Newsletter 848

20 Nov 2012 • 2 min read

Best of the Moment

In Conversation: Tina Brown

Michael Kinsley | New York | 18 November 2012

Big interview; fizzing and fun; mostly about media, with plenty of asides. Sympathy for Petraeus, a glorious denunciation of Savile and did Newsweek really once have 30 bureaus around the world? Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/conversation-tina-brown)

Showdown At The Fiscal Cliff

David Frum | Newsweek | 18 November 2012

"How menacing is the fiscal cliff? Opinions differ. But here’s a fact there’s no differing over: Republicans are a lot more frightened of the fiscal cliff than Democrats. That fact empowers President Obama" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/showdown-fiscal-cliff)

Deadhead

Nick Paumgarten | New Yorker | 19 November 2012

The Grateful Dead occupy a curious spot in the canon. Just one top 40 hit in 30 years and yet their music has turned out to be extremely resilient. So "who are the Grateful Dead," asks Paumgarten "and why do they keep following me?" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/deadhead)

Under The Knife

Terry Jones | NYT | 17 November 2012

Battlefield surgery during American Civil War. "The mistaken belief that amputations were routinely performed without anesthetics can be attributed to the fact that chloroform did not put patients into a deep unconscious state" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/under-knife)

Live From The Inside: A Radio Show Run By Psychiatric Patients

Amelia Rachel Hokule’a Borofsky | Atlantic | 14 November 2012

Current and former patients at El Borda National Psychiatric Hospital in Buenos Aires run Radio Colifata: "Radio Crazy Lady". Started as therapy, gained cult following outside the walls, now everybody in Argentina listens in Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/live-inside-radio-show-run-psychiatric-patients)

How One Construction Worker Deals With Injuries Without Insurance

Logan Sachon | Billfold | 16 November 2012

A tale of Band-aids, blisters, superglue and stoicism: "If nothing’s bothering me, I figure that’s good enough. There’s no limit to the amount of tests you could have run on your body. Sound like fun to you? You like tests?" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/how-one-construction-worker-deals-injuries-without-insurance)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)

FiveBooks Interview

(http://thebrowser.com/interviews/alice-bell-on-science-books-children)

Alice Bell on Science Books for Children

Children learn in many different ways and the best science books for young people reflect that, says the science writer. Her suggested reading takes in robots used to explain sex and a picture book about dinosaurs Read on (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/alice-bell-on-science-books-children)

Featured Special Report

(http://thebrowser.com/reports/petraeus-affair)

The Petraeus Affair

An affair with his biographer has cost the CIA director, David Petraeus, his job. Should it have done? Read on (http://thebrowser.com/reports/petraeus-affair)

Reader Recommendations

@polit2k (http://twitter.com/polit2k) MT @TimHarford (http://twitter.com/TimHarford) : In which "rogue economist" @jdportes (http://twitter.com/jdportes) discovers that politicians go for the man not the ball t.co/KnzXBaN8 #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/lolita-by-vladimir-nabokov)

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Steven Amsterdam says (https://thebrowser.com/interviews/steven-amsterdam-on-worry) : “Reading it we’re not all paedophiles, but we can understand what he’s feeling. It’s not a justification for what he is, but you can empathise totally” FiveBooks Archive (http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks/archive)