Culture & Religion

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the publication of ‘Montaillou’, a book in the French literary tradition that treats laziness with the gravity and intelligence it deserves.

Across Europe, right-wing populist parties are enjoying significant popular support. They are exploiting fear of Muslim immigration and frustration with the political establishment.

“David Simon, the creator TV hit ‘The Wire’, has it in writing from as unimpeachable a source as you could think of: he is a genius.” And he gets $500,000 for it.

“You spot them pretty quickly… Put 15 people in a room and the chances are that there will be two of them. Thirteen will make the effort. The other two will be bigots and proud of it.”

Columbia professor of philosophy Akeel Bilgrami asks why we read literature when it contains information more readily found in non-fiction journals. The answer is in the medium’s pathos.

“Now that twentysomethings cling on to adolescence and adults live in perpetual kidulthood, Susie Mesure finds sociologists need a new lexicology for adults.”

Is human nature selfless? The conclusion of many biologists that life is a series of fierce competitions for resources is put in doubt by the seemingly selfless behavior of many species.

“The case for natural wines has always been philosophic and aesthetic.” Slate’s Mike Steinberger says the word ‘natural’ is meaningless in the wine industry.

“Efforts to make education more ‘relevant’ to black people can be both patronising and harmful. The western literary canon should be taught to everyone.”

When fine fragrance perfumer Christophe Laudamiel, a recent Big Think guest, saw our video interview with filmmaker John Waters—in which Waters divulged his affection for a deadly work of contemporary […]

Big Think interviewed an array of luminaries in a variety of fields this week, including several world leaders and giants in the arts. Bolivian President Evo Morales, in New York […]

“It has been the defining style of our era, but now it’s in retreat. Intelligent Life’s Stephen Bayley works out whether less will soon be no more.”

“With her latest show of edgy work on view in Berlin, Yoko Ono proves she can still pack a punch.” Intelligent Life reviews the artist’s show, Das Gift.

“Brain imaging is not a very good way to test subtle distinctions [in the brain]…it’s like trying to find out something about New York City by studying New York State,” […]

“He’s been sly, sad, unwatchably private, two writers and a drag queen, and now he’s directing. Tom Shone traces the career of Philip Seymour Hoffman.”

“New case studies focus on rare illusory body perceptions that could answer questions about how we maintain a ‘self’.” Scientific American on how the mind invents the ‘I’.

“The main way in which honor matters for what I’m calling ‘moral revolution,’ which are big changes in moral life over a relatively short period, is by mobilizing people through […]

“Jonathan Franzen’s juvenile prose creates a world in which nothing important can happen.” The Atlantic’s B.R. Myers says contemporary language robs language of its import.

“Nick Cave’s most recent band has just released a second record strong enough to make ‘side project’ seem like an inaccurate description.” The New Yorker reviews the album and the man.

“Even within the seemingly homogeneous sphere of the university English department, a schism has opened up between literary scholarship and creative writing.”

How does the brain figure out what it doesn’t know? Scientists say introspection, the process of the brain cross-examining itself, requires more gray matter and more neural connections.

“Immersive theatre is billed as a thrilling and intimate alternative to traditional drama, but it smacks of triviality and low-level fascism.” Prospect magazine on the steadiest theater trend.

“Online video radically changes the reach and speed of the improvement cycle. Things like dance, snowboarding and TED talks keep getting better, and faster…”

“Gaga’s entire persona seems to question what’s expected of women.” ‘Lady’ with suggestions of gentility, sweetness…’Gaga’ with intimations of infantility, madness…

“Mr. Allen, who has made most of his recent films overseas where it’s easier for him to secure financing, says ‘You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger’ is a good title for the United States.”

“News that Ernest C. Withers, a photojournalist who documented the civil-rights movement, was also an F.B.I. informant has been met with mixed reactions from scholars.”

“It is little wonder that boxing, more than any other sport, has functioned as a metaphor for life. Aside from the possibilities for self-fulfillment, boxing can also contribute to our moral lives.”

You may hate contemporary art, but it hates you even more, says filmmaker and provocateur John Waters. The point of art is to “wreck whatever came before it,” he believes. […]

The mysterious Jonathan Franzen is unraveled in an imagined conversation between himself, Ernest Hemingway and Virginia Woolf. The author’s new book ‘Freedom’ is the talk of the town.

Spanning over 69 years, and taking him from vaudeville theater to feature films to Broadway to television series, Joel Grey has had a storied career as an actor and entertainer. […]