From GQ, a look at Rand Paul's kooky college days (Hint: There's a secret society involved). From National Civic Review, Alison Kadlec on play and public life; and Pete Peterson on the return of the citizen. From Bookslut, just-so stories: Elizabeth Bachner on reading about infinity; and JC Hallman, author of In Utopia: Utopias are not merely elaborate plans that tend to go wrong, they are the calculated efforts to repair dystopias that are often the result of earlier utopian efforts. A review of Taking Care of Youth and the Generations by Bernard Stiegler. From Russia, Keith Gessen complains about weather, predicts end of world. Maybe you need a job: Matthew Yglesias on anchor babies, the Ground Zero mosque and other scapegoats. A review of books on silence. If evolution had taken a different turn, could dragons have existed? Jonathan Cohn on why public employees are the new welfare queens. Keith Hennessey on the roles of the President’s White House economic advisors. As coins and banknotes are displaced by credit cards and virtual transactions, Joachim Kalka conjures twin visions of money’s sensuous effects — prompting mystical revulsion or cartoonish delight — from the disappearing world of cash. Shocking the bourgeoisie: Worn-out gestures of rebellion before an audience that long ago lost the capacity for outrage. A review of Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach (and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more).
