Saturday, July 28, 2012

The Browser daily newsletter [28 July 2012]

28 July 2012

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Best of the Moment

More People Are Putting Off Parenthood. What Will That Mean For Their Kids?

Nona Willis Aronowitz | Washington Post | 6 July 2012

Thoughtful piece by a 27-year-old who sympathizes with her older parents' reasons for having kids late, but laments the reduced time she's had with them and the economics that drive these decisions Comments

Finance And The Good Society

Romesh Vaitilingam | Vox | 27 July 2012

Interview with economist Robert Shiller on why we should democratise, not condemn, finance. And how to make markets work for common good. "Finance is a technology that can, if it’s properly applied, help reduce inequality" Comments

The Castaway's Guide To Making A Home

Jacob Mikanowski | Awl | 26 July 2012

Delightful, geeky survey of the shelter Robinson Crusoe and other shipwreck victims, and explorers, have fashioned for themselves on deserted islands Comments

Sex Class Action

Dayna Tortorici | n+1 | 2 July 2012

A compelling and nuanced denunciation of the 2011 Supreme Court ruling that denied class action status to 1.5 million women suing Wal-Mart for sex discrimination Comments

Diplomat Of Shoah History

David Mikics | Tablet | 26 July 2012

"Bloodlands", Timothy Snyder's history of WW2 in eastern Europe, is a "magisterial" work. But in portraying eastern Europeans as victims of both Hitler and Stalin, does he neglect local support for the Holocaust? Comments

Exploring The Mind Of The Mountain Gorilla

Kimberly Gerson | Endless Forms Most Beautiful | 26 July 2012

"On July 17, 2012 several young mountain gorillas did an extraordinary thing: They dismantled a poacher’s snare." How did they learn to do this? And why did they choose to dismantle the trap, rather than just avoid it? Comments

FiveBooks Interview

David Runciman on London Olympic History

As the Olympics open, David Runciman looks back at the two previous times that the Games have been staged in London and finds that the thrift of today looks modest compared with austerities of the past

Featured Special Report

America On Drugs

Ritalin, Adderall, LSD, cocaine. Even bath salts. What is drug use doing to Americans?

Reader Recommendations

nuzav Terence Blacker: Who needs happiness? Not the Boss - Commentators - The Independen tt.co/WaWa3Rm4 via @Independent #Browsings

Book of the Day

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmund Rostand, Anthony Burgess (translator)

Ruth Harris says: “All the French love this play. It seems to display a distinctive French quality – panache – and has a sense of verve and wit that overcomes adversity”

Video of the Day

Dunkin Donuts Flavour Radio

Wouldn't it be easier just to change the name of the franchise? Or focus on donuts?

Quote of the Day

Kevin Gold, on science

"If the solar system’s structure were open for debate today, AI algorithms could successfully predict the planets’ motion without ever discovering Kepler’s laws"