Guest Thinkers

Ever since scientists in Germany announced last year the ability to create a small-scale cloak of invisibility for a 3D object the size of a human hair, there has been […]

The tag line of Picture This is “Looking at art leads to thinking about life.” That idea has never been truer than during the week ahead of us.

So I’m in Seattle at the meeting of the American Political Science Association. The APSA meeting has to be one of the diverse and tolerant academic associations in the world.  […]

When I hand my one-year-old son something to eat, he spends a short time looking at it and a long time looking at me: Is this good? Is it tasty? […]

Robin Chin Roemer, assistant librarian at American University, has launched a new blog focused on library resources related to communication and the media.  Given the strong focus among AU communication […]

Lessons from Sherlock Holmes fans: a new installment of the series is now available at Scientific American, here. I will not be posting any more series updates on this blog, but you […]

Texas Governor Rick Perry’s August 6th prayer rally, The Response: A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis, has already garnered criticism for being a Christians-only affair that blurred […]

For its central and seemingly endless role in the history of the Western world, Rome more than earns the nickname of “Eternal City.” For centuries that history has sparked the […]

Now here’s a backhanded way to normalize a mayor covering up his deputy’s arrest for domestic violence: “Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s management style has its hallmarks: unwavering loyalty to aides […]

The School of Communication at American University has added two nationally recognized scholars studying Internet governance, technology, and politics.  Professors DeNardis and Freelon (bios below) will be teaching in our […]

That’s the question posed by one of the lectures in the recently announced Capital Science Series sponsored by the Carnegie Institution for Science of Washington, DC.  Details on this particular […]

Quick new post, but if you’re hankering for another live feed, check out the Nautilus Live feed – with the option to watch a split screen of all sorts of […]

Hurricane Irene is going down in the ‘top 10’ record books as more costly than anticipated only a week ago. It is hurricane season. Not exactly a surprise that a […]

The U.S. government can borrow money right now at essentially no cost. But for political and ideological reasons the government is leaving what is essentially free money on the table. […]

James Wood is probably the best literary critic working today. If he wrote a review of the phone book, I would read it. This week, though, I find myself disagreeing […]

The importance of teaching children self-discipline and the educational power of fun – are also unusually well-supported by science.

Rick Field left a successful career in television to become a pickle entrepreneur. Seven years later, his Rick’s Picks are carving out a mini cultural niche of their own in the American culinary landscape.

Does a wandering mind make you less happy than a present mind? This question formed the basis of an important study by psychologists from Harvard University. The answer, I wasn’t surprised to find, is yes. Absolutely.  

If families who make $250,000 a year are not considered to be rich, then how the hell can a teacher who makes less than $60,000 a year to educate our […]

Mexico’s Popocatépetl always gets people’s attention – this is thanks to its proximity to Mexico City. Whenever you juxtapose an active volcano with one of the world’s most populous cities, […]

Far too many people are walking around with their heads immersed in their tiny mobile devices, or communicating affectionately with their tiny smart phones while out in public with perfectly […]

The Social Security program, Rick Petty reiterated the other day, is “a Ponzi scheme for these young people.” The notion that Social Security pensions will be available for today’s younger […]

Carl Scott is probably the blogworld’s leading expert on the content of rock music (both words and music).  He calls that content, once in a while, its ideological dimension. Carl both is […]

I’m hungry. I head to the fridge—but first, I shake my head and say mournfully to myself, there’s nothing to eat. I’m not looking forward to the process of choosing […]

Amanda Marcotte, Matt Yglesias, and Atrios are debating the concept of “guilty pleasures” in pop culture. Here’s my theory of what guilty pleasures are. For people my age, taste is […]

On September 18, Jane Goodall will be hosting a town meeting on international peace at American University in Washington, D.C.  Details are below from a web story at the School […]

The use of social networks has became increasingly complicated over time. In the beginning, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter were all basically closed networks of early adopters and therefore filters were […]

The few items I’ve seen in the last couple of days about a possible national refinance stimulus plan look an awful lot like the other trial balloons the Obama Administration […]

I originally had this information in today’s first post, but it likely deserves it’s own post, so here it is. Eruptions reader Martin pointed out an new report (Indonesian) from […]

The start of the semester always surprises me. No matter how much I think I might be prepared for it, the first day of class ends up being a maelstrom. […]