From Smithsonian, an article on the surprising satisfactions of a home funeral. A review of SUM: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman. Why bad jokes are easier to remember than the good ones. Gertrude Himmelfarb reviews The Philosophers' Quarrel: Rousseau, Hume, and the Limits of Human Understanding by Robert Zaretsky and John T. Scott. An interview with Mahmood Mamdani, author of Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror (and more and more and more and a review by Alex de Waal). Can a simple idea help make the world a better place? Gregory Berns believes everyone should learn to play music. I'm not looking, honest: The good news is reality exists; the bad is it’s even stranger than people thought. A review of Rebuilding War-Torn States: The Challenge of Post-Conflict Economic Reconstruction by Graciana del Castillo. A review of Mr. America: How Muscular Millionaire Bernarr Macfadden Transformed the Nation Through Sex, Salad, and the Ultimate Starvation Diet by Mark Adams (and more and an excerpt). While muscular men perform dramatic circus acts in the brightly lit World Wrestling Entertainment ring, these three women orchestrate the complex show from executive positions.
