From Philosophical Transactions B, a special issue on rationality and emotions is free online, as is all Royal Society Publishing content until the end of February. From Hilobrow, Tom Nealon on the Parnassus of Titon du Tillet. Above all, God save our awful anthems. After 20 years The Simpsons is almost as established as Disney; Bee Wilson compares and contrasts two giants of pop culture. From The Atlantic, Derek Thompson on the 10 American ideas of the decade. The first chapter from Social Conventions: From Language to Law by Andrei Marmor. Here's the latest Edge Annual Question: How is the Internet changing the way you think? The Trials of Tony Judt: Even as ALS tightens its grip, the historian remains outspoken. The journal First of the Month has reinvented itself, both online and in print; Scott McLemee looks into its latest anthology. NYU Libraries acquire the Kathleen Hanna Papers for their new "Riot Grrrl Collection". From Vanity Fair, what has happened to Gore Vidal, the witty, tough-minded subversive of American letters, the 20th century’s only possible answer to Oscar Wilde? Christopher Hitchens wants to know. From NYRB, David Cole on getting away with torture. There’s an app for this: Joanne McNeil on how to follow the world of ideas on the go. From Standpoint, a look at why Philip Blond is overrated and Michael Oakeshott is underrated. Why skeptics should embrace the supernatural on television. From THES, a review of The Empire of Trauma: An Inquiry into the Condition of Victimhood by Didier Fassin and Richard Rechtman; and a review of Personal Responsibility: Why It Matters by Alexander Brown.
