So let’s be clear: satellite radio is MUCH MUCH better than regular radio. If you drive as part of your job you should get satellite radio immediately. That said something you probably didn’t know is that satellite radio has a … Continue reading
I’ll be giving a keyonte at Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s first annual Asian Studies Undergraduate Research Conference, title “Who’s Afraid of China?” One of the pleasures of writing the talk was the opportunity to go back to these sentences, which I … Continue reading
Working my way through Conor Friedersdorf’s collection of 2012′s best nonfiction, I have come across a piece by Joshua Foer on a man named John Quijada, who has invented a language, Ithkuil, that attempts to fulfill the age-old dream of a … Continue reading
Honestly, I couldn’t bear to watch all the way through, but true masochists will enjoy this over and over: Source: Printculture
Useful and interesting discussion at China File on “airpocalypse now.” Quote from Alex Wang to set up the discussion: My own view is that China’s tipping point, in a sense, already arrived a few years ago. But the official response … Continue reading
…is apparently less fluid than we tend to think. A really useful piece from the Economist updates us with the latest research from a variety of social scientists, and also–incredibly usefully–includes links to all the research it cites. Money quote: … Continue reading
Per Conor Friedersdorf, who is not my favorite political writer, but still: a list of 102 very good to excellent nonfiction pieces for the year. I’ll be reading through them when I can (though not this week!) but for now here’s … Continue reading
When I was younger I used to pass long car rides from home to college (7 hours, much of it on the PA turnpike) by doing two things (well, three if you count the constant masturbation, but who does?): narrating … Continue reading
From 50 Rhetorical Devices for Rational Writing (whatever that latter idea means), this delightful sample sentence in the definition of antanaclasis: Repetition of a word in a sentence in which a different meaning is applied each time: “If you aren’t fired … Continue reading
…to bring us to Milton Friedman’s promised land. I find the baby ads (from E-Trade) obnoxious, partly because they suggest (not despite but because of the humor) a kind of distant limit for the absolute financialization of everyday life, from … Continue reading
Apparently, by the way (according to a colleague who works in the field), they’re pronounced “mooks.” Which seems like a mistake. A good piece today in the IHE. First paragraph captures some of the difficulty I have with the concept … Continue reading
My first foray into tweener literary criticism has just been published by Public Books. Fun quote: What would it mean to recognize ourselves (again, the first person plural includes the Chinese) as people who want to know what China is, and who are … Continue reading
