From New York, here's the Encyclopedia of Counterintuitive Thought: For pundits, Freakonomists, and Malcolm Gladwell, following the crowd meant going against the grain; and here's their 00’s Issue, in which they try to hash out the effects of a decade when the notion of authority was turned on its head. From Nerve, a look at the biggest disappointments of the ’00s. List-making for the end of the first decade of the 2000s is in full swing. Dead Men Walking: Niall Ferguson on why 2009's truly top thinkers are yesterday's news. The ghost of John C. Calhoun walks: To avoid being tagged as racist, professors retreat to the Abbeville Institute to study the virtues of secession, quietly. Love's bite is deeper, Tiger: A review of Eloge de l'Amour by Alain Badiou. What was the American public not paying attention to when Tiger Woods and the White House party crashers established control of the airwaves? Not much, unless you count Afghanistan, the Comcast-NBC merger, and the relentless march of Obama Care. Aristotle said appetite is the cause of all actions that appear pleasant, but also a source of moral badness — which explains mixed results with pot. Reminding Caesar of God’s existence: An interview with Robert George on the Manhattan Declaration. An interview with Cory Doctorow on how DIY technology will transform the world. The images dancing in David Gelernter's head: Sixteen years ago, a package blew apart his world — that's when he found his polymathic, political, artistic self. The XXX Factor: Here is an uncensored history of swearing on TV. That Old Sinatra Magic: Tony Bennett salutes Frank Sinatra, for showing the way.
