6:00PM
JAN 6 2009
The full range of human emotions
From Nova, a special episode on Mars. From Plenty, here are 10 global-warming policy recommendations for the Obama administration. An interview with Eric Wilson, author of Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy. Black philosopher, White academy: A review of The Career of William Fontaine by Bruce Kuklick. When Dockets imitate drama: Literature and drama have provided plenty of models for the sort of outlandish scheme that the embattled trader Bernard L. Madoff allegedly conceived. A review of Law and the Media: The Future of an Uneasy Relationship by Lieve Gies. Lives of the Saints: An article on doing relief work in dangerous places. Gorillas in their midst: Is it possible to protect Rwanda’s mountain gorillas while also helping some of its poorest citizens? Clive Crook on constraints on Obama’s soft power. The Competence Dodge: The experience and competence of Obama's economic team are not substitutes for true progressivism. Getting rich quick — and having much more money than you ever need — will look as pointless as taking bodybuilding too seriously. The Year of the Nerd: Screw the jocks and prom queens — in 2008, geeks took control of entertainment, pro sports, even the White House. Tears, tantrums and murder: Far from being a cold and rational exercise, maths can provoke the full range of human emotions.
3:00PM
JAN 6 2009
An incredibly lonely society
A new issue of Open Letters Monthly is out. From The Believer, an interview with political philosopher Tom Dumm on how misguided American ideas of self-reliance make for an incredibly lonely society; and the sentence is a lonely place: What is it that gives every line — in certain works of fiction — the force and feel of a climax? From World Politics Review, an article on the war in Gaza: Can Israel have military success? An excerpt from Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape. Kudos for the contrarian: It is mostly people who appreciate the uncertainty of our complex world who have worthwhile things to say about the future. Two academic groups — one funded by collegiate sports' governing body — aim to provide "factual" research regarding athletic issues. Should we be wary of political dynasties? David Liebers investigates. Blockbuster or Bust: Why struggling publishers will keep placing outrageous bids on new books. Accidental astrophysicists: They started with algebra and ended up learning about gravitational lensing. More on Jay Parini's Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America. Who is a civilian? The bloodied children are clearly civilians; men killed as they launch rockets are undisputedly not — but what about the 40 or so young Hamas police recruits on parade? A review of A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity by Bill O' Reilly (and more).
12:00PM
JAN 6 2009
Pretending to be a pilot
From TAS, Peter Ferrara on Robert Nozick and liberal utopians. From TPM Media, here are ten young progressives to make you hopeful for the future. Design loves a depression: Few of the arts benefited from the late economic boom more than design, but a little austerity could give designers a new sense of relevance. Ariel Levy reviews a new edition of The Joy of Sex. Is it possible Mike Barnicle is still the most obsessed-about journalist in town? Thomas Frank on how the "market" isn't so wise after all. Tuning In: What to listen to when you're pretending to be a pilot. The commercial world, according to three new books, has a grip on our children and is trying to take the fun out of being a parent (and more). James Traub on shaking up the boardroom at World Government Inc. Mismarriage of convenience: Iran and Israel are stuck in a dysfunctional relationship that neither party can escape on its own — here’s how to break up their fight. A review of Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad by Matthew Levitt. Book publishers and booksellers are faltering, but don’t blame the recession — it’s all the fault of the Internet used books market. The Plot Curdles: A modest proposal for bailing out the publishing industry. Carlin Romano on philosophers at work, and hoping for it. At MLA, academic conference sex isn’t just for the hotel room, but for a scholarly panel.
9:00AM
JAN 6 2009
The power of the impersonal
From The New Yorker, Adam Kirsch on Hannah Arendt and the power of the impersonal; David Remnick on history, Obama, and the Middle East; tweed wars: A historians’ scuffle at the State Department; when fraudsters go bust: while bank robbers are getting busier, the Bernard Madoffs are starting to get caught; and greening the ghetto: Can a remedy serve for both global warming and poverty? Elizabeth Kolbert investigates. From New York, a review of David Denby's Snark: It’s Mean, It’s Personal, and It’s Ruining Our Conversation. From Vanity Fair, farewell to all that: Here's an oral history of the Bush White House. From Boston Review, Dean Baker on free market myth: Regulation is everywhere — let’s choose who benefits; no new tax cuts: Jeff Madrick on a case for big government; and Robert Pollin on tools for a new economy: Proposals for a financial regulatory system. A review of Social Philosophy after Adorno by Lambert Zuidervaart. America, "Amerika": A new translation of Kafka’s unfinished first novel, set in a dream-world that is not quite America. Here's a completely subjective rundown of the most noteworthy academic research that sprung forth from academia in 2008. A review of The Reagan I Knew by William F. Buckley Jr. America is the most anxious country on the planet; so will we ever learn to live with fear, racing heart and disaster scenarios?
6:00PM
JAN 5 2009
International bright young things
From Edge, here's the World Question Center 2009: "What will change everything?" Still revered for The Catcher in the Rye and the Glass Family, J. D. Salinger remains elusive at 90. A review of Objectivity by Lorraine Daston and Peter Galison. From NYRB, Marcia Angell reviews books on drug companies and doctors: A story of corruption. The Prophet: Ari Berman on how Howard Dean's fifty-state strategy remade the Democratic Party — what comes next? Francis Fukuyama remembers Samuel Huntington (and more and more). Children of the Revolution: Eve Fairbanks on House Republicans, now even more conservative. Auto Destruct: Jonathan Cohn on the tragic nobility of Detroit. International bright young things: The next generation of economists do their best work somewhere between the field clinic and the dissection room. From The Wall Street Journal, an article on the doomsayers who got it right. Here are nominees for the most infamous pronouncements made as the financial crisis unfolded this year. Michael Tomasky on America's hall of shame: From Sarah Palin to AIG's sales reps, the following characters have made us less than proud. David Brooks hands out the annual Sidney Awards. From The Village Voice, here are the top 10 rightblogger stories. Jonathan Chait on Marxists: They're everywhere you don't want them to be and nowhere you really need them.
3:00PM
JAN 5 2009
The many facets of revolutionary action
From Vanity Fair, surveying Fannie Mae’s deeply dysfunctional relationships with Congress, the White House, and Wall Street, Bethany McLean tells of the long, vicious war — involving most of Washington’s top players — that helped propel one of the world’s most successful companies off. A review of Wall Street: America’s Dream Palace by Steve Fraser. Here's the online version of Against Intellectual Monopoly by Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine. An excerpt from The Feminist Care Tradition in Animal Ethics. A review of books in search of the God neuron. The Episcopal Church's promotion of an openly gay clergyman has created a serious rift within the religious community, threatening the future of the denomination. Oops! She crashed it again: Why celebrities are such bad drivers. After realizing that being a freedom fighter with the Karen National Union may not be the best way to bring peace to his country, a Burmese man explores the many facets of revolutionary action. A review of The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments by George Johnson. A review of The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations by Brian Fagan. A review of Savannah Knoop’s Girl Boy Girl: Becoming JT Leroy. A review of Itineraries in Conflict: Israelis, Palestinians, and the Political Lives of Tourism by Rebecca Stein.
12:00PM
JAN 5 2009
We lack a theme
From TNR, is Herman Rosenblat, the author of Angel at the Fence: The True Story of a Love That Survived, a new Oprah-touted love story the next James Frey? From Harvard Magazine, skeptical of both defined-benefit and defined-contribution retirement plans, Robert Merton proposes a hybrid, SmartNest, to overcome the shortcomings of each; a review of The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine by Anne Harrington; the mature dating game: A look at the world of dating for those over 45; the war and the writ: An essay on habeas corpus and security in an age of terrorism (and more and more); from daguerreotype to Photoshop: Robin Kelsey dissects the “hybrid medium” of photography; and educating students for life: Harvard College rolls out the new general education curriculum for undergraduates. Big in Japan: The popularity of a bleak, 20th-century novel points to tectonic shifts beneath the surface of Japanese society. More on Sarah Thornton's Seven Days in the Art World (and more from Bookforum). While the detection technology has sped ahead, international mechanisms for dealing with an asteroid threat are still stuck in first gear. What Obama could learn from America's greatest unknown nuclear strategist. Jonah Goldberg on the "Ought" decade: We lack a theme. A review of John Searle's Philosophy of Language: Force, Meaning and Mind.
9:00AM
JAN 5 2009
The mystification of change
From The New Criterion, a special issue on the dictatorship of relativism, including Anthony Daniels on the moral consequences of relativism; Andrew McCarthy on relativism: paving the road to radicalism; the mystification of change: James Bowman on the media's game of good and evil; the art market bubble: An essay on the folly of speculating on contemporary art; and John Derbyshire reviews The Art Instinct by Denis Dutton (and more). Many Obama supporters claim that including, accommodating and compromising with the right will create post-partisan harmony; when have Democrats not done that? Can partisanship save citizenship? In the 1990s, reformers and academics worried about how to improve civic life, but they didn't foresee that technology combined with party politics would renew civic engagement and even elect one of their own. A review of In the World but Not of It: One Family’s Militant Faith and the History of Fundamentalism in America by Brett Grainger. James Wolcott reviews The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike (and more). Death, like a furry brown bat with a wingspread as wide as a pterodactyl’s, shrank Himself to the size of a quarter and slipped in through the crack underneath the front door. A review of Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC-AD 1000 by Barry Cunliffe. More and more on The Philosopher and the Wolf by Mark Rowlands.
6:00PM
JAN 2 2009
Making a mark
From The Atlas Society, an essay on the choice to live and Objectivist ethics; what is the Objectivist view on waiting for marriage to have sex? Making a mark: What does it take to attract young adults to priesthood and religious life? From PopMatters, a review of The Best of Sexology: Kinky and Kooky Excerpts from America's First Sex Magazine; and a review of The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Superstitions. From Asian Review of Books, a review of "Socialism Is Great!": A Worker's Memoir of the New China by Lijia Zhang; and more on Worlds at War: The 2500-Year Struggle Between East and West by Anthony Padgen. From Conversations with History, an interview with Michael Pollan on the politics of food; and an interview with Philippe Sands, author of The Rumsfeld Memo and the Betrayal of American Values. The bygone American Dream: An excerpt from The Measure of America by Sarah Burd-Sharps, Kristen Lewis and Eduardo Borges Martins. From Intelligent Life, twilight of a living God: An article on Nelson Mandela. Hacking the Hill: How the Chinese — or someone — hacked into House of Representatives computers in 2006, and what it will take to keep out the next electronic invader. A review of Forgiveness: A Philosophical Exploration by Charles L. Griswold. More on The World Is What It Is by Patrick French (and more from Bookforum).
3:00PM
JAN 2 2009
Forgiving and championing bad art
From Psychology Today, a look at why young single men are more xenophobic (and part 2); and positive psychology is all the rage these days; what can evolutionary psychology say about how to be happy? Don't worry, be happy: You want it, you deserve it! That's the misleading message of a thousand self-help guides to instant bliss. From Symmetry, an article on particle physics benefits: adding it up; and who will be the first to prove the existence of dark matter and dark energy? A particle physicist and an astrophysicist go head to head. From FT, an interview with David Sedaris. From The Weekly Standard, Andrew Ferguson on the politics of fat: A hefty problem for the left. The first chapter from Market Rebels: How Activists Make or Break Radical Innovations by Hayagreeva Rao. From The Atlantic, Africa's rising star: A peaceful and well-conducted national election bodes well for democracy in Ghana and the rest of Africa; and pay close attention to Greece; at a time of world-wide economic upheaval, it might eerily presage disturbances elsewhere in 2009. Timing is everything: Music grapples with time and transcends philosophy. George Orwell, forgiving and championing bad art: Orwell's essays remind us that better than our best intentions is our inescapable nature, our shared ordinariness, which will always have the potential to redeem us all if only we will embrace it.
