Writing Worth Reading
On central banker sacked for anti-Muslim views. "You can't cast away what the man embodies: the anger of a German people tired of being cursed at when they offer to help foreigners to integrate"
Psychologists propose to move childbearing to the apex of Maslow's pyramid of human needs. Evidence that the modern tendency to sanctify parenting has gone "just a bit too far"
Short, powerful comment on Florida Koran-burning stunt. "Elite media gatekeepers have abandoned their moral mandate to stigmatize uncivil discourse. Many outlets reward it"
Arab regimes have "an almost insatiable urge to control", but aren't very good at it. They work against society, not with it. Violence, autocracy, should be seen as symptoms of weakness
Fine case-study of the market in modern art. Damien Hirst bypassed dealers, sold new work directly at auction. Had a fantastic year in 2008, but since then his sales have collapsed
Online dating agency extracts data from customer profiles to identify distinctive tastes by race and sex. Amongst the bad news: Tom Clancy and Van Halen secure atop white male pantheon
Brisk, lethal takedown of Stephen Hawking's latest book on "grand design" of universe. Wrong about history. Wrong about philosophy. Probably wrong about science too. "This is physics by sound-bite"
The journey is towards death. The patient is Stefan Spies, a man of 27 wasting away with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. "Of course, I wish I could recover, but that does not appear to be a possibility"
Admired Hitler. Commando, war hero. Prisoner in Colditz. Saved Audrey Hepburn's life. Lover of Guy Burgess. Poet and novelist. Ran North Wales mussel-farming co-operative. Died at 97
Day two of this Cuban diary is even better than day one. We visit the dolphinarium with Castro, and meet Che Guevara's daughter. Who knew Goldberg was the new Bill Bryson?
An illustrated explanation of how cartoonists get their ideas. "All new cartoons are variations, extensions, or combinations of existing cartoons, with enough of a twist to count as different"
US Supreme Court decision allowing corporations to spend freely on political causes strengthens an "economy of corruption" in Congress. Extraordinary that court could think otherwise
Sated as you may be with reviews and accounts of the Blair memoir, make room for this one. It may be the best. Stothard, the TLS editor, is well-steeped in the subject, and a masterful reviewer
Writer gets invited to Havana, to discuss Iran with Castro. Three days of conversation ensue. Castro thinks Iran won't back down on nuclear. He has mellowed on America. And he likes dolphins
First half of prescriptive essay on American economy. Financial system has stabilised, but employment hasn't recovered. To exit from slump, "budget deficits are not only good, they are necessary"
Useful, sober overview of Russia-West relations. Recession has encouraged Russia to court West again, seeking investment. But if energy prices spike up, Russia could regain its old belligerency
Strong, high-concept essay about finding optimal balance in business between centralised controls and individual initiative. Financial crisis exemplifies danger of over-control by algorithms
True investigative journalism. Man goes from shop to shop with tape measure, measuring actual girth of various pairs of "36-inch" trousers. Results a nightmare for any fleshy male
Masterpiece. Voyage into the hinterland of the Greek financial fiasco. Treasury of wonderful anecdotes, horrifying oddball facts. And how a monastery's property dealing sparked the crisis
Political and economic history of seasonings and sauces from ancient times. "The fall of Rome led to a long decline in condiment use, followed by a dead cat bounce around 750 AD"
Long conversation between two conservative British intellectuals about pessimism, evolution, God, the human condition and related subjects. All over the place but interesting throughout
Short, pleasing note on precision with which different languages describe family members. English has one term for offspring of your parents' siblings: "cousin". Hebrew has four, Arabic eight
Overstatement may grab attention, but devalues the currency of language. "If a man who scores a goal is a hero, what term do we reserve to describe one who wins the Victoria Cross?"
Powerful review-essay of new scholarly books on Afghanistan. Lieven regrets they weren't there to be read by arriving Americans in 2001-2002, doomed in advance by ignorance of country and history
Economists should learn some modesty from historians, whose craft dates back to Herodotus, and who understand rather better the complexity of human society and the limits of social science
Comradeship is usually a good thing. Crowds are often fun. But in politics they are dangerous. They encourage simplicity and selfishness, override individual conscience. Crowd easily becomes mob
Ferocious attack on "honour killings" in Muslim culture. At least 5,000 women murdered each year, often by close relatives. Horrific catalogue of crimes given here. Sickening. Infuriating. Depressing
Intricate, demanding, penetrating essay on British socialism, seen through prism of Miliband family. Father Ralph was a Marxist theorist. Sons David and Ed compete for Labour Party leadership
Novelist tells of becoming a writer after jobs in gardening, plumbing, construction, retailing, lawyering. "I remember staring at the defendant and wishing I had a gun. And like that, a story was born"
Poignant walk through rusting wreck of Tata Raphael Stadium, where Mohamed Ali beat George Foreman in 1974. Ali's dressing room now home to an impoverished civil servant and his family
Amazing tale of stealthy, influential, American Christian religious network. Conspiracy theory come to life. Membership includes Congressmen, presidents, foreign heads of state.
Northern white rhino down to last eight animals. Lions may vanish by 2020. Governments have failed to protect. Can private initiatives—such as tourism, farming, charity—do any better?
America has history of overestimating adversaries. Soviet Union. Saddam Hussein. Al-Qaeda. Grossly over-reacted to 9/11. Lurched towards police state. Enough of this "war"
Usually a clumsy format, this "lunch with" works perfectly, captures flow of conversation from clever, funny novelist who doesn't take himself, or anything else, too seriously
Touching, wry tale of relationship between Marine corps chaplain in Afghanistan, and his atheist assistant. "He trusts God to keep him safe. And I'm here just in case that doesn't work out"
Described as the graffiti artist's first-ever interview. "I didn't see why you'd settle for just walls. So I started vandalising statues and that led to vandalising parks. It just kept going really"
Brilliant essay on contradictions of seeking happiness. "What we are lacking when we are unhappy is not always happiness, any more than what an alcoholic is lacking is a drink"
Interview with Alan Whicker, British broadcaster, veteran travel journalist, national treasure. Every sentence a gem. "Papa Doc was never vile to me". "I have hardly ever been shot"
It doesn't matter what Hawking, or any other scientist, says about God. Religion and science are fundamentally different pursuits. No enduring religion is built on testable facts or observations
Clear, plausible, sympathetic explanation of furore around suspended Harvard behaviourist Marc Hauser. He rigged his research, because he was in a hurry to validate his ideas
By far the best think-piece yet about the "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy. Understands, respects, incorporates and transcends the arguments against, to make the case in favour
Interviews with sole survivors of large and small catastrophes: an overturned boat, a plane crash, a gun battle. Odd subject, but compelling tales of suffering, toughness, luck, guilt
Under pressure from three sides, internet may fragment. Governments want national controls. Big tech companies build their own ecosystems. US service providers oppose open-access rules
Cyclists behave, get treated, as though they were pedestrians. They don't feel bound by traffic rules. Drivers don't respect them. They need to jump species barrier, behave as motorists
Reinsurance made fascinating. How to price global risk, including climate change. "What is the probability that Cologne's Old Town will be flooded a second time within the next year? Ten percent"
History of Saatchi & Saatchi. Founded 1970. Pioneered high-concept advertising. Bravura style. Built world's biggest agency, strongest brand. Over-reached by trying to buy Midland Bank
Female author tells how her publishers always want to package her books for female readers, regardless of content. If you want to write a serious novel for a general audience, it helps to be a man
Clever, funny, uplifting tribute to New Zealand doctor who pioneered modern research into premature childbirth. Did most of his work with sheep. Found, happily, it worked with humans too
Profile of Ryan Air boss, "shabby, crappy, cheap", and enjoyable as always. Passengers as cattle. "O'Leary will call you a cow, lick his chops, and explain how he plans to carve you up for dinner"
On Tony Blair's memoirs. "There have never been prime ministerial memoirs like this. It appears to be a book written in tune with all the most unpleasant and cynical marketing techniques of modern publishing"
Why do we bother? Does it make us happy? Should we stop? Why are boys valued more highly? Experts...
Sated as you may be with reviews and accounts of the Blair memoir, make room for this one. It may be the best. Stothard, the TLS editor, is well-steeped in the subject, and a masterful reviewer
True investigative journalism. Man goes from shop to shop with tape measure, measuring actual girth of various pairs of "36-inch" trousers. Results a nightmare for any fleshy male
Masterpiece. Voyage into the hinterland of the Greek financial fiasco. Treasury of wonderful anecdotes, horrifying oddball facts. And how a monastery's property dealing sparked the crisis
Ferocious attack on "honour killings" in Muslim culture. At least 5,000 women murdered each year, often by close relatives. Horrific catalogue of crimes given here. Sickening. Infuriating. Depressing
Paul Pillar, on football in America
As wars have become more unsatisfying to watch, more Americans have turned to watching football
What I like about Scribe is that you can see how surprising each word is. If Google can’t predict what you’re about to say, what you’re saying is truly novel
Philip Ball, on Stephen Hawking
The Cult of Hawking is the Cult of the Great Mind in the Useless Body. It is attributable to unspoken astonishment that a man with such severe bodily impairment can be intelligent. It speaks volumes about our persistent prejudices about disability
Howard Kurtz imagines the ideal headline
"Sarah Palin rips non-Muslim Obama over mosque while Lady Gaga remains silent"
A lot of people would say, "I would rather have a heart attack at the height of sexual passion." On the whole, I would prefer to be killed by a bookcase
It is not that our social bonds are precarious, but that the precariousness is the bond
Clever, funny, uplifting tribute to New Zealand doctor who pioneered modern research into premature childbirth. Did most of his work with sheep. Found, happily, it worked with humans too
Remarkably moving piece of writing. US officer pays tribute to brave young interpreter who joined Americans after al-Qaeda beheaded two of his classmates. Spoiler: it doesn't end happily
Short, powerful reflection on technology, from veteran computer scientist, complaining that individual cognition is being turned into a commodity that Facebook and others can manipulate, trade
Short, dense, useful essay on limits of neuroscientific tools in philosophical investigation of the mind. A brain in isolation is not a mind. A mind must interact with a social and physical environment
Interview with Russian cosmonauts about stresses of spending months together in space. "Irrational antagonism" inevitable. Can be externalised as anger, internalised as depression
Google Maps as battleground for international disputes over borders, sovereignty, place-names. Google runs 32 region-specific versions of Maps to comply with national laws around world
"We use the diaeresis in words like “coöperate” and “reëlect”; we prefer the serial comma; we spell out round numbers, even big ones. We do not make any interpretive changes"
Fry channels de Tocqueville, anatomises "the juicy mixture of beguiling paradoxes, ambiguities and contradictions that distinguishes all things American"
Once he smuggled tons of Colombian pot on sailboats. Then he blew his riches on hookers. Now he's a crackhead pensioner
