From Nthposition, a look at why nonsense sharpens the intellect. The origins of morality do not matter: Mothers will makes sacrifices for their children, whether they believe in God, karma, or a mindless evolutionary process. From Guernica, an interview with Ted Conover, author of The Routes of Man: How Roads Are Changing the World and the Way We Live Today; and an interview with Alice Walker on the similarities between Tibet and Palestine, womanism versus feminism, and Carl Jung. So you want to be a futurist? Better be ready to do a lot of reading. A review of Bomb Power: The Modern Presidency and the National Security State by Gary Wills (and more at Bookforum). From The Curator, an essay on Posthumanism: A Christian Response. Demasculinisation and other side effects: The chemical environment is a vast, unchecked experiment on human health. A review of Music and the Irish Literary Imagination by Harry White. An interview with Harry Kreisler, host of "Conversations with History". An excerpt from A Sweet and Bitter Providence: Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God by John Piper. These days, it seems, everyone has a habit that he can't control; for millions, this habit is overeating — never have so many human mastodons bestridden the earth as now. An interview with James Purnell on books on power and ideas. A review of Connected: The Amazing Power of Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler. An interview with Barry Marshall, the doctor who drank infectious broth, gave himself an ulcer, and solved a medical mystery. A review of In the Land of Believers by Gina Welch (and more). The "vicious" new tween obsession: What is the online trash-talk phenomenon, Formspring.me — and why are attention-hungry kids seeking out its anonymous insults?
