Fugitives, Japanese Culture, Eugene O'Neill, Jon Ronson & Adam Curtis, Psychiatry, Andrew Sullivan
On The Run
Alice Goffman | Berfois | 29th January 2015
An anthropologist observes street life in Philadelphia. "Those who interact rarely with the police may assume that running away after a police stop is futile. Worse, it could lead to increased charges. While the second part is true, the first is not. I observed young men running away on 41 occasions. In 24 cases the man got away. In 17 of the 24 the police didn’t know who the man was and couldn’t bring charges against him" (3,340 words)
How Japan Became A Pop Culture Superpower
Peter Hoskin | Spectator | 29th January 2015
Almost every childhood craze of the past 30 years comes from Japan — Transformers, Power Rangers, Tamagotchi and Pokémon among them; perhaps because in Japan kids' stuff is for adults too. "One of the strangest things about the country’s culture, which only an anthropologist could explain, is how it ignores puberty ... Playtime doesn’t end when you get a job. That’s when you might have the cash to do it properly" (1,055 words)
I Want To Howl
John Lahr | London Review Of Books | 29th January 2015
Action-packed review of Eugene O’Neill: A Life in Four Acts, by Robert Dowling. Before he was 21 O'Neill had been thrown out of Princeton, fathered a son, divorced his first wife, joined the merchant navy, caught syphilis in South America, and attempted suicide in Greenwich Village. He went on to be a great playwright, a Nobel prize-winner, a mean drunk, a wife-beater, and very nearly a murderer (3,350 words)
Jon Ronson In Conversation With Adam Curtis
Adam Curtis & Jon Ronson | Vice | 15th January 2015
Interesting throughout. Curtis argues that journalism has lost its way, not because of the internet, but because power in the world has shifted away from politicians towards financial and managerial systems which are intrinsically boring and hard to understand. Instead of trying to explain these new realities, journalists "simplify the world into a black-and-white picture of terrible dangers that threaten their readers" (3,900 words)
Shrunk
Oliver Black | Lancet Psychiatry | 28th January 2015
The doctor refers you to a psychiatrist; the psychiatrist talks to you for a while, prescribes an antidepressant, proposes another meeting, and sends you a bill. There seems to be no requirement that psychotherapy should produce particular results — or, indeed, any results at all. The profession might as well exist mainly for the benefit of its practitioners. The average patient would derive more benefit from getting a cat (1,840 words)
A Note To My Readers
Andrew Sullivan | Daily Dish | 28th January 2015
Andrew Sullivan quits blogging after fifteen years. Future of Daily Dish uncertain. "I am saturated in digital life and I want to return to the actual world again. I want to read again, slowly, carefully. I want to absorb a difficult book and walk around in my own thoughts with it for a while. I want to have an idea and let it slowly take shape, rather than be instantly blogged. I want to write long essays. I want to write a book" (1,200 words)
Video of the day: The Bad Sleep Well
What to expect: Tony Zhou explains how Akira Kurosawa constructs a film scene geometrically (3'10")
Thought for the day
I have nothing against work, particularly when performed by someone else
Barbara Ehrenreich