From Psychology Today, encounters with the opposite sex skew our psyches in such a special way that reason and bias climb right into bed with each other — in this mode, it sometimes pays to deceive ourselves: Welcome to the paradoxical world of mating intelligence. Does your brain have a mind of its own, or why can't we stick to our goals? Blame the sloppy engineering of evolution. From Prospect, an interview with Duncan Fallowell on his writing strategies, how he met Warhol, and why he is the first travel writer who is not a wanker. Downloading democracy: Tara Brabazon takes a listophile’s delight in a celebration of musical progress. A review of books on how the centre of gravity of English has moved. Seven Pillars of Wisdom was hailed on its first appearance as a historical and literary masterpiece. But this memoir of the Arab revolt, and T E Lawrence's other writings, also offer prescient warnings about western policy in the Middle East. From Soundings, happiness in a society of individuals: Zygmunt Bauman looks at the ways in which ideologies of privatisation shape our desires, and at the reasons they are unlikely to be fulfilled; and Jonathan Rutherford looks at contemporary changes in the practices and cultures of capitalism. By turning NAFTA into a punching bag, Clinton and Obama are ignoring the real questions that free trade raises for America.
