November 2011
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Josh Mohr Interview
At Bomblog, Evan Karp interviews Josh Mohr. They discuss Damascus (Rumpus Reviewed here), and Mohr elaborates on his fourth and current project, a second-person comedy. “I was trying to do something that I’d never seen, and whenever you do that,…
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On Civil Society
“It’s as though the great New York-centric moment of openness after 9/11, when we were ready to reexamine our basic assumptions and look each other in the eye, has returned, and this time it’s not confined to New York City,…
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An Egypt/Arab Spring Roundup
Start with Juan Cole, who specializes in this area. He has a good list of links to Arab news sources and gives a well-rounded look at what’s happening right now in Egypt. Short version–the revolution is ongoing and the military…
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Leonardo da Vinci’s To Do List
“‘It is useful,’ Leonardo wrote, to ‘constantly observe, note, and consider.’ But when you are Leonardo, what sorts of things are buzzing around in your head? Well, Toby Lester describes what is essentially a ‘To Do’ list buried in one…
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Driving the Drive We Drive Five Times a Week
Bruce Machart’s Men in the Making tells sad, poignant stories in impeccable prose.
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Neuroscience vs. The Novel
“All fiction has at its heart the enigma of character. Its most basic pleasures involve analyzing how human beings act, speculating as to what motivates their actions, and, ultimately, judging those actions. What happens if science largely co-opts the first…
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Dan Weiss’s Morning Coffee
We all need some Jewish kids books, now and then. Here are a bunch of pictures of deadly snakes. yes. It’s a real dinosaur-eat-bird world out there. Pedestrian walkway roller coaster. You build the shit out of those boats, 1970s…
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Harsh Rejections
“Prescience is no hard science, but hindsight can be a kick in the shins nonetheless, especially for the editors who sent these rejection letters to writers who would later become the bestselling, influential giants of their day—and ours.” The Atlantic…