I am one of the millions of Americans who have had trouble getting health care. After I left grad school I tried to get coverage with Anthem Blue Cross. A […]
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Before there were abstract concepts, and probably before there were numbers, there were stories. She did this; it made him do that; then I heard her say this. According to […]
This week Big Think is pleased to welcome the newest member of our blogging team: acclaimed investigative journalist and photographer Lindsay Beyerstein. Lindsay’s BT blog, Focal Point, will be a […]
Randy Kennedy’s “The Free-Appropriation Writer,” in today’s New York Times Week in Review, considers the ever-sensitive spectrum of borrowing (said another way, flattery; said another way, plagiarism) that has historically […]
Bad news for sporadic dust-busters: our dust bunnies may be killing us softly. It’s not what they say about our abysmal standards for household cleanliness, it’s what they’re doing to […]
A former British prime Minister, James Callaghan once warned that sudden crises have the knack of coming out of the blue, from places and incidents that are often small and […]
On Tuesday, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that the financial crisis that triggered our current recession was “by far the greatest financial crisis, globally, ever.” That’s right, even […]
It’s an organic cultural progression that has mostly gone overlooked. Whether it’s the respectful bow in Asia, the formal cheek kiss in Europe or the casual fist bump in North […]
Though the earthquake in Chile was 500 times stronger than Haiti’s, many fewer deaths are expected, but how can this be the case?
Looking for the upside of depression, The New York Times Magazine approaches the “disease” from the point of view of evolutionary biology.
Consumer activist Ralph Nader says that lax federal regulation of an ever-more complex auto industry is partly to blame for Toyota’s present crisis.
Warren Buffet says that it’s high time CEOs of financial institutions assume their own salary is at stake when they make investment decisions for their companies.
Weighing their impact on climate change, scientists say that whale populations in the ocean should be preserved as a carbon sink just like forests on dry land.
American Banks rejected the advice of their British counterparts to reduce high-level bonus payouts at secret talks held between the parties in London last year.
Humanities education in America is facing a crisis at the highest levels, writes The New Republic, as job prospects dwindle and graduate researchers multiply.
Tens of thousands gathered in Rome on Saturday to protest Prime Minister Berlusconi’s alleged corruption while a case against him and his tax lawyer has adjourned.
Jason Epstein writes that the publishing transition from print to digital is inevitable, and a powerful yet fragile process that can expand literacy and knowledge.
The Middle East’s poorest country, Yemen, already spends a third of its families’ income on fresh water, which is predicted to become too expensive to consume by 2017.
Who are these people in the media who tell us what is important — who decide what the narrative is for the rest of our national tribe? Do they really […]
Hold onto your pink slips – Van Jones is back. It was announced this week that President Obama’s former green jobs czar (who left the White House almost as soon […]
The BBC, Britain’s State broadcaster, finds itself under attack on a broad number of fronts. Over the weekend, it emerged that the Corporation is to make cuts even before it […]
So, let’s say you’ve achieved 80’s rock stardom, complete with the bar tours, a beer commercial, historically singular hair cuts, and even an album called “Smoking in the Fields”—where does […]
After the New York Times broke a story about Paterson’s possible intervention in a domestic abuse case on behalf of one of his aides, the governor of New York has suspended his election campaign.
Rather than eggs, which can sometimes be in short supply, researchers have found that tobacco plants can be used to incubate diseases before they are killed and turned into vaccines.
After losing his voice to cancer, new software is allowing Roger Ebert to “speak” through a computer by taking sounds of his own voice from his DVD commentary on ‘Casablanca’ and ‘Citizen Kane’.
A major earthquake north of Concepcion, Chile has disrupted communication and electricity infrastructure though President Bachelet says emergency response is proceeding as planned.
Though correlation doesn’t imply causation, prudish liberal atheists generally have slightly higher IQs than their lustful conservative theist brethren.
The mortgage finance company Fannie May is asking the government for another $15.3 billion to keep it afloat after reporting a loss for its tenth consecutive quarter.
An iceberg the size of Luxembourg which has broken away from Antarctica was caused by a collision with another iceberg rather than being a result of global warming.
The U.N. will establish a panel of scientists to review its own Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change amidst growing public scrutiny of the body after it released an inaccurate report on glacial melting.