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Articles of Note
“Pick me as a mate,” says the peacock. “I must be fit guy, since I can carry this wild, colorful tail around with me and still survive”... more»
George W. Bush’s nostrils always ran ahead of his mind, twitching like a bull in a rodeo or a frisking wild horse, hinting at danger to come... more»
In meritocracy – or so it seemed fifty years ago – we would look up to the best of us. It turns out now, however, that we look up to celebrities. A big difference... more»
John Milton, boring? Paradise Lost has a little bit of something for everybody. Hot sex! Hellfire! Some damned good poetry, too... more»
Who’d want to make a movie that looked like a Thomas Kinkade painting? Thomas Kinkade, obviously. But who could possibly sit through it?... more»
“I’ve seen too many peoples dismissed as not ready for self-government,” says Condoleezza Rice. Latin Americans, Asians, Africans – even black Americans... more»
At a time when Chinese financial power is so strong, the U.S. government is – alas! – in no mood to hear about the murder of Falun Gong members... more»
Distorting art market perceptions. The auction houses use one price for their presale estimates then inflate the actual sale results with their own premium... more»
Greenland has rich deposits of oil, zinc, and diamonds. But will independence from Denmark do anything about its suicide rate?... more»
The N-word is flourishing among young hip-hop Latinos. Should we care? Raquel Cepeda asks the question... more»
An early rival to win the prize for a way to find longitude at sea was a chap from Yorkshire named Jeremy Thacker. Now it seems both he and his ideas were a hoax... more»
Eat local? Cold storage for that local fruit may produce more carbon dioxide than shipping New Zealand apples to your market... more»
Malcolm Gladwell, one critic fears, “has come to his own tipping point, or – to be fuddy-duddy – fork in the road. This way, guru. That way, serious writer”... more»
Pairing writer with subject is an art, says NYRB editor Robert Silvers. Like the late Barbara Epstein, he feels an “intense admiration for wonderful writers”... more»
A spur-of-the-moment decision to buy a wolf cub changed Mark Rowlands’s life. From that moment, human company never quite matched up... more»
Avoiding clichés isn’t rocket science. At the end of the day, it’s a matter of just being your own fairly unique self. And not saying things you shouldn’t of... more»
John Leonard, critic with a vast range and a wondrous way with metaphors, is dead at the age of 69... AP ... Chronicle Review ... NY Observer ... Wash Post ... Kansas City Star ... NYT ... Slate ... Boston Globe
Michael Crichton, who delighted lovers of his fiction and enraged environmentalists, is dead at the age of 66... NYT ... AP ... Reason ... Wash Post ... James Fallows ... LAT ... NY Observer ... London Times ... NYT ... Bloomberg ... USAToday ... Wired ... Info Week ... Weekly Standard ... Crichton on Green religion
“Poverty and disadvantage are a better preparation for success than wealth and capitalizing on advantage.” Malcolm Gladwell wonders... more»
No matter the money or effort you lavish on your body, regardless of pampering or cholesterol monitoring, it has no future. Your genes know this... more»
The human moral sense is neither the one nor the other: it is, Jonathan Haidt can show, both biologically evolved and culturally sensitive... more»
“I want to make damn sure there’s a tape recorder running for my last words.” No fake deathbed conversions for Richard Dawkins... more»
Studs Terkel, “guerilla journalist” who turned the voices of ordinary Americans into a font of history, is dead at the age of 96... Chic Tribune ... Sun-Times ... LAT ... NYT ... Edward Rothstein
A cache of the earliest ever classical music recordings, made in Russia by music lover Julius Block in the 1890s, have now come to light... more»
Love and hate: the same brain circuitry is used in both extreme emotions – except that hate retains at least a semblance of rationality... more»
Martin Luther sparked the Reformation in Wittenberg 500 years ago. While the city still uses Luther to attract tourists, only 10% of its people are Protestant... more»
Do tales of witchcraft and wizardry, Harry Potter novels, for instance, have a negative effect on children? Richard Dawkins wants to know... more»
At last, for a mere $100,000, you can clone your dog or cat, and own it – or a genetic Xerox of it – for the rest of your life... more»
Ever since he could speak, Brandon, now 8, has insisted that he was meant to be a girl. So his parents decided to go with his wishes. An easy case? Not exactly... more»
Pollsters take a lot of abuse, but polls are valid guides to the citizenry: not just in politics, but in life circumstances, priorities, hopes and fears... more»
From Amazon.com directly to into your hippocampus. You won’t have to read War and Peace, you’ll just download it into your brain. Something like that... more»
Catholic culture wars. As T.S. Eliot well knew, tradition can’t be blindly inherited, but has to be recovered for every age, at the cost of great labor... more»
Over 900 died in the most infamous mass suicide in American history. Letters now throw light on one Los Angeles family’s Jonestown story... more»
Odd entries hang their wikiexistence on “scholarly” notes to Dr. Who and Star Trek – TV shows Wikipedia folk dignify as the “canon”... more»
Darwin might not have loved botox, but he would have understood why women in particular are keen to smoothe those wrinkles... more»
Many scholars think media manipulate the masses, turning ordinary people into emotional mobs. They never see themselves in the mob... more»
Well, Excuuuuuse Meee! Most murders begin with a trivial insult. Then there are political campaigns. Emily Yoffe explains... more»
Trust and responsibility. With their mass readership drifting away, newspapers must focus on the “leadership audience”... more»
Life without my noisy boy. “You can’t tell just by looking at us. There isn’t even a name for parents who have lost children”... more»
Glenn Loury’s mother first explained to him how someone could be “black,” though they looked “white.” Race identity involved personal choice... more»
Beneath the picturesque German landscape lie thousands of unexploded bombs, each more and more unstable with every passing day... more»
The Dickinson sisters’ neighbor was quite shocked: “I went in there one day, and in the drawing room I found Emily reclining in the arms of a man”... more»
Gordon Gekko no more lived on Wall Street than you live on Main Street. To work through the current mess, we need precise names and precise addresses too... more»
Prodigies like Picasso may start with a clear idea of what they want and then execute it. Late bloomers like Cézanne grow into their art as into life... more»
David Levine, whose brilliant caricatures have charmed readers of the New York Review of Books for 44 years, is going blind... more»
Is the electorate stupid? No, just human, and thus predictably irrational. Of course, that in itself may be bad enough... more»
Biodiversity. Life is more varied in the warm climes near the equator. Making sense of that has confounded biologists for 200 years... more»
Does religion make people nicer? Only if they think Big Brother in the Sky is watching. Ronald Bailey explains... more»
French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio has won the Nobel Prize for Literature... more» ... more» ... more» If the Nobel Committee lived in an alternative universe... more»
“This is the most important election in American history.” Yeah, they say that for every election that comes along... more»
Bernard-Henri Lévy and his friend Michel Houellebecq have had enough: “France has vomited on us for too long”... more»
In 1947, a Bedouin herder tossed a stone in a cave on the Dead Sea, and heard the shattering of pottery. This led him to some dark parchment fragments... more»
The 9/11 Truthers have found some new friends, as the Russian government warms to their psychotic conspiracy fantasies... more»
“Classical music audiences are going gray and will soon die.” Yeah, sure. And when was it not so?... more» ... more»
What has long been known to all who pay attention is now official: the Nobel lit prize committee doesn’t have a clue... more» ... more» ... more»
The idea of a pristine Amazon jungle, untouched by humans, is a myth, a creation of the Western imagination... more»
Why does loneliness feel cold and sin feel dirty? Our inner emotional states touch deep metaphors that stretch across cultures... more»
Yes, men are hopeless on dates, and tend to say the most idiotic things. On the other hand, women can be stupid too. Why not try a little humor?... more»
We’ve been around for two million years, says Stephen Hawking. To last another million years, we will have to boldly go where no one has gone before... more»
Nietzsche knew best. Morality comes not from society, not from pure reason. It is innate. To know it, we need experimental philosophy... more»
Iliad and Odyssey: Homer’s tales of pride and rage, massacre and homecoming, have insinutated themselves in our minds and culture... more»
It’s the office China’s writers and artists dread and hate most: the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department. Ha Jin explains... more»
When you were a kid, were automobile headlights eyes for you? Was that chrome grill a set of teeth? You were not alone... more»
Where do old clothes end up? They may not be worth much at the Salvation Army, but they are big business in Haiti... more»
A scorched-earth policy toward museums and monuments of historic and artistic value is the Russian way in the attack on Georgia... more»
Rupert Murdoch is utterly without charm. He does not do introspection. He’s right there before you: what you see is what you get... more»
Do you hate those wretched, sweet floral perfumes? Try a dab of “Wet pavement” or “In the library” behind the ear... more»
Philosophy is not for everyone, says Kelly Jolley. “It’s aristocratic in the sense that any selection based on talent is aristocratic”... more»
Group cohesion may be one reason for the global reach of story telling. Another is that fiction is a proving ground for vital social skills... more»
Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, with its statistics, anecdotes, and horror stories, still makes a compelling case... more»
If there’s anyone unaffected by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, it’s the Lehman family. They’ve moved on... more» ... more»
Piano recitals in the 19th century often resembled The Ed Sullivan Show more than the serious, hushed concerts of today... more»
Democracy on the wane? In country after country, democratic reforms are in retreat. Blame the middle class... more»
The book business as we know it will not live happily ever after. Even this era of decline may one day look like the last great golden age... more»
Creationism should be taught in science classes as a legitimate point of view, says the Royal Society of Great Britain... more» ... update ... Reiss resigns
The more women and men have equal rights and similar jobs, the more their Mars and Venus personalities seem to diverge... more»
First move for a con man: tell your victim a story that reveals your similar anxieties, and forge a “mutual understanding”... more»
David Foster Wallace, writer of dark, manic irony, has committed suicide... NYT ... NYT appraisal ... WP ... LAT
From Casanova’s first orgasm to Bob Hope’s last jokes, history is a series of landmarks, both inspiring and absurd... more»
A Tiger’s Tale. In Texas, where you can own a pet tiger, the booming exotic animal trade has grim consequences... more»
There’s a 1/1000 chance that you, your family, and the whole human race will die. So where’s the precautionary principle when you really need it?... more»
Ben Franklin liked to present himself as a small-town boy bewildered in the big city. This urbane, highly intelligent man was anything but... more»
South Bend, Indiana is an unlikely place for a thriving Russian community with a high percentage of piano virtuosos, but history has strange twists... more»
Jimmy Slyde was not just a tap dancer: his slides were an expressive idiom for him to tease the beat, to delay and then catch up... more» ... video
Beyond boozy comradeship felt toward strangers in bars, and a few moments of euphoria, what’s to be said for being a sports fan?... more»
They don’t read Paul Theroux in English departments. “I’m too rude about people,” he says. We do live in a sensitive age... more»
Behavioral economics is not just a gizmo added to traditional economics; it is a big departure that will deliver a new way of seeing the world... more»
After a full day at the office, Franz Kafka had dinner and got to writing about 11:00 PM. And what if he’d had more time?... more»
Why are kids so unimaginative? Yes, that was the question Teresa Belton asked. For an answer look at TV and daydreaming... more»
Otto Preminger, hearing a group of fellow émigrés speaking Hungarian, said, “Don’t you people know you’re in Hollywood? Speak German.” He had a point... more»
Ossetian hero: Victor Kaloyev murdered the air controller he felt had killed his wife and children. Now out of prison, he finds new fields for revenge... more»
International terrorism, for now, is but a puny apocalypse. But at any moment, with the right weapon, it could go from nothing to everything... more»
In the 1949 Revolution, a few Americans went to China to help build the Maoist dream. Sixty years later, one of them is still there... more»
Is there a performance drug that could actually increase the fairness of sports contests? Yes, there is. Carl Elliott on beta blockers... more»
The Cuban judge sat with his feet up on the desk reading a comic book. The sentence for opposing the Revolution: thirty years... more»
The mini-cow is the solution to rising food prices. No taller than a German shepherd, it gives 16 pints of milk a day. Plus, it mows the lawn... more»
Hans Monderman loved cars. But he wondered if mature automobile societies could, in essence, act like adults. He was the Traffic Guru... more»
Save the Males: feminism today has neutered men and deprived them of their noble, protective role in society, says Kathleen Parker... more»
“She’s imaginative, clever, educated,” says Karl Lagerfeld, who has used Carla Bruni as a model. “She knows how to behave”... more»
Human brains evolved to be belief engines: we want to explain everything, including our deepest mystical experiences... more»
Con men call it, “taking off the touch” – the point in the con when they take the mark’s money. But he had such an honest face... more»
In the long history of the cinema, how many movies, let alone violent boxing movies, can have been based on a poem? Yet one was, a 1949 RKO release... more»
The Chinese discovered America, says Gavin Menzies. Now he claims that they also sparked the Renaissance... more»
How unpredictable is the Kremlin? For Walter Laqueur, leaders of Russia have tended to be more predictable than the White House... more»
Russia looks like a crocodile to Georgia, but Georgia looks to Russia like the cats’ paw of the West... more» ... Putin makes his move ... brew for a blowup ... Black Sea watershed ... Shaakashvili speaks ... stand up to Russia ... power politics ... Vladimir Bonaparte ... blame the victim ... Russia heading for a fall ... grudge match ... back to the 19th century ... Yukos, now Georgia ... the Great Game ... hard landing for Russia ... Putinism wins ... perils to come ... resurgent bear ... Russian resentment ... Georgia’s problem ... wanna-be superpower ... Putin warmonger ... ominous doctrine ... not Hitler or Stalin ... historic turning point ... Russia does not want war ... back to ’68
There was huge drop in semicolon use from the 18th through the 19th centuries, from 68.1 per 1000 words to 17.7. And that’s just the start of the trouble... more»
Dr. Malthus, thou shouldst be living at this hour, with the birth rate in Britain at all-time lows. It’s the real population problem... more»
Major world powers are unlikely to take any significant steps against Robert Mugabe because Zimbabwe exports neither oil nor international terrorism... more»
A Truman for our times. President Bush has successfully rolled back jihadism, and placed the U.S. to benefit from Asian growth... more»
No one yet knows how to disarm bacteria enough to allow the human body to naturally and consistently defend against them. And we still have superbugs... more»
Size matters, when it comes to IQ. The bigger your brain, the better. But most important is that certain areas of the brain be larger... more»
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose books told the horrors of the Soviet gulag system, is dead at 89 ... UPI ... Globe & Mail ... Chicago Tribune ... Philly Inquirer ... FrontPage ... Rutland Herald ... last interview ... LAT ... American Spectator ... Wash Times ... Irish Times ... neighbors speak ... Telegraph ... AP ... AFP ... London Times ... Irish Times ... BBC ... Guardian ... NYT ... Der Spiegel ... 1978 Harvard speech ... Putin & Gorbachev ... old Buckley column ... Daily Mail ... Guardian ... Moscow Times ... Open Democracy ... Time ... Nat’l Post ... Slate ... Ottawa Citizen ... Boston Globe ... Nat’l Post ... Forbes ... BBC ... Heritage.org ... Christian Post ... German papers ... New Statesman ... Economist ... Wall Street Journal ... Khrushcev’s daughter ... ever the optimist
Coddled from infancy and raised to be academic stars, China’s only children buckle under pressure of their parents’ deferred dreams... more»
Blue sky thinking, pushing the envelope: office-speak is just so brainless. Going forward, Lucy Kellaway dialogues... more»
Who framed George Lakoff? This noted linguist’s foray into Democratic politics has been, well, a little bit exciting... more»
Kay Ryan, America’s new poet laureate, is a miniaturist. Her poems, like pearls, take shape “around an aggravation”... more»
Literary critics often use “voice” to mean “style.” But real writers have real voices too, and they have been recorded... more»
Frédéric Bourdin had invented scores of identities, in five languages, and he played them to the hilt. But his favorite was the abused child... more»
Like every force of nature, lightning gives and takes away. It exudes nitrogen for plants. It is also deadly: it chars, explodes, sears... more»
Visiting Harvard to teach is like visiting Disney World. The magic dust induces a light narcosis. The mind goes incontinent... more» ... more» ... more»
So globalization, by making nations richer, will make them democratic? Not if we enrich entrenched, anti-democratic powers... more»
Quiet! Sleeping Brain at Work. The brain can get a lot done, and leave you a little smarter, when it sleeps... more»
The lower types, Nietzsche dared to think, wallow in pity as swine do in mud, their pity for others just pity for themselves. But what of real compassion?... more»
What is art criticism today? It’s sure not Harold Rosenberg or Clement Greenberg. Some might call this progress. James Panero calls it a shame... more»
Obama needs time to think, McCain needs time to think, and so do you. But how can you find the time, or make the time?... more»
Brideshead Revisited is a misfit of a book, loved in the wrong way, as the vomitous stupidity of Miramax’s new film version shows... more»
Last year, 194 people killed themselves on the tracks of mass transit systems in the U.K. It’s a theatrical way to die... more»
At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Herbert Hoover had his aides pick up every stray bit of paper left on tables or thrown out. Smart move... more»
Even Arts & Letters Daily readers have been known to bluff about classic books they’ve not really read. What’s your shameful secret?... more»
Writing in Paris just six months before his death, Walter Benjamin produced for Max Horkheimer in New York a report on the literary situation in France... more»
The Chevrolet Volt is a new kind of electric hybrid GM wants in showrooms in late 2010. It is a gigantic risk for the company... more»
How many of us are aware that when we look into a mirror we see an image on the mirror surface that is exactly half life size?... more»
When the U.S. pioneered universal access to high school, the whole economy benefited. Today it needs the same for college... more»
Who would guess that Lord Keynes was “deeply moved” by Friedrich Hayek’s Road to Serfdom, and called it “a grand book”?... more»
Just what his ideological enemies might wish for: Christopher Hitchens has been tortured in a waterboarding session... more»
The New Yorker was “one of the greatest money pits in magazine history.” Then it got a new editor, David Remnick... more»
What about southern Iraq’s important archeological sites – the ones that had been looted? Well, the looting was an urban myth... more»
Persia’s Cyrus II was a great defender of human rights. Just like the late Shah, who gave proof of the wisdom of both men to the United Nations... more»
Obsessive stalker, an impotent husband, lover of young boys: to some, the creator of Peter Pan was an evil genius. But to others... more»
John McWhorter’s artistic pantheon has room for Brahms, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, and Billy Strayhorn. As for Rap... more»
Monkeys may not care about money, but they are mad about marshmallows. And to them, marshmallows can begin to look a lot like money... more»
Beijing: flat, sprawling, smoggy, jammed with traffic, and nearly all new. A kind of People’s Republic of Houston... more»
“All poets’ wives have rotten lives.” The words of Delmore Schwartz were not directly about Elizabeth Hardwick, and she might not have agreed. Still... more»
Is fan fiction legal? Fans are nervous. A copyright owner’s rights extend explicitly to derivative works based on the original... more»
Homosexual behavior is common in nature, and it plays an important role in survival. Consider Roy and Silo, Central Park’s gay penguins... more»
Move over, Noam. A new survey of the world’s top intellectuals shows they are mostly Muslims you never heard of... more» ... more»
Shoppers at farmers markets have ten times as many conversations with other people as those at supermarkets. And as for the food... more»
The routes of humans from Africa to the Americas over millennia can be mapped as if they were moving over superhighways... more»
Paleolithic cave art shows no sun, moon, or plant life, and hardly a human being. It is rather about magnificent animals... more»
The downside of natural disasters is so sad and so obvious. Yet, like losing wars, disasters can have an upside... more»
“Mother Russia,” or “Mother India.” Men may leave, fight, be compromised, but women represent purity, continuity, home – and babies...