsurgency—a century ago. From First Things, an essay on Nietzsche’s deeper truth; a review of After the Baby Boomers by Robert Wuthnow; and this is not your father’s pornography. Christopher Hitchens on the 2,000-year-old panic: A newly reissued novel evokes the charms and hatreds of a lost world and the enduring contradictions of anti-Semitism. America has too many stores; should anything be done about it? A review of Tourists of History: Memory, Kitsch, and Consumerism from Okalahoma City to Ground Zero by Marita Sturken. The Raelians have championed some strange causes in the movement's history, but now they are going to bat for the clitoris. A review of Jasmine and Stars: Reading More Than Lolita in Tehran by Fatemeh Keshavarz and Rethinking Global Sisterhood: Western Feminism and Iran by Nima Naghibi. Can John McCain reinvent Republicanism? Ryan Lizza investigates. A review of Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West by Benazir Bhutto (and more and more and more and more and more). From Newsweek, a cover story on Michelle Obama. From The Economist, a look at why business succeeds on the web and government mostly fail (and an special report). A cathedral for the god of motors: Welcome to the phenomenon that is BMW World.
