From New Internationalist, a special issue on globalization. Slavoj Zizek on Joe Public v the volcano: We are living in an age when we are both able to change nature and more at its mercy than ever — as the Icelandic volcano has proved. From Electronic Book Review, Roderick Coover, Larry McCaffery, Lance Newman and Hikmet Loe explore the question of how desert ecologies are shaped through creative expression and actions; and through a close formal analysis of two new critical collections, Paul Benzon ponders the state of media studies as field. Conceding to our human weakness, we should pursue all that psychology has to offer in the understanding of the human condition; but, at the same time, we should be the last to blur the distinctiveness of the Christian gospel. Each year, half a million students visit Panama City Beach for a week of partying; there to meet them are Christian groups intent on talking about sin and salvation. From The Awl, Abe Sauer on Real America: Go on, move here then. A look at the 7 most disastrous typos of all time. Living architecture: A review of Design Energetics: The Ancient Pulse of Feng Shui in the Modern World by Michael Warden. Bill McKibben on why future prosperity means socializing with your neighbors. It’s time to add a new phrase to our vocabulary: “Pulling a Goldman”, which would describe any plan designed in advance to fail. Justin Taylor reviews Under the Dome by Stephen King. Time in the Age of Immediacy: Huffington Post, the Daily Beast, Gawker, Politico, these are our Newsweek, our Time, our Life — for better and worse. Queens of darkness: The deluge of books on the Tudors continues as publishers happily respond to an apparently insatiable market. The Reverse Katrina: If this disaster-filled week tells us anything, it’s that government works.
