by Matthew Sitman
This weekend on the Dish, the Paul Ryan VP news dominated coverage. We followed the breaking story on Twitter, rounded up reactions after Ryan's speech Saturday morning, and explored how the conservative base would respond. Most Americans knew little about Ryan, so we provided the basics: his stance on gay rights, ideological fervor, self-proclaimed debt to Ayn Rand, and fiscal positions. Chait argued the Ryan choice was a triumph for movement conservatism, Jonathan Cohn critiqued his Medicare plans, Daniel Larison disdained his partisanship, Douthat suggested why Romney made the pick, Bob Wright dubbed Ryan a "robot nerd," and Bob Bartlett earned himself a von Hoffman award.
We also provided an array of stories on religion. Joanna Brooks pondered Mormons' identification with the tales of ancient Israel, Micah Mattix pointed to Rilke's unconventional Christianity, Carl McColman meditated on the struggle to find inner peace, Amber Sparks found the grace in poetry, Scott Atran urged scientists to study the sacred, and James Q. Wilson commended Tocqueville's understanding of religion's role in America.
In literary and cultural coverage, Jacob Silverman thought online literary communities were too nice, Keith Ridgway showed how we all deploy fiction, Amanda Katz examined non-50 Shades of Grey summer reading, NPR profiled Christianist hack David Barton, Aimee Liu revisited Graham Greene's conflicted Catholicism, and Martin Amis again considered American decline. Mark Edwards confirmed his years as a psychic were a scam, Richard Polt held that evolution can't teach us about ethics, and Anders Henriksson revealed his students' tenuous grasp of history. Read Saturday's poem here and Sunday's here.
In assorted coverage, we asked Barney Frank if Congress was getting worse, continued our thread on how India is failing its women, and revisited the strange history of gender testing at the Olympics. Ben Popper investigated biohackers, Justin E.H. Smith contemplated the drugs of youth, Janko Roettgers discussed crowdfunding porn, and Tom Jacobs summarized findings on the gender of robots. FOTD here, MHBs here and here, VFYWs here and here, and the latest window contest here.
(Photo: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) wave as Ryan is announced as his vice presidential running mate in front of the USS Wisconsin August 11, 2012 in Norfolk, Virginia. Ryan, a seven term congressman, is Chairman of the House Budget Committee and provides a strong contrast to the Obama administration on fiscal policy. By Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The Dish 