Yochai Benkler (Harvard) and Aaron Shaw (UC-Berkley): A Tale of Two Blogospheres: Discursive Practices on the Left and Right (and more). Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse M. Shapiro (Chicago): Ideological Segregation Online and Offline. Epistemic closure: Political conservatives are quarreling over charges of closed-mindedness in the movement. It is hard to believe that a phrase as dry as “epistemic closure” could get anyone excited. The real problem with politics today is not the divide between left and right, he says, but the divide between those who are politically engaged and those who are not. The American Anti-Revolution: Revolutionary violence is as American as an apple pie we threw away. From TPM, Jillian Rayfield looks at crazy legislation from across the nation; and Crazy Arizona: How a state went from swinging in '08 to out on a limb in 2010. Ron Rosenbaum on the Tea Party's toxic take on history: Ignore it at your peril. Christopher Deis on 7 tricks teabaggers will use to conceal their extreme Right-wing beliefs. Please tread on us: Thomas Frank on how the tea partiers’ policies would empower Wall Street. Where are the tea party protests about Wall Street? Momentum, not numbers: Why the Tea Party has become a news obsession. The Bush Restoration Project: Jeffrey Scott Shapiro is on a mission to rehabilitate the former president's reputation. What kind of socialist is Barack Obama? Jonah Goldberg investigates. All the Obama 20-Somethings: What happens when a bunch of 20-somethings are picked to work in the Obama White House, to live together and to (more or less) have their lives taped? From Swans, Michael Barker on Mother Jones and the defence of liberal elites; and Michael Doliner on the collected stupidities of Alexander Cockburn and Christopher Hitchens.
