Dana Becker, who has a new book on stress, dislikes contemporary understandings of the term: Instead of thinking about stress as something outside us, it’s now become integral to the self. So the problem of stress has become our own personal predicament to solve, and there’s no dearth of advice about how to do this: eat more kale, get … Continue reading Our Constant Struggle With Stress
The first Latin American pope. — Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) March 13, 2013 Like so many Argentines, Bergoglio is of Italian descent. Not the *biggest* leap beyond Europe the cardinals could have picked. — Robert Lane Greene (@lanegreene) March 13, 2013 The new guy is the first Jesuit pope. The Jesuits are known as the “nerds … Continue reading A New Pope: Tweet Reax
Friday on the Dish, Andrew took McCain to task for betraying his own presidential slogans to place country first, before calling out Rand Paul’s blatant opportunism in the Hagel filibuster. He delved deeper into Benedict XVI’s abandonment of renewal for sheer reaction, sparred with a reader on why he prefers “Burma” to “Myanmar,” and answered … Continue reading The Weekly Wrap
Today on the Dish, in the wake of the Pope’s resignation, Andrew articulated the tragedy of Benedict XVI and his failure to restore faith through reason, before asking where the man will end up next. He dug up clips from Hitch’s dogged pursuit of justice against this Herr Ratzinger and his underlings, as well as … Continue reading The Daily Wrap
Bill Becker wants Obama to act more like the Roosevelts on climate change: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt resolved to attack the Great Depression as though it was the invasion of a foreign enemy. FDR made full use of the authorities delegated by Congress and pushed for more. He sometimes acted first and asked for permission … Continue reading A Big Stick On Climate Change?
This week the Dish declared independence and you can read Andrew’s announcement and all our other coverage and explanation of the move here. We also hope you’ll consider joining us as a founding member. Friday on the Dish, Andrew rounded up more reaction to our new business model and how it might evolve, got interviewed by David Carr, asked readers to weigh in on whether or not we should round our subscription rate up to $20, and answered PM Carpenter’s concerns over the possible editorial consequences of directly relying on readers’ support. In other independence coverage, Ann Friedman evaluated the importance of building a relationship with readers and we addressed the mystery of our mega-donor, as well as acknowledged the Dishheads of Arizona. Andrew also marveled at an animated Maurice Sendak interview, responded to President Reagan’s love of Reader’s Digest, hoped Iran would again turn Green during this year’s election, and pointed out how similar Obama’s presidency has thus far been to both Reagan and Eisenhower’s (and later the WSJ agreed about Barack being the new Ronald). In political coverage, Ambers and Ezra tried to guess what the GOP’s post-fiscal cliff strategy would be, Joe Biden worked the chamber as readers gauged his influence, Brian Resnick taught us about the Presidential Autopen, and Sam Harris pleaded for some common sense to untangle America’s political deadlock. We also went through how the fiscal cliff deal will affect the wealthy, analyzed the state and sustainability of the US welfare system, examined the polarizing effects of Congressional-district gerrymandering, and charted the number of abortions state governments have been restricting. Looking overseas, Frank Dikötter looked at China’s resource trade policies with the developing world, Evan Osnos wanted the US government to better back up American journalists in China, and Derek Thompson surveyed the economic disaster of Latvian austerity. In assorted coverage, Alyssa suggested ways to de-glorify violence in pop culture, Jack Shafer considered the ethics of publicizing gun-ownership data, Richard Gunderman appreciated the transcendence of music, Keith Humphreys shone a light on America’s gradually-declining prison population, and Maria Konnikova tried to experience the benefits of Sherlock Holmesian mindfulness. Also, Douglas McCollam shared what Brando said to Capote, Dean Karlan advised us how to best make our charitable contributions count, Walter Russell Mead believed in the greenness of telecommuting, Alec Foege wanted us to start tinkering with our stuff again, and Henry Wiencek panned Jon Meacham’s Jefferson biography for going too easy on the president’s slaveholding. We looked into whether or not dating sites were making us less monogamous, viewed Facebook’s efforts to capture some of the self-deleting photo market, watched backwards fireworks in our MHB, admired Bali through the VFYW, and noted how the Internet had accidentally shaved Andrew’s beard in our FOTD. The rest of the week is after the jump:
Today on the Dish, Andrew offered his extended thoughts on last night's fiscal cliff deal, raised an eyebrow at Barney Frank's recent change of heart about Chuck Hagel, and announced 2012's Dish Award winners, later adding some important context to our Face Of The Year. In political coverage, we rounded up blogosphere reactions to the … Continue reading The Daily Wrap
A reader writes: I couldn't read this without remembering Don Becker, the bipolar Denver comedian who laid down on train tracks to cut off his own arms after becoming convinced his own hands were trying to kill him. At the time it was reported as a drunken accident. I saw the first show he did after … Continue reading Mental Illness As Material, Ctd
I think this photo sort of defines the debate. (Getty) twitter.com/BuzzFeedAndrew… — Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) October 12, 2012 Are you ready for some BIDEN! It’s Biden night in America. #vpdebate — Eli Lake (@EliLake) October 12, 2012 Biden: “Not a single thing he said was accurate.” #malarky #VPdebate — Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) October 12, 2012 … Continue reading The Veep Debate: Tweet Reax
Frum predicts that "2013 will be a year of serious global crisis" because of spiking food prices:
The Arab Spring of 2011 is sometimes compared to the revolutions of 1848. That's apter than people realize: the "hungry '40s" were years of bad harvests across Europe. Hungry people are angry people, and angry people bring governments down.
Will 2013 bring us social turmoil in Brazil, strikes in China or revolution in Pakistan? The answer can probably be read in the price indexes of the commodities exchanges — and it is anything but reassuring.
