online archive
5:00PM
AUG 19 2008
Read it for the articles
A new issue of NPQ is out, on "The Rise of the Rest". From Foreign Policy, here's an instant history of the Georgian War. How "the man" kept Playgirl down: Believe it or not, there was actually a time when smart women read it for the articles. From Mental Floss, here's 13 medal-worthy Olympic stories. A look at the 10 worst Chinese laws. Around the time of the Chinese Revolution in 1949, a small crowd of foreign sympathisers came to help build the Maoist dream; sixty years later, one of them is still there. Christopher Hitchens reviews Miami and the Siege of Chicago by Norman Mailer. Which tomato is more nutritious, the commercial variety that goes into ketchup or the precious heirloom beloved by gourmets? Theda Skocpol reviews Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age by Larry Bartels. The dawn of global trade: An excerpt from When Asia Was the World by Stewart Gordon (and part 2). From The Weekly Standard, apparently, the Good War was a bad idea: A review of Churchill, Hitler, and the "Unnecessary War" by Patrick Buchanan and Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker; and a review of Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube & the Future of American Politics by Morley Winograd and Michael Hais and Unconventional Wisdom: Facts and Myths About American Voters by Karen Kaufmann, John Petrocik, and Daron Shaw.
1:00PM
AUG 19 2008
Great minds drink alike
From Asia Times, Dallas Darling on the Olympics as a political arena. The German-speaking world of Kafka scholars hit out over a British academic's claims that the writer had a penchant for hard porn. Great minds drink alike: The debaucherous get-togethers of humanity's top thinkers. An interview with Em & Lo, authors of Sex: How to do Everything. From Diplomatic Courier, preventive diplomacy: Can Macedonian and Estonian models succeed in Georgia? A review of Old Masters, New World: America's Raid on Europe's Great Pictures by Cynthia Saltzman. Presidents have to move quickly to enact progressive reforms before the window of opportunity closes forever; it's a lesson Obama should take to heart. A review of Science v. Religion? Intelligent Design and the Problem of Evolution by Steve Fuller. Demons among us: A visit to William Bradshaw, America's foremost demonologist. New star rising: A profile of Reihan Salam, an up-and-coming Bangladeshi-American thinker and writer (and more on Grand New Party). Jeffrey Feldman on what America needs to hear about Jerome Corsi. The Corncob Pipe of Politics: Everything you've ever wanted to know about party platforms — and then some. From Big Think, Jennifer Rubell examines the celebrity chef phenomenon. The first biography of Galileo Galilei resurfaces, offering a new theory as to why the astronomer was put on trial.
9:00AM
AUG 19 2008
Why the planet’s not dead yet
From TAP, Barack Obama might be running on a post-partisan platform, but he is more focused on building the Democratic Party; and here's a guide to the fifteen political operatives who run Obama's world. David Warsh on newspapers as the central banks of social currency. Millions of people are deciphering vintage texts without knowing it — and forging a new path for computing. Who are the citizens of Europe? Europe needs a binding moral foundation not a pan-European referendum. From The Atlantic Monthly, a look at how scarcity, affluence, and biofuel production are wreaking havoc on food prices; and the termite’s stomach, of all things, has become the focus of large-scale scientific investigations — could the same properties that make the termite such a costly pest help us solve global warming? From Utne, a special report on brushing off the gloom and doom with good green news, including an article in praise of economic pain: The threat of recession could lead to an environmental boon; find out why the planet’s not dead yet; and are capitalists the new conservationists? An article on Wilhelm Ropke, champion of the humane economy. Thought control in economics: A high level of conformity in academic institutions makes it difficult for economists to tackle the world’s most pressing problems. From CT, a review Save the World on Your Own Time by Stanley Fish.
