Newsletter 805

Best of the Moment

The Dead Are Real

Larissa MacFarquhar | New Yorker | 8 October 2012

Profile of Hilary Mantel. Interesting throughout, both on her life and on the nature of historical fiction. "The past, in fiction, has more prestige than the future, but the prestige declines with its distance from the present" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/dead-are-real)

A Master Of Improv, Writing Twitter’s Script

Nick Bilton | NYT | 7 October 2012

"Stand up, say what company you’re from, and what animal you could be if you could be any animal” is how Dick Costolo begins a speech at Cannes. He used to be a professional comedian. Now he's running Twitter. It's all improv Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/master-improv-writing-twitter’s-script)

Why Handwriting Matters

Philip Hensher | Observer | 7 October 2012

"We are at a moment when handwriting seems to be about to vanish from our lives altogether. At some point in recent years, it has stopped being a necessary and inevitable intermediary between people." We shouldn't let it go Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/why-handwriting-matters)

Who Destroyed The Economy? The Case Against The Baby Boomers

Jim Tankersley | Atlantic | 5 October 2012

What happened to the sacred bargain that every generation should pass a better country on to its children than the one it inherited? Should we blame the Baby Boomers? And how different are their children shaping up to be? Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/who-destroyed-economy-case-against-baby-boomers)

Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Disruption?

Jonathan Marks | Inside Higher Ed | 5 October 2012

"If students can take political philosophy with Harvard’s Michael Sandel for free, why will they pay to take it with me?" Politics professor Jonathan Marks takes an online course to see if he's about to be put out of business Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/whos-afraid-big-bad-disruption)

Secret Golfing Life Of Barack Obama

Don Van Natta | ESPN | 3 October 2012

On golfing presidents. Democrats used to say that Eisenhower invented the 36-hole workweek. Johnson played only to twist arms of his partners. Harding drank and gambled as he went round. For Obama, it's a game best kept under wraps Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/secret-golfing-life-barack-obama)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)

FiveBooks Interview

(http://thebrowser.com/interviews/renata-salecl-on-modern-misery)

Renata Salecl on Modern Misery

The Slovenian philosophy professor decries the tyranny of choice and says we now expect long life, a beautiful body, sexual and job satisfaction. But the idea that we can perfect ourselves dooms us to failure and misery Read on (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/renata-salecl-on-modern-misery)

(http://thebrowser.com/reports/death-penalty)

The Death Penalty

To kill or not to kill? Read on (http://thebrowser.com/reports/death-penalty)

Reader Recommendations

@henrylf Warning: Genetically Modified Humans. Interesting read on designer babies t.co/1SJcED9R #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/f-word-by-jesse-sheidlower-and-lewis-black)

The F-Word  by Jesse Sheidlower

Jonathon Green says (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/jonathon-green-on-slang) : “Everybody should look at this and see how lexicography should be done. It’s not a grubby book, or a meretricious book, it’s an amazing piece of scholarship” FiveBooks Archive (http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks/archive)

Quote of the Day

Mary Beard, on matriarchy (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/03/end-of-men-hanna-rosin-review?newsfeed=true)

"The myth of matriarchy is one of patriarchy's oldest inventions"

More quotes (http://thebrowser.com/quotations)