Augusten Burroughs: Lives I'd Love To Live
Author
Given the chance to inhabit other lives, the “Running With Scissors” author would pick those of other famous, suffering writers.
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The grieving process, says the Columbia psychiatrist, doesn't happen in defined stages; it's about breaking an “attachment system.” Watch
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Series
What Rights Should Children Have?
Only two countries, the United States and Somalia, have failed to sign the Convention on the Rights of the Child. To mark the 20th anniversary of the convention, Big Think and UNICEF asked educators, policy makers, and activists how far we've come in protecting children and what work remains to be done. Watch
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The classical musician explains Walt Whitman's begrudging encounter with Italian opera, and the indelible mark this meeting has had on the American song. Watch
Featured Blogs
Politeia
November 20, 2009 — 5:08 PM
For the first time, according to Gallup's latest tracking poll, less than fifty percent of Americans approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as President. That's down from 60% in July. As Greg Sargent says, this just confirms what Quinnipiac and Fox polls showed earlier in the week. And Obama's approval ratings have been hovering just over 50% for a while now. While there is nothing magic about the 50% threshold, it is a sign that the bloom is off Obama's political rose just ten months into his presidency. Read more
Mind Matters
November 20, 2009 — 12:42 PM
One More Reason to Skip Dessert
Creepiest incentive ever to exercise: Peruvian cops have arrested a gang that, they say, kills people for their fat. Read more
The Voice of Big Think
November 20, 2009 — 9:54 AM
"You Better Not Cry" author Augusten Burroughs treats fans to a second Big Think interview this week, just in time for the holiday season. Famous since his 2001 bestseller "Running With Scissors" as a memoirist of the humorous, painful, and bizarre, Burroughs shares his view of Christmas as an essentially tragic holiday with a tiny nougat of joy inside the bitter candy coating. Read more
The Voice of Big Think
November 20, 2009 — 9:45 AM
Are you an eligible prospective immigrant to the United States? Are you feeling lucky? If so, you have 10 more days to apply for the random selection process conducted annually by the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program—in other words, the "green card lottery." The entry window, which opened October 2, closes November 30, and your chances of winning are a sobering 1 in 240: 12 million will enter, 50,000 will win. Read more
Novel Copy
November 19, 2009 — 5:03 PM
The Guardian says it’s a bad idea for the the Times of London to build a paywall by next spring. Spectator Magazine (UK) only lost 3% of readers after putting its content behind a paywall, but realize they serve a more niche audience than general newspapers. Still, a survey by the Boston Consulting Group found that many are willing to pay for access to online news. Plus, the Literary Review 2009 bad-sex-in-fiction prize has chosen its nominees. You’ll be hard up to find more titillating entertainment (or not). Read more
Daily Ideafeed
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Three Held
Hijacked! - Three men have been charged by the feds for a 2008 stunt that replaced cable giant Comcast’s homepage with a message to other hackers – costing the company an over $128,000.
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Gay Day
Wedding Ban - A law banning gay marriage in Texas has effectively banned all marriage according to the Democratic attorney general candidate.
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Sun Sets
No Oprah - The sun will set on the Oprah Winfrey Show – on of America’s most popular TV shows – in September 2011 after two decades on the airwaves.
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Landscape
Distinct Extinct - New research has revealed how the extinction of mammoths and mastodons changed the landscape of the earth.
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Fitting?
Epileptic Dancer - A dancer with epilepsy has stopped taking her medication and is hoping to have a seizure on stage to raise awareness about “an invisible disability.”
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Murder
Cosmetic Use - A gang have been arrested on suspicion of killing people and selling their fat on the black market.
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Stem Cells
Curing Blindness - Permission to use embryonic stem cells has been requested by scientists developing a cure for blindness.
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Quidditch
Snitch Catching - Harvard is the latest US University to take up the fictional wizard-sport Quidditch which features in the Harry Potter books.
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Senator’s Girl
Under Influence - Senator John Kerry’s daughter was arrested yesterday in Las Angeles on suspicion of driving while under the influence.
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Afghan Detainees
Torture and Neglect? - Detainees transferred by Canadians to Afghan prisons are “likely to have been tortured by Afghan officials” a former senior Canadian diplomat has claimed.
