The Obama administration is finally getting serious about closing Guantanamo. The main obstacle to closing the military prison has always been that it wasn’t clear where to put the approximately […]
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When I muse about the sort of Americans who might one day write in to share first-hand insights on this Global Pedestrian blog of mine, I tend to think of […]
A crucial round of climate change talks are underway in Spain, with a singular message shared widely among United Nations delegates: get ready to deliver big in Copenhagen.
Let’s Hope Not, But It Could Be, Indirectly
Irish singer, composer and painter, Gavin Friday stopped by the studio today. Among many topics, he spoke about growing up in Ireland, his work, his friendship with U2’s lead singer, […]
If you want to see some key symptoms of unconvincing journalism about social science, look no further than this New York Times piece on the effect of unemployment on families. […]
As one of my professors used to joke, any field with the word “science” in its name is probably not a science. If you have to explain that what you’re […]
Francis Collins and J. Craig Venter are the scientists whose names will always be associated with mapping of the human genome — after racing to complete the job, the two […]
Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa, looked homeward last Tuesday and gave this bleak assessment of us: “Most Americans view Africa, I think, as a […]
Why It’s OK to Talk About White Prejudice Rather Than Prejudice in General
Thirty years after Iranian extremists stormed the U.S. embassy and held 52 Americans hostage in Iran it is well worth asking: Isn’t it high time we serious consider reconstituting some […]
Valerie Steele, fashion historian and chief curator of The Museum at FIT came in this afternoon for an interview. She looked stylish in her black Isabel Toledo suit. (The museum […]
With all the focus on the big decisions ahead in Afghanistan, I found myself bracing for a sucker punch and wondering what, say, North Korea might be up to. Doing […]
Grammy-award winning singer Carole King has been raising her voice on the radio lately—not in song, this time, but in a plea for the Rocky Mountains. King hails from the […]
Technology and media bloggers have been quick to declare the death of print, both in newspaper and book format. The bold new future will come to us through e-readers like […]
Now that the Obama administration has characterized Fox News as a political opponent rather than a disinterested news outlet, people are debating the political fallout as well as the veracity […]
Looking back at immigration in the past, we keep wondering what would´ve happened if our ancestors wouldn´t have been welcomed in their new lands.
“Obama’s War,” the smart Frontline episode about Afghanistan and Pakistan, includes a disquieting exchange between a U.S. Marine and two tribal elders in a remote Afghan village. Since this Global […]
If Obama wins this battle, he’d be up there with F.D.R. and L.B.J. in terms of solidifying the 21st century American welfare state, says Brown economics professor Glenn Loury.
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Steven Pinker’s attack on Malcolm Gladwell in the New York Times Book Review was more lucid and entertaining than it was intellectually honest. Pinker’s take-away claim is that Gladwell’s work […]
Intuition always tells us that we need to look closer at things that baffle us. Steve Coll’s Senate testimony last Thursday is a reminder that sometimes we need to step […]
Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV may be overtaking Robert Parker as the country’s most recognizable – and polarizing – wine expert. This weekend, watch him on BigThink.com giving a […]
Big Think had the pleasure of sitting down with Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D. this morning. Dr. Jamison is, first and foremost, Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School […]
Maybe it’s because I’ve been so baffled by Afghanistan or because I’m allergic to the hyperbolic use of “never” and “always” and “nothing.” Whatever the cause, I cringed when I […]
As I wrote yesterday, momentum continues to build in Washington for a health-care reform that includes a provision for a government-sponsored program which would compete with private insurance companies. Greg […]
Is about the most useless phrase we’ve ever uttered.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would want you to know that what you are about to read here is “international left-wing libel” against him and his country. So take this […]
A group of Scottish scientists are beginning one of the biggest computer backup projects in history: they’re creating an “accurate to within 3mm” 3D model of Mount Rushmore, so it […]
In 2005, The New York Times revealed that under a presidential order signed in 2002, the National Security Agency (NSA) had been monitoring the phone calls, e-mails, and internet traffic […]