A review of Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle by Chris Hedges (and more). Neal Gabler writes in defense of our Brangelina-loving, Jon and Kate–hating, Tiger-taunting, tawdry tabloid culture. Moan for all seasons: A review of How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell. What’s wrong with gentrification? Adam Sternbergh on the displacement myth. Call it a bloodless revolution or, at least, an interesting, and paradoxically real-world, experiment: political theory is getting played out on the Internet in real time. Research suggests the importance of attractiveness depends on where you live and finds "golden ratios" for female facial beauty. Sorry we ate your great-grandpa: In a jungle clearing on a small Pacific island, the descendants of a tribe of cannibals bow to a British pensioner and apologise for having his relative for dinner — literally. Why do people dance, and what makes some more confident than others? Dr Dance has the answers. A review of The Body in Medical Culture. Paul Carr posts his book Bringing Nothing To The Party: True Confessions of a New Media Whore free online. Scott McLemee contemplates the apparently timeless appeal of Ayn Rand’s paeans to commerce. The drag of devising a state-by-state mirth meter: Researchers try to measure "Gross National Happiness", but satisfaction, though nearly guaranteed, is poorly defined (and more). The proliferation of passive sedentary activities like television viewing has led to inactive lifestyles and decreased physical fitness, but can TV positively affect health as well?
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