Happy Birthday Holden

This weekend marked the 60th anniversary of the publication of The Catcher in the Rye. To celebrate, here is an article about the origins of Holden Caulfield.
Enjoy.

The Moral Animal

An interesting article from American Prospect magazine concerning BF Skinner, one of the most famous psychologists. Like the author Robert Wright, my at first ardent agreement with Skinners behaviourist theories on human behaviour have waxed and waned due to their reductionist conclusions - though I still admire what Wright refers to as his anti-intellectual intellectualism. As usual, the comments following the article make also make for interesting reading.
Enjoy.

I was born that way

I found this article about the reasons we are liberal or conservative interesting, although maybe more could have been said of those who are politically apathetic. Which kids were they in the playground? Did they suffer both ups and downs in their development that made them decide the path of least resistance was easiest? I admit to my own bias creeping in when when I was horrified at the suggestion that perhaps medicare contributes to increasingly conservative elderly populations. Either way, interesting reading.
Enjoy.

The Twisted art of the Documentary

One more fascinating article from the New York Review of Books, this time about the documentary as an art form. This made me think of the recently released The Arbour, a film which blends fact and fiction to explore the life of playwright Andrea Dunbar. Despite the reviewers comment that it "blazes a trail to nowhere", I am still eager to see it. I also enjoyed the comments berating the reviewer.
Enjoy.

"Politics, noun. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage." —Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

An interesting article from John Kinsley, founder of Slate magazine, about intellectual honesty.
I'm sure most of this could be said to apply universally to politicians, not just those in in the US.

The Art of Travel

A truly great (in my opinion) article about travel writing.
Shame it wasn't published while I was writing my thesis, in a similar vein.

Book Review

Bryan Appleyard on John Gray on religion.
Good stuff.

The world today

An article about the changing nature of international politics today.

Bryan Appleyard

Bryan Appleyard's website is great, with many of his articles, and a particularly funny spiel on his page of links:
"Internet “bookmarks” or “favourites” have – along with iPod playlists and eBay auctions – become contemporary character attributes replacing star signs, favourite colours and taste in clothes. These new self-signifiers are much more exact than the old ones and much more easily shared. At the same time, they are more random and capricious. They may change daily and they may simply be the result of idle browsing. This is, of course, in the post-modern context, fair enough. Who believes in stable selves any more? Anyway, here are some links. I will not explain them and, it goes without saying, they are not “self”-explanatory."

Food for thought

An interesting article about journalism and philosophy.
I very much like the idea of the newspaper as a morning prayer; its the closest I come to worship!
I'm especially excited for the Saturday papers tomorrow.