Topics
Identity
From the “Iliad” to “The Rabbit With the Droopy Ear”
Poet / Professor of English, University of Virginia
Rita Dove recalls her first poetic experience.
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Gay Talese on Dressing the Part
Gay Talese considered truth telling to be his work, and dressed accordingly. Watch
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Composer Tod Machover reflects upon a childhood filled with piano lessons and computer graphics. Watch
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When it comes to investment advice, should you ignore everyone and think for yourself? Watch
Related Blogs
Resurgence
February 25, 2010 — 10:32 AM
Racial Discrimination: The Reality Show
I used to picture my neighbors, my bosses, my drinking buddies, all faithfully keeping thoughts of racial conflict out of their minds the same way the pop-up zapper software on my computer blocked annoying ads. It was a nice thought, but it contradicted what my one of my cigar buddies revealed to me. "It’s not that I don’t think about your being black," he’d said. "I just don’t think about it all the time like you do." Read more
The Voice of Big Think
February 23, 2010 — 12:10 AM
Getting Grandpa Confused with Emily Brontë
Did an early mistake in Edward Hirsch's life lead him to forge a career in poetry? "When I was eight years old my grandfather died...After he died I went down to the basement of my family house...and there was an anthology without any names attached to it. I read a poem called 'Spellbound' [by Emily Brontë] and I somehow attached it to my grandfather’s death and I thought my grandfather had written it...I didn’t sit down then and start writing poems, but it was in the back of my mind." Read more
Latest Ideas
Getting Grandpa Confused with Emily Brontë
Did an early mistake in Edward Hirsch's life lead him to forge a career in poetry? "When I was eight years old my grandfather died...After he died I went down to the basement of my family house...and there was an anthology without any names attached to it. I read a poem called 'Spellbound' [by Emily Brontë] and I somehow attached it to my grandfather’s death and I thought my grandfather had written it...I didn’t sit down then and start writing poems, but it was in the back of my mind." Read More
February 23, 2010
The philosopher explains the “moral argument” for the existence of God and why it still holds some appeal for contemporary philosophers. Read More
February 3, 2010
Big Think Interview With Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
A conversation with the novelist and philosopher. Read More
February 3, 2010
Kupperman’s unusual height made him conspicuous to the point of discomfort. Read More
January 21, 2010
Like Napoleon, the great golfer let success go to his head. His tragic flaw was fearlessness. But Woods’ Waterloo need not be permanent, says Robert Greene. Read More
January 14, 2010
50 Cent, Fearlessness, and You
Can anyone learn to be fearless? Robert Greene (“The 50th Law”) considers a famously unflappable rap star and gives an emphatic answer. Read More
January 14, 2010
How to negotiate the age-old power dynamics of romance, from flirtation through the “stable phase” of a relationship. Read More
January 14, 2010
Power, Strategy, and the Workplace
Even during the recession, employees don't have to be at the mercy of managers. Read More
January 14, 2010
Power-mad leaders keep recurring throughout history. Defeating them is never easy—fortunately, they often defeat themselves. Read More
January 14, 2010
Power Moves, in Writing and Life
Does Robert Greene practice the power and seduction strategies he preaches? Read More
January 14, 2010
Daily Ideafeed
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Mary Glasspool
First Lesbian Bishop -
The first ever openly gay female bishop has achieved the first hurdle in her bid for consecration, after winning a majority of “yes” votes by America’s Anglican church.
March 19, 2010
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Middle Aged
Old At 35 -
Academics have decided that you stop being young at 35 – a recent milestone for The Telegraph’s Harry de Quetteville. Better fetch the pipe and slippers!
March 18, 2010
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Don’t Ask Me
Weakened Warriors? -
A gay US Marine has written a tongue-in-cheek editorial in the New Yorker asserting that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on homosexuality makes him a better soldier.
March 18, 2010
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Tweeting Plagues
Twitter Passover -
Rabbi Oren Hayon feels the Passover story—a tale of enslaved Israelites, pestilence and plagues— needs perking up, so he has recruited a band of rabbis to act it out on Twitter.
March 17, 2010
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Touch Colonization
Bacterial Fingerprint -
The “bacterial communities” that live on human skin are now thought to form colonies on inanimate objects regularly touched by human hands, such as your computer keyboard.
March 16, 2010
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Britain and America
Divided Commonality -
Britain and America, “two nations, divided by a common language,” have reached an ideological parting of the ways despite symmetry of politics, writes The Washington Post.
March 16, 2010
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“No Hoax”
Lost Shakespeare -
After 10 years of literary detective work, new evidence has come to light of a lost play by William Shakespeare, called Cardenio, which had masqueraded as an 18th-century work.
March 16, 2010
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Seinfeld
Unfunny Comeback -
Even Jerry Seinfeld’s former writing partner Larry David has failed to see the funny side of his recent television comeback, appearing to echo critics who have branded the show “pointless.”
March 15, 2010
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Old News
Tracking Jihad Jane -
America was stunned yesterday by the revelations that a suburban Pennsylvania woman, aka "Jihad Jane," was trying to join militant jihadists. But for net "vigilantes" it was old news.
March 12, 2010
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Male Escort
Call-Boy’s Confession -
Rusty McMann is the alias of a real male escort living in Las Vegas who has written his version of “Confessions of a Call Girl” to cast further light on his profession.
March 12, 2010
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100 Years On
Gender Gap -
A century after International Women’s Day was founded to promote gender equality a stark gender gap still exists in the workplace in countries across the world.
March 11, 2010
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Power Challenge
Loosening Pelosi -
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s grip on power appears to be loosening as in recent weeks she has faced a series of subtle but significant challenges to her authority, Politico reports.
March 10, 2010
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Best Leader Oscar
Recip Erdogan Wins -
Global Post’s Michael Goldfarb awards the Oscar for best world leader to…Turkey’s Recip Erdogan, who he says is the most outstanding democratic leader in the world today.
March 10, 2010
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Affection
Bush Nostalgia? -
“I told you so,” writes The Washington Post’s Stanley Fish, who predicted back that within a year of leaving office George W. Bush would be regarded with affection and nostalgia.
March 9, 2010
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Congress
Expletive Shower -
Rahm Emanuel has been branded the “son of the devil’s spawn” by Republican Eric Mass, who also said, “He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote."
March 9, 2010
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Giotto
Enlightening -
Ultra-violet rays have been used by restoration experts in Florence, Italy to shine new light on the work of Giotto di Bondone, one of the West’s most important painters.
March 9, 2010
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Identity Mix-Up
“Not Gadahn” -
Pakistani security agents have denied that an American al Qaeda promulgator with a $1 million US bounty on his head has been arrested, saying there has been an ID mix-up.
March 8, 2010
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Tim Burton
Underland -
Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ uses all his best tricks: visual splendor, darkness and Jonny Depp. But The Salon asks if the famed director has fallen down a rabbit hole.
March 5, 2010
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Farce or Justice
Trying Situation -
Can the trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic in The Hague, which resumed this week after he boycotted for four months, be prevented from descending into a farce?
March 4, 2010
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Brown Committee
Defensive Assignment? -
Senator Scott Brown’s committee assignments include joining the Armed Services, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs; a posting which tilts too far toward defense for some.
March 4, 2010
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Ruining Children
Sleep and Esteem -
You can ruin your child by inflating their self esteem and giving themtoo little sleep, according to the The Washington Post’s George F. Will, so do them a favor and pipe down.
March 4, 2010
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Kapuściński
Story Teller or Liar? -
People who think that journalist Ryszard Kapuściński was a liar are missing the point, writes one Guardian blogger, who says there is no sharp frontier between literature and reporting.
March 3, 2010
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Female Eunuch
Castrating Greer? -
Four decades after the publication of Germaine Greer’s seminal feminist work “The Female Eunuch,” it has provoked an astonishing attack by a fellow Australian writer Louis Nowra.
March 3, 2010
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Palin-Leno
You and Me -
It’s the perfect pairing, writes Salon: Sarah Palin and Jay Leno, who share a common foe in David Letterman, teamed up to deliver a blow to his ratings on Tuesday night.
March 3, 2010
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Hollywood Rough
Underestimating Clint -
Being underestimated was not a misfortune for Clint Eastwood, who used it to his advantage to forge an astonishing career which is still going, writes the New Yorker.
March 3, 2010