Culture

Europeans, especially folks in the Netherlands, are outgrowing Americans. Here's a link to a fascinating article at The New Yorker. Excerpts: > By the end of the nineteenth century, however, the country seemed set to regain its eminence. The economy was expanding at a dramatic rate, and public-hygiene

Is all that sexually-charged advertising and programming okay? The empiricists out there won't believe that it's harmful until they see hard evidence, but the saner denizens of our populace rely on the traditional evidence: an innate sense of norms, a little imagination, metaphor. This writer in

Shopping is therapy. If that doesn't signal a consumerist society, then Eric Scheske isn't spitting mad at Charter Communications for losing his Internet connection for nine hours today. Link [http://health.discovery.com/centers/womens/shopping/shoppingtherapy.html]. Excerpt: > Whatever the motivator, shopping, in contrast

Media Maven Jeff Jarvis has a compelling meditation on the smallness economy that is gaining speed. Link [http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/2005_06_06.html#009807]. Excerpts: > [Y]ou will come to a new definition of value built on trust. Dealing with big companies today -- airlines, banks,

A recounting of an episode of Showtime's cable show, B***s***. Link [http://www.mediaresearch.org/BozellColumns/entertainmentcolumn/2005/col20050603.asp] . Excerpt: > While the episode titled “Holier Than Thou,” ends with a few smacks at Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, Penn Jillette mostly savaged the world&

An economist has undertaken studies with monkeys. It appears that primates are capable of behaving like economic animals and responding to incentives. Link [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/magazine/05FREAK.html?pagewanted=1]. Excerpt that describes one of the studies: > Two monkeys faced each other in adjoining

Great piece at WSJ about Michael Jackson and the American culture he helped create. Link [http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB111776123421750067-IZjgINglaB4n5utZ3qGaqiEm4,00.html] . Two excerpts: > In 1991, Michael Jackson produced a video called "Black and White" for MTV and VH1, which ends with him smashing

Interesting piece at Spiked about the dark museums (holocaust museums and other exhibits of misery and conflict) that have been proliferating. Link [http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/0000000CAB4B.htm]. Excerpt: > *This mania for memorial museums is a sign of a society with an unhealthy obsession. These new museums indicate