Left to ourselves, mechanistic and autonomic, we hanker for friends… Maybe altruism is our most primitive attribute, out of reach, beyond our control.”
The Scientific Poetics of Affection: Lewis Thomas on Altruism and Why We Are Wired for Friendship
The demise of the Village Voice underscores the end of Greenwich Village bohemia — which invites a question about the beginning Cold Rivers
'Everyone's stripped down': Why ocean swimming is growing in popularity
Growing numbers of swimmers, including former prime minister Tony Abbott, are swapping the black line of the pool for the freedom of open water.
20 Things Patients Can Do to Stay Out of My ER– Op-(m)ed
As Jozef Imrich would say, they are the two magazine cheeks of the same backside. A night of true stories, documentary films, photography, and radio from some of our favorite writers, performers, and musicians. Unrecorded, live onstage.
- Pop-Up Magazine is a live magazine, created for a stage, a screen, and a live audience. Each evening is unique, but here are a few things to look forward to.
- Remarkable Storytellers – Some of the country’s most interesting writers, filmmakers, photographers, radio producers, and illustrators share new, true stories onstage.
- Stunning Visuals – Stories come to life on a giant screen filled with photographs, films, illustrations, and animations.
- A Live Score – Story soundtracks are composed and performed live onstage by Magik*Magik Orchestra.
- A Fascinating Audience – Curious, creative people come to see old friends and meet new ones
Dean Keith Simonton, The Genius Checklist: Nine Paradoxical Tips on How You! Can Become a Creative Genius, is a popularization of some of his earlier research on genius and creative achievement.PIn 1924, Paul Jordan-Smith founded a one-man art movement: Disumbrationism. It was an elaborate hoax — or was it?... Disumbrationism
This Exhilarating Video of a Rare “Triple Whale Breach” Is a Real Nice Break from Everything Mother Jones
Jad Abumrad – host, Radiolab & More Perfect: I’d venture a guess that most Americans (like us, before we started this project) can’t name more than one or two amendments to the Constitution, let alone remember that there are 27 of them. But these 27 “insertions” to our founding document outline our basic rights as Americans. Not only that, they show a country changing and evolving and re-imagining itself; striving (and not always succeeding) to be better. With that in mind, the team at More Perfect challenged ourselves to come up with a way to give these words the swagger they deserve. So we invited some of the best musicians in the world to create songs inspired by each of the 27 amendments; a kind of “Schoolhouse Rock!” for the 21st Century. These songs are a small way to say that these words matter. We’re calling it “27: The Most Perfect Album,” and I hope it ends up on some playlists, maybe in a classroom or two. Thanks to the National Constitution Center for partnering with us on the essays below. Most of all, we’re deeply indebted to all the musicians below that gave their time, talents, and energies to the project. Enjoy!…”
The Guardian: “…Shailagh Murray had spent two terms in the White House helping to lead the administration’s communications strategy and it appeared to have taken its toll. With Obama just a few months away from leaving office, journalists wanted exit interviews; they wanted to be first, biggest, loudest. She was sick of the egos, the same old questions. The letters, she said, served as a respite from all that, and she offered to show some to me. She chose a navy blue binder, pulled it off the shelf, and opened it, fanning through page after page of letters, some handwritten in cursive on personal letterheads, others block printed on notebook paper and decorated with stickers; there were business letters, emails, faxes and random photographs of families, soldiers and pets. “You know, it’s this dialogue he’s been having with the country that people aren’t even aware of,” she said, referring to Obama’s eight-year habit of corresponding with the American public. “Collectively, you get this kind of American tableau.” Obama had committed to reading 10 letters a day when he first took office, becoming the first president to put such a deliberate focus on constituent correspondence. Late each afternoon, around five o’clock, a selection would be sent up from the post room to the Oval Office. The “10 LADs”, as they came to be known – for “10 letters a day” – would circulate among senior staff and the stack would be added to the back of the briefing book the president took with him to the residence each night. He answered some by hand and wrote notes on others for the writing team to answer, and on some he scribbled “save”…Starting in 2010, all physical mail was scanned and preserved. From 2011, every word of every email factored into the creation of a daily word cloud, distributed around the White House so policy makers and staff members alike could get a glimpse of the issues and ideas constituents had on their minds…”
Chronic fatigue syndrome - the 'missing people' enigma
Thousands of Australians with chronic fatigue syndrome try to survive a disease with an uncertain cause and no known cure.