archive

Mysterious journey

Karen J. Alter (Northwestern), Emilie Marie Hafner-Burton (UCSD), and Laurence Helfer (Duke): Theorizing the Judicialization of International Relations. From the Congressional Research Service, a report on Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress. The North Magnetic Pole’s mysterious journey across the Arctic. From LARB, the best of the worst? Roslyn Fuller interviews Paul Cartledge, author of Democracy: A Life; and Andy Fitch interviews David Runciman, author of How Democracy Ends. How the idea of Hell has shaped the way we think: For centuries, we’ve given lavish attention to the specifics of punishment, and left Heaven woefully under-sketched. Mumbai business executive Raphael Samuel is trying to sue his parents for giving birth to him. None of our ambitions are possible without a guaranteed right to vote. The controversy over Ilhan Omar and AIPAC money, explained (and more).

Sam Stoner (Assumption): Who is Descartes’ Evil Genius? Jennifer Dos Reis Dos Santos on how African American folklore saved the cultural memory and history of slaves. The urgency of a third Reconstruction: The ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment marked a turning point in U.S. history — yet 150 years later, its promises remain unfulfilled. A new Americanism: Jill Lepore on why a nation needs a national story. Jerome Groopman reviews Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood by Rose George. Max Weber’s enduring wisdom: Democratic politics is a remorseless struggle, he warned 100 years ago. The first two chapters from Max Weber and the Modern Problem of Discipline by Tony Waters.