Newsletter 294
[2]The Chernobyl That Nobody Wants
Links:
2. http://b.rw/f2b1aL
Barys Piatrovich | Eurozine | 22 April 2011
Gripping account of first month after Chernobyl's nuclear disaster. 25 years
ago, uncertainty turned to anxiety and then panic as "virtually the whole of
the radioactive end of Mendeleev's periodic table fell on Belarus"
[3]Comments
Links:
3. http://thebrowser.com/articles/chernobyl-nobody-wants
[4]Gandhi's Inner Voice
Links:
4. http://b.rw/evioIo
Pankaj Mishra | New Yorker | 25 April 2011
Modern father of non-violent protest. Distrusted, disliked in his lifetime.
Faddish, mystical. Hostile to industrialisation. Reacted against Western
culture. Marginalised in recent decades, back in fashion with the Arab
awakening [5]Comments
Links:
5. http://thebrowser.com/articles/gandhis-inner-voice
[6]Uses And Abuses Of Happiness
Links:
6. http://b.rw/hwg0gG
Will Davies | Open Democracy | 22 April 2011
Ideas of national well-being and happiness have become a central feature of
British public policy. But the debate confuses four schools of thought:
Aristotelian philosophy, social statistics, behavioural psychology, and
self-help [7]Comments
Links:
7. http://thebrowser.com/articles/uses-and-abuses-happiness
[8]An Oral History Of The Playboy Clubs
Links:
8. http://b.rw/fJXSof
Bruce Handy | Vanity Fair | 23 April 2011
They were "as carefully planned, as routinized, as rigidly controlled as
anything Disney ever built". Hugh Hefner, Victor Lownes and various former
Bunnies tell the story. "The tips were wonderful. The Mafia guys tipped very
well" [9]Comments
Links:
9. http://thebrowser.com/articles/oral-history-playboy-clubs
[10]Science And Religion Don't Have To Be Enemies
Links:
10. http://b.rw/hPPDl3
Martin Rees | New Statesman | 23 April 2011
Leading UK scientist mounts eloquent and substantial defence of his decision
to accept Templeton Prize. Urges Darwinists to coexist peacefully with
religious groups: "Campaigning against religion can be socially
counterproductive" [11]Comments
Links:
11. http://thebrowser.com/articles/science-and-religion-dont-have-be-enemies
[12]Iranian Reaction To The Great Syrian Revolt
Links:
12. http://b.rw/e1Otaq
Babak Rahimi | Global Terrorism Analysis | 22 April 2011
Iran characterised Arab uprisings as anti-US "Islamic awakening", so their
spread to ally Syria presents a problem. Response: blame Israel, Al-Jazeera,
Lebanese Sunnis. Not convincing either, but there's much at stake for Iran
[13]Comments
Links:
13. http://thebrowser.com/articles/iranian-reaction-great-syrian-revolt
FiveBooks Interview
[14]John Thorn on Baseball
Links:
14. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/john-thorn-on-baseball
The Official Historian for Major League Baseball explains how America’s
national pastime has been culturally transformative, even radicalising, and
highlights the five best books about the game
Featured Topic
[15]Moral Philosophy
Links:
15. http://thebrowser.com/topics/moral-philosophy
Do babies have morals? Does surveillance make us better? Is free will an
illusion or not? Is there such a thing as evil? Get to grips with the big
questions of right and wrong
Reader Recommendations
_@chicoxperto_ Assistance to Timor-Leste: World Bankers bearing gifts –
[16]goo.gl/b7Ygu _#browsings _via _@polit2k_ | The Economist
Links:
16. http://goo.gl/b7Ygu
Book of the Day
[17]The Search for a Vanishing Beijing by M A Aldrich
Links:
17. http://thebrowser.com/recommended/search-vanishing-beijing-by-m-aldrich
[18]Evan Osnos says: “This is a quirky book, organised as a series of walks.
So you could start at the Drum Tower and walk south, passing the homes of
China’s great writers and the little house in which Mao lived as a young
library assistant”
Links:
18. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/evan-osnos-on-china
Video of the Day
[19]Jobless People Need New Computers
Links:
19. http://thebrowser.com/videos/jobless-people-need-new-computers
The Onion (of course). If only more television were less like this
Quote of the Day
[20]Hugh Raffles, on sex
Links:
20. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703597804576194850707440470.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion
"Reducing desire to its evolutionary effects doesn't tell us much about
the epic and often confounding behaviors that it generates"