online archive
5:00PM
FEB 25 2008
Power and its intensifications since 1984
From Prospect, Suharto's death means he will never be held to account for his crimes, but the Indonesian courts could still act to weaken his legacy of cronyism and corruption; and watch those warheads: How real is the danger that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal could fall into the hands of militants? From City Journal, an article on architecture’s battle of the Modernisms, and what it means for Gotham’s future. From Red Pepper, the membership and influence of political parties is declining throughout the western world, and most quickly in Britain. A review of In The Ring: The Trials of a Washington Lawyer by Robert Bennett. A review of The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd by Alexander Rabinowitch and Tear Off the Masks! Identity and Imposture in Twentieth Century Russia by Sheila Fitzpatrick. A review of Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization by John Robb. The introduction to Unequal Chances: Family Background and Economic Success. From Policy Review, a review of books on Prince Talleyrand. In measuring carbon emissions, it’s easy to confuse morality and science. Thinkers weigh a radical new way to reduce greenhouse gas: Give everyone an individual carbon allowance, and let the dealing begin. A review of Foucault Beyond Foucault: Power and its Intensifications since 1984 by Jeffrey T. Nealon.
1:00PM
FEB 25 2008
Finding new love and other experiences
From The Economist, here are four reports from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. How to be a better browser: Can a new filtering program cure the Web's information overload? What do the men who visit prostitutes think about what they do? Ray Kurzweil is famous for uncannily accurate predictions, and now he's talking of putting nanobots in our brains. Do animals think like autistic savants? They don't, despite the "savant-like" behaviour many show. A review of Asylum: A Mid-Century Madhouse and Its Lessons about Our Mentally Ill Today by Enoch Callaway. New research helps explain why finding new love and other experiences don't always meet expectations. A review of The Ethics Toolkit: A Compendium of Ethical Concepts and Methods by Julian Baggini and Peter S. Fosl. An excerpt from Nick Davies' Flat Earth News (and more and more and more and more). Finally, a social networking site aimed at the cranky old-school reporters who were forever bitching about "those Internets". Before his mind was ravaged by mental illness and drugs, Harold L. Humes was a rising literary star and a co-founder of the Paris Review. Judy Blume's lessons in love: Her explicit novels about the rites of adolescence are loved by teenage girls the world over — and loathed by America's religious right. Is a liberal renaissance in the making?
9:00AM
FEB 25 2008
With a little help from Hollywood
From Open Democracy, an article on how to talk about things we don't know anything about. From National Journal, an Obama-McCain race would probably accelerate the process of scrambling the parties' historic class alignment. Grape expectations: What wine can tell us about the nature of reality. From First Things, an article on Catholic scholars, secular schools. A review of books by Jonathan Kozol. A review of Bush, the Detainees, and the Constitution: The Battle over Presidential Power in the War on Terror by Howard Ball. From Dissent, an article on health care in Taiwan: Why can’t the United States learn some lessons? A review of Aesthetics and Architecture by Edward Winters. From LA Weekly, an article on The Lies and Follies of Laura Albert, a.k.a. JT LeRoy. From The Atlantic, fundamental changes in American life may turn today’s McMansions into tomorrow’s tenements. The introduction to Nation-States and the Multinational Corporation: A Political Economy of Foreign Direct Investment by Nathan Jensen. From Radar, how did a black junior senator from Illinois become the golden boy of American politics? With a little help from Hollywood (plus, he's the son Bill and Hillary never had). Has he tapped a new voting bloc? From NYRB, a review of A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win by Shelby Steele.
