From The New Yorker, what’s behind Rhonda Byrne’s spiritual empire? Kelefa Sanneh investigates. From The Believer, sweatpants in paradise: Molly Young on the exciting world of immersive retail. From The Awl, Choire Sicha on a brief history of the New York Observer as reported by the Times. A look at how the current Supreme Court justices are much more likely than their predecessors to hire clerks (who follow a well-traveled path from Ivy League to Supreme Court) who match their own ideological positions (and more). How The Washington Times is struggling amid divisions of family, ideology, finances. Is selflessness in our nature?: A review of The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness by Oren Harman. More on Sissela Bok's Exploring Happiness: From Aristotle to Brain Science. Important questions remain unanswered: Have the Taliban changed in the decade since they lost office, and is there a neo-Taliban, as some suggest? This year’s Slap-In-The-Face-Get-A-Grip-Bub Award for business books goes to Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of Power: Why Some People Have It — and Others Don’t. More on Pascal Bruckner's The Tyranny of Guilt. Escaping near death: What does it feel like to be the only person to survive a plane crash, a boat wreck or an ambush? Sole survivors tell their stories. A review of True Prep: It's a Whole New Old World by Lisa Birnbach and Chip Kidd (and more and more and more and more). The Rise of the CAFO in Idaho: As mega-dairies and feedlots make up more of Idaho's dairy industry, the conflicts between people and cattle are increasing. The Back Story: If our favorite objects could talk, what tales would they tell? A review of Sophistication: A Literary and Cultural History by Faye Hammill.
