Saturday 17 October 2015

I Think We're Screwed.



Mars with Guitars


Against Wunderkinds



How late bloomers are leading a revolt against the cult of the literary prodigy.


Good Ole Boy, Johnny Cash



Hard times. No more naked women. Playboy Interview of Johnny Cash.

What Happens when Sherlock Holmes Retires?



When the world's greatest detective decides to keep bees.


The Paranoid, Supremacist Roots of the Stabbing Intifada



Knife attacks on Jews in Jerusalem and elsewhere are not based on Palestinian frustration over settlements, but on something deeper.

The Places We Read



On solitude and the reading habits of writers.


Utopias, Past and Present



Why Thomas More remains astonishingly radical.

Friday 16 October 2015

In Search of the Literary South



Beginning next Tuesday.

The Unemployed Life of a Professional Writer



Just down the road.

The History of a Taboo



The story of how pigs became the world’s most divisive meal.

Welcome to a New Planet



The earth is reaching its tipping point.

Saving Mesopotamia



This expedition took place in the beginning of the ISIS  destruction of Palmyra,  and the beheading of it's chief archaeologist.

Gershwin and Bernstein




Glorious.

The ‘Holy Grail of Western Americana’



Like in Wagon Days.

Does Justin Trudeau have the Experience to Lead a G7 Nation?



And why would that stop a deranged entitled population from electing him?

Thursday 15 October 2015

Why Twitter’s Dying



And What You Can Learn From It.

Stendhal Syndrome



Everyone becomes afflicted in Florence. Whole chapter in Between the Cartwheels.

Personal Hero



The Very Great Alexander von Humboldt.

Elderly People Look At Their Younger Reflections



Beautiful Photo Series By Tom Hussey.

Suspended Animation




How a 500-year experiment to revive dormant microbes could reveal the secrets to cheating time.

Playing Defense Against the Drones



We’ve managed to create armies of flying robots. Can we control them?

Customer Service



As it really is.

The Difference between Christopher Columbus and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi



ISIS doesn't have dogs.

Cult of the cosmic



How space travel became the unofficial religion of the USSR.

The World Beyond Your Head



On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction.

How Reading Joseph Conrad has Changed with the Times




Many different aspects of his work have been revealed.

The Drone Papers



A glimpse into Obama’s drone wars.

Wednesday 14 October 2015

Why Is Physics Beautiful?



The answer likely lies within us

An Isolated Tribe Is Emerging From Peru’s Amazonian Wilderness



Like Tictac and Papa Smurf in Stout Men.

Ecotourism May Negatively Affect Animals



Ask Walter Palmer.

California is Toast



Why Even a Powerful El Niño Won’t Fix the Drought.

Running for President Isn’t Brain Surgery



But better a neurosurgeon than an unskilled 'community organizer.'

Jupiter Is the Best Planet



Not counting Earth.

History is Literature



It's a form of Narrative Non-fiction. That's my baby.

The American Dream Died a Long Time Ago



We release fish downstream for work, the bankers and lawyers catch them upstream for fun.

Tu Youyou



How Mao’s challenge to malaria pioneer led to Nobel prize.

Monday 12 October 2015

John Clare's Heirs



The Enduring Reach of a Rural Poet.

Where's Your Rich Uncle When You Need Him?


Always dreamt of this place.

Wheeze a'comin.



Two weeks away.

Sun Don’t Shine on the Same Dog’s Tail Every Day



But you’d probably never be able to tell online.

Columbus Day



Before it became the New World, the Western Hemisphere was vastly more populous and sophisticated than has been thought.

The New York Times gets Putin/Obama all wrong, again




The best question about American Middle East disasters actually comes from Putin.

By Dynamite or Design



ISIS’s greatest achievement: the destruction of mankind’s heritage.


A Single Thread Wrapped Around Thousands of Nails



Kumi Yamashita uses a single, unbroken thread wrapped around thousands of nails to create stunning portraits.