Newsletter 883

Best of the Moment

Death Of A Revolutionary

Gady Epstein | Economist | 21 December 2012

"On March 20th 1913 a man who represented one possible future for China stood in Shanghai railway station. He was in line to become China’s first democratically elected prime minister." Instead, he was shot. Democracy died with him Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/death-revolutionary)

The Tragic History Of Robert Bork’s Last Name

Stephen Carter | Bloomberg | 20 December 2012

He was the only living American whose name became a verb. OED says to "bork" is "to defame or vilify (a person) systematically, esp. in the mass media, usually with the aim of preventing his or her appointment to public office" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/tragic-history-robert-bork’s-last-name)

Crazy Far

Tim Folger | National Geographic | 17 December 2012

Will humans ever travel to the stars? What would it take? To get an idea of the challenge, it would take the fastest spacecraft ever built 17,000 years to reach the nearest star. But in 100 years' time things might look different Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/crazy-far)

End Of Byzantium

Helena Drysdale | Aeon | 20 December 2012

In which the author visits Bartholomew I, 270th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, spiritual leader of 300m orthodox Christians. Her great-grandfather visited the patriarch's predecessor in 1848. What has changed since then? Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/end-byzantium)

Nietzsche’s Typewriter And Medium Theory

David Berry | Stunlaw | 19 December 2012

Does technology determine prose style? Henry James switched from handwriting to dictation without any noticeable effect on his novels. But Nietzche's work shows a clear stylistic break between handwritten and typewritten books Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/nietzsche’s-typewriter-and-medium-theory)

Evan Goldstein | Chronicle Review | 17 December 2012

"Every era has its emblematic scoundrel: Once it was the cad, later it was the phony, today it is the asshole." But how exactly would you define an asshole? An academic linguist and a philosopher try to work it out Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/social-offender-our-times)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)

FiveBooks Interview

(http://thebrowser.com/interviews/randall-grahm-on-wine)

Randall Grahm on Wine

The Californian winemaker gives us a fabulously eclectic reading list for understanding and enjoying the world of wine
Read on (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/randall-grahm-on-wine)

Featured Special Report

(http://thebrowser.com/reports/after-aurora)

Guns in America

How does one make sense of the killings in Newtown and Aurora? And will Americans, will President Obama do anything to stop it happening again? Read on (http://thebrowser.com/reports/after-aurora)

Reader Recommendations

@henrylf The Thought Experiment That Proved Light Has A Speed Limit: @io9 on the de Sitter Effect #browsings t.co/abEmGSpG #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/against-gods-by-peter-l-bernstein)

Against the Gods by Peter L Bernstein

John Lanchester says (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/john-lanchester-on-understanding-high-finance) : “This book explores risk at every conceivable level. It’s the best high-level book on investing I can think of ” FiveBooks Archive (http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks/archive)

Video of the Day

Pastor Terry Jones, In Times Square

(http://thebrowser.com/videos/pastor-terry-jones-times-square)

Koran-burning Christian fundamentalist outflanked by Beatles fan More videos (http://thebrowser.com/videos)

Quote of the Day

Richard Thaler, on bargaining (https://twitter.com/r_thaler/status/281603662105698305)

"Never negotiate with someone who lacks the power to say yes"

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