Newsletter 826

29 Oct 2012 • 2 min read

Best of the Moment

Proust Wasn’t A Neuroscientist. Neither Was Jonah Lehrer

Boris Kachka | New York | 28 October 2012

Ouch. "Neuroscience, evolutionary biology, behavioral economics are fashionable because of their newness. In these fields, in which shiny new insights so rarely pan out, every populariser must be, almost by definition, a huckster" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/proust-wasn’t-neuroscientist-neither-was-jonah-lehrer)

Skyfall's Leaner, Meaner James Bond

Simon Schama | Newsweek | 29 October 2012

On 50 years of Bond, and what it says about Britain. Placebo for disappearing empire, fantasy of manly British style, exploration of British impotence. In "Skyfall", it's "Freud rather than Blofeld lurking in the dystopian darkness" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/skyfalls-leaner-meaner-james-bond)

Gaza: A Way Out?

Nicholas Pelham | NYRB | 26 October 2012

Economy grew 27% last year thanks to smuggling through the tunnels and to a "geyser of aid money" from Turkey, Saudi, Gulf states going into construction. Hamas dials down the radicalism, invests in hotels, reaches out to Egypt Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/gaza-way-out)

There Is No Nobel Prize In Economics

Yasha Levine | Exiled | 12 October 2012

You knew that, of course. You knew it was endowed by the Swedish central bank, "in memory of Alfred Nobel", in 1969. Since when it has played a invaluable part in accrediting neoclassical economics as mainstream economics Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/there-no-nobel-prize-economics)

The Mass Media Has Lost Its Perspective

David Hockney | FT | 26 October 2012

Discursive short essay on images as products of technology. For example: "The smallness of new video cameras makes it possible to pack several together, generating different lines of vision and creating a new kind of cubist camera" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/mass-media-has-lost-its-perspective)

Light Entertainment

Andrew O'Hagan | LRB | 27 October 2012

On Jimmy Savile, sexual abuse, and the BBC's institutional culture. "Why is British light entertainment so often based on the sexualisation of people too young to cope? And why is it that we have a press so keen to feed off it?" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/light-entertainment)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)

FiveBooks Interview

(http://thebrowser.com/interviews/jonathan-keates-on-great-letter-writers)

Jonathan Keates on Great Letter Writers

Queen Victoria was anything but Victorian and Lord Byron was more vulnerable than we think, says writer Jonathan Keates – who considers emails a poor substitute for a hand-written correspondence
Read on (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/jonathan-keates-on-great-letter-writers)

Featured Special Report

(http://thebrowser.com/reports/crime-thriller-writing)

Crime & Thriller Writing

Leading writers discuss their genre and select their top five essential reads, plus selected articles on the murky world of thrillers and whodunnits Read on (http://thebrowser.com/reports/crime-thriller-writing)

Reader Recommendations

@polit2k (http://twitter.com/polit2k) RT @timharford (http://twitter.com/timharford) : Living wage: Is there such a thing as a free pay rise? t.co/jFd0Oi3Q #browsings (https://twitter.com/search?q=#browsings) @StephanieBBC (http://twitter.com/StephanieBBC) More like this (http://thebrowser.com/browsings)

Book of the Day

Book of the Day (http://thebrowser.com/recommended/fire-prairie-by-gary-rivlin)

Fire on the Prairie by Gary Rivlin

Andrew Gelman says (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/andrew-gelman-on-how-americans-vote) : “It’s a fascinating book because it’s not only about the election [of Chicago’s first black mayor] but also about the political manoeuvrings” FiveBooks Archive (http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks/archive)