A new issue of Open Letters Monthly is out. A review of The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives by Shankar Vedantam (and more and more). Living on a Lighted Stage: Are we finally ready to take Rush seriously? From Gawker, a look at Andrew Breitbart's horrible track record of picking Right-wing heroes (and more). From The New York Times Magazine, a special issue on the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. From Chronicles, William Murchison writes in praise of euphemism. Cut this story: Michael Kinsely on how newspaper articles are too long. A renewable-energy "oasis" slated to be built in 2010 may serve as a proving ground for new technologies designed to bring green living to the desert (and more). Great oratory is the mark of a great leader; Sophie Elmhirst asks politicians, historians and the writers who worked for Clinton and Blair to reveal the secrets of the perfect speech. Andrew Stephen on how the seclusion of J D Salinger and Glenn Gould was a result of psychological damage. A review of The Imagination of Evil: Detective Fiction and the Modern World by Mary Evans. The politicians are wrong: This is the golden age of college football. From Rorotoko, an interview with Trysh Travis, author of The Language of the Heart: A Cultural History of the Recovery Movement from Alcoholics Anonymous to Oprah Winfrey; and an interview with Jonathan Walker, author of Pistols! Treason! Murder! The Rise and Fall of a Master Spy. Casper, a cat which became a celebrity by travelling around Plymouth on the bus, has died after reportedly being struck by a car (and more).
