Is Post-Partisanship Possible?
Author
Obama has revived his pledge to put aside "petty politics" and forge common ground with adversaries on health care. But amid today's hyper-polarized political climate, in which millions of Americans don't see him as a "legitimate" president, is that a promise he can keep?
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Monkeys, Babies, and “Awesome” Science
The Yale psychologist explains why she studies human infants and adult monkeys that are so smart, they’re named after James Bond characters. Watch
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One of the most intolerable hang-ups is wondering whether something will “work in the real world.” As Jason Fried explains, it’s a depressing place where everything is slow, difficult, and worrisome, so why live by it? Watch
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“Lancing the Boils of the Body Politic”
The New Yorker art editor recalls some of the magazine’s more infamous covers and argues that cartoons should be discussed, not suppressed. Watch
Featured Blogs
The Voice of Big Think
February 9, 2010 — 4:28 PM
The Face Behind The New Yorker's Cover
For artists and illustrators, the cover of The New Yorker is the most treasured piece of real estate in American magazine publishing. New Yorker covers have inspired laughter, sorrow (as with the famous "black on black" cover following 9/11), and once in a while, furious public debate (as with the "terrorist Obamas" cover shown at left). This week Big Think talks to Françoise Mouly, the magazine's art editor and the woman responsible for choosing these iconic images. Read more
Trend World
February 9, 2010 — 4:22 PM
A big part of the recent Super Bowl becoming the most-viewed telecast in American history was the story of the New Orleans Saints providing the ultimate celebratory rallying cry for a city that was mostly underwater less than five years ago. While there’s no denying the spiritual lift that sports teams provide for American cities in their troubled times, is it possible for that spiritual lift, coupled with a spike in revenue, to actually save a city? Read more
Novel Copy
February 9, 2010 — 3:16 PM
Jay Leno's primetime show will end quietly tomorrow night. A once-major newspaper editor in England joins the paywall debate. More journalists are being given cameras as the digital age continues to change news. Here is one such video report from Haiti about the medical evacuation crisis. Read more
Picture This
February 9, 2010 — 9:25 AM
Wouldn’t it be ironic if the origin of big, bad, brawny Jackson Pollock’s drip and splatter paintings were a wifely homemaker, mother, and grandmother from Brooklyn? And wouldn’t it be true? Gary Snyder Fine Art in New York City presents the work of Janet Sobel, whose early 1940s drip paintings inspired Pollock to explore the possibilities of that style and essentially found the Abstract Expressionist school. Rather than rise likewise into fame and fortune, Sobel moved with her husband and family to Plainfield, New Jersey, and enduring obscurity. Gary Snyder brings Sobel back to the big city and the big stage she deserves. Read more
The Voice of Big Think
February 9, 2010 — 12:27 AM
Who're You Calling a Dumb Ape?
The capuchin monkeys that Dr. Laurie Santos and her research team work with are "clever—sometimes more clever than we are." Not only do they sometimes get the better of humans, they also yield a font of insights into the evolutionary origins of human psychological phenomena—including, as the Yale psychologist explains in her Big Think interview, the loss aversion and greed that caused the global financial meltdown. Read more
Daily Ideafeed
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Doesn’t Exist
Existential Problem - Philosopher BHL has an “existence” rather than existential problem after he made an epic gaffe by quoting a made-up philosopher in his latest book.
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“Climate Service”
Climate Bailout? - American President Barack Obama has vowed to attempt a “global warming bailout” by setting up a new “Climate Service” to track global warming.
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Reunited
Tarnished Sheen - Lawyers for Brooke Mueller Sheen, the wife of Hollywood actor Charlie Sheen, have said she wants the domestic violence case against him dismissed after the pair were reunited.
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Tech Chronicles
Malicious Comments - A staggering 95% of user-generated content for the second half of last year was “malicious,” according to a report from security film Websense.
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Healthy Ale
Beer Bones - Beer drinkers are toasting a new study which suggests that beer is good for your bones as it is rich in silicon and may help prevent osteoporosis.
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Enceladus
Body of Water - There now seems “little doubt” that Saturn’s moon Enceladus holds a “large body of liquid water” beneath its icy surface after a probe returned yet more evidence.
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Belief
Moral Atheists - The non-religious know their right from wrong just as well as churchgoers, according to new research revealing a strong moral compass among atheists.
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Kimberly Reed
Prodigal Sons - Transsexual film-maker Kimberly Reed has wowed America with new movie “Prodigal Sons” which tells the tale of two young brothers and their battle with sexual identity.
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Congo
“Capital of Killing” - Congo has become the “world capital of rape, torture and mutilation” during the brutal war that has killed over 5.4m people and is still raging, writes The New York Times.
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Love Letters
Unfunny Valentine? - The Independent’s Liz Hoggard asks why heterosexual men refuse to emote on paper despite nearly 80 per cent of women desiring love letters.
