Newsletter 882

20 Dec 2012 • 2 min read

Best of the Moment

Rubble And Despair Of War Redefine Syria Jewel

CJ Chivers | NYT | 18 December 2012

"Aleppo is administered by no one and slipping into disaster. Diseases are spreading. Parks and courtyards are being defoliated for firewood. Trash is piled high beside bread lines where hundreds wait for a meagre supply of loaves" Comments (https://thebrowser.com/articles/rubble-and-despair-war-redefine-syria-jewel)

Inside The Picture

Bela Shayevich and Maria Kravtsova | n+1 | 19 December 2012

Marvellously illustrated conversation with Viktoria Lomasko, Russian cartoonist, illustrator, social activist, best known abroad for her courtroom drawings of the Pussy Riot trial. "An artist must draw to the tempo of what he sees" Comments (https://thebrowser.com/articles/inside-picture)

Restless Genes

David Dobbs | National Geographic | 17 December 2012

What gives us our urge to explore? To set out on huge, dangerous expeditions or merely to look around the corner. Exploration may be practical or acquisitive, but is it also innate? If so, how so? Comments (https://thebrowser.com/articles/restless-genes)

Next Of Kim

Victor Cha | Foreign Affairs | 18 December 2012

North Korea, one year after Kim Jong Un's succession. He was "young, inexperienced, unqualified, and bereft of any of the larger-than-life myths that had sustained his father's and grandfather's rules." But he seems to be thriving Comments (https://thebrowser.com/articles/next-kim)

Fatally Counterproductive National Identity

Marc Pitzke | Spiegel | 17 December 2012

German wonderment at American gun culture. And who can disagree? "After every shooting rampage, a chorus of voices reliably invoke the argument that the crime may have been prevented had only everyone been allowed to carry a weapon" Comments (https://thebrowser.com/articles/fatally-counterproductive-national-identity)

A Corpse On Everest: The Deadly Final Hours Of George Mallory

Giles Milton | Surviving History | 18 December 2012

George Mallory was last sighted on 8 June, 1924, when he and Andrew Irvine went missing while attempting to become the first men to reach the summit of Everest. What happened? Comments (https://thebrowser.com/articles/corpse-everest-deadly-final-hours-george-mallory)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)

FiveBooks Interview

(https://thebrowser.com/interviews/richard-baum-on-obstacles-political-reform-china)

Richard Baum on Obstacles to Political Reform in China

The late China specialist and UCLA professor said sometimes he felt genuine admiration for China’s technocratic leaders. Other days he shook his head at their obsessive intransigence and China's endemic political insecurity Read on (https://thebrowser.com/interviews/richard-baum-on-obstacles-political-reform-china)

Featured Special Report

(https://thebrowser.com/reports/syria-revolts)

Conflict in Syria

The Syrian conflict is causing terrible destruction and loss of life. This report charts how protests against the Assad regime descended into a bitter war Read on (https://thebrowser.com/reports/syria-revolts)

Reader Recommendations

@joespring (http://twitter.com/joespring) Great story by Bruce Barcott on hantavirus in Yosemite t.co/0X9my63b #longreads (http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=#longreads) #browsings (http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=#browsings) #Longform (http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=#Longform) @outsidemagazine (http://twitter.com/outsidemagazine)
More like this (http://thebrowser.com/browsings)

Book of the Day

Book of the Day (https://thebrowser.com/recommended/sceptical-feminist-by-janet-radcliffe-richards)

The Sceptical Feminist by Janet Radcliffe Richards

David Edmonds says (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/david-edmonds-on-ethical-problems) : “I love this book because it is incredibly rigorous, analytic and not at all sentimental or wishy washy. It is what it says on the cover”
FiveBooks Archive (http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks/archive)