Notes from the Far Side of a Pandemic
A series of thoughts and notes during this time of isolation…
The Wall by H.G. Adler
"The world felt as if it stood behind glass, and I myself felt as if I were made out of glass…
Rearview Mirrors
Science is about speculation, investigation and often about results that even in their
The Boomers (NOT)
I don't know about you, but I am tired of the clichés surrounding the boomer generation…
The Anti-Gladwell: a Small Change Indeed
I have always wondered why Malcolm Gladwell was such a successful writer…
Beijing and the Clash of History
China sits somewhere in between the pre-modern and the postmodern world, or perhaps it might be better to say…
Huffington on New(s) Journalism
A superb piece by Arianna Huffington on journalism on the Web with many references to…
New Video of Apollo 11
NASA has released newly restored video from the live television broadcast of the Apollo 11 moonwalk…
The Age of Six feet under (2)
In today's New York Times, Joan Didion describes her shock and grief at the sudden death of…
The Age of Six feet under (1)
The title of this blog entry is also the title of a new book that I am developing for the University of Chicago Press.
Learning From Pop Culture (1)
Steven Johnson's new book Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter popularizes an argument…
Learning From Pop Culture (2)
Chris makes the following point: "What strikes me about these debates is that…
Hypochondriac Culture (1)
What happens when the boundaries between the artificial and the natural break down?
Hypochondriac Culture (2)
Hypochondria is an insidious disease because it is a silent and often invisible part of the suffering of so many people
Hypochondriac Culture (4)
The reality is that people continue to eat as if their actions will produce no effect.
Hypochondriac Culture (6)
Imagine the following. There is a sudden change in your body temperature
The Value of Art
A recent study by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism persuasively argues not only for the value of the arts to the health of our society, but…