From The Chronicle, David Barash on the Roar of the Crowd: Sports fans' primal behavior. A brief inquiry into the nature of sports fandom: Why the home team doesn't deserve your loyalty. From Vox, a look at how sports fans’ demand for “suspense” drives design of reward schemes for players; and an article on why globalisation promotes peace. Richly undeserved: The well off are not the wealthy, so why tax them as if they are? From The Science Creative Quarterly, an article on the evolution of gravity in the Mario video game series as video game hardware increases. How to predict what you'll like? Ask a stranger. The Taming of the Tween: Shakespeare and texters do have something in common. Introducing the Flat Earth Society: Climate skeptics, there is a club for you (and more). From Time, a profile of Arianna Huffington, the Web's new oracle; and what happens when a town loses its newspaper? After the Newspaper: As urban dailies die, a search for other sources of local information. It's a victory for political commentary in general if Ross Douthat becomes a more prominent conservative voice while at the Times. The internet has already profoundly changed British politics, with the left finally waking up to challenge the right. A review of Terminator and Philosophy: I'll Be Back, Therefore I Am. Eat, drink, and stage a new play: 10 things theaters must do to save themselves.
