Newsletter 798

1 Oct 2012 • 2 min read

Best of the Moment

Eric Hobsbawm Obituary

Martin Kettle & Dorothy Wedderburn | Guardian | 1 October 2012

"Arguably Britain's most respected historian of any kind, recognised if not endorsed on the right as well as the left. Unlike some others, Hobsbawm achieved this wider recognition without in any major way revolting against Marxism" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/eric-hobsbawm-obituary)

Economics Of Video Games

Brad Plumer | Washington Post | 28 September 2012

Massive multiplayer online games have economies so big and complex that they need full-time economists to run them. Eve Online has eight. Valve has hired a top eurozone analyst to organise a monetary union across its various games Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/economics-video-games)

Morsi, Obama, And The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship

Fouad Ajami | Newsweek | 1 October 2012

On US-Muslim Brotherhood relations. Egypt is too big to fail. But its Islamist rulers know they must live in real world: Maintain peace, quietly, with Israel; work for practical, not purely religious, goals; get US/IMF money Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/morsi-obama-and-beginning-beautiful-friendship)

Hare-Brained: Kit Williams' 'Masquerade'

Paul Slade | Planet Slade | 28 September 2012

Do you remember "Masquerade" and its buried golden hare? Here's the full story of how a brilliant publisher and an eccentric artist set in motion a treasure hunt that sold a million books and captivated collectors around the world Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/hare-brained-kit-williams-masquerade)

Let's Start The Foodie Backlash

Steven Poole | Guardian | 27 September 2012

Rambling but enjoyable diatribe against foodism. "Western civilisation is eating itself stupid. We are living in the Age of Food. Food becomes not only spiritual nourishment but art, sex, ecology, history, fashion and ethics" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/lets-start-foodie-backlash)

The Ripple Effect

Joe Posnanski | Sports On Earth | 1 October 2012

On the last day of an astonishing Ryder Cup. As stirring a comeback as you'll see in sport. And a fine tribute to Seve Ballesteros, the late, great totem for the European team Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/ripple-effect)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)

FiveBooks Interview

(http://thebrowser.com/interviews/robin-lane-fox-on-religious-and-social-history-ancient-world)

The historian tells us how cultural and philosophical changes that occurred in late antiquity are essential to our understanding of the world today Read on (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/robin-lane-fox-on-religious-and-social-history-ancient-world)

Featured Special Report

(http://thebrowser.com/reports/popular-science)

Popular Science

Black holes, DIY bio-engineering, aliens and more. Interviews and articles from many of the biggest names in Science. No prior knowledge necessary Read on (http://thebrowser.com/reports/popular-science)

Reader Recommendations

@polit2k (http://twitter.com/polit2k) A Very Strange Way to Assess the Safety of Banks | Simon Johnsont.co/gIKF5peP via @BloombergView (http://twitter.com/BloombergView) #gfc2 (http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=#gfc2) #browsings (https://twitter.com/search?q=#browsings) More like this (http://thebrowser.com/browsings)

Book of the Day

Book of the Day (http://thebrowser.com/recommended/brilliant-orange-neurotic-genius-dutch-soccer-by-david-winner)

Brilliant Orange The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer by David Winner

Simon Kuper says (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/simon-kuper-on-best-football-books-english) : "When I finished this book, I just wanted to break into applause. It’s completely original. He interviews architects and rabbis about what makes Dutch football special." FiveBooks Archive (http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks/archive)