From a conference at the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, Badiou, Eagleton, Hallward, Hardt, Nancy, Ranciere, Vattimo, and Zizek debate the Idea of Communism (and more). Totaled: Matt Bai on how DC could really save GM. Are we living in an age of sexual freedom, or are women more confused and unfulfilled than ever? An interview with Ira Lit, author of The Bus Kids: Children's Experiences with Voluntary Desegregation. From Cafe Babel, an interview with Richard Dawkins: "There is something illogical about the fear of death"; and is Benedict XVI stuck in the Middle Ages? A simple idea help make the world a better place: Children should be encouraged to find answers purely using logic. From guts to glory: It sounds miraculous — a machine to convert waste into oil, but the road to profitability has been paved with many problems and turkey carcasses. Real sex ed returns — but will Democrats axe abstinence-only? Discussing Hannah Arendt and the Viet Nam war, Cathy Caruth shows that images produced to justify war have a long tradition in the US. More on The Gamble by Thomas E Ricks. Roger Scruton on the New Humanism. From The New Yorker, Anthony Gottlieb reviews The House of Wittgenstein: A Family at War by Alexander Waugh (and more; and more from Bookforum); and birds, bees, fish: Ben McGrath on Isabella Rossellini and animal sex.
