Year: 2013

Kenneth Goldsmith defends “Uncreative Writing,” a course he teaches at the University of Pennsylvania:

The students that take my class know how to write. I can hone their skills further but instead I choose to challenge them to think in new and different ways. Many of them know how to plagiarize but they always do it on the sly, hoping not to get caught. In my class, they must plagiarize or they will be penalized. They are not allowed to be original or creative. So it becomes a very different game, one in which they’re forced to defend choices that they are making about what they’re plagiarizing and why. And when you start to dig down, you’ll find that those choices are as original and as unique as when they express themselves in more traditional types of writing, but they’ve never been trained to think about it in this way.

Previous Dish on Goldsmith here and here.

Friday on the Dish, Andrew diagnosed the GOP with ongoing Dubya-denial, and urged Republicans to get over it for the sake of the party. Meanwhile, Chait chided the silent centrists in the GOP, Karl Rove reminded the foundering party of the “Buckley rule,” and we gave Chris Christie a pass on his weight. Elsewhere, we walked up to the brink of the sequester, Howard Gleckman bemoaned the state of tax reform, and Marin Cogan divulged an unexpected challenge for congressional reporters. Dexter Filkins reported the brute facts of our brutal drone war, Asher Kohn mapped out the ideal drone-proof town, and we scolded both liberals and conservative media on drone coverage in general.

Gwen Ifill remembered Rosa Parks on the woman’s 100^th birthday while Jelani Cobb studied the social and racial significance of the late Essie Mae Washington-Williams, lovechild of Strom Thurmond. Also, Julia Ioffe informed us about the crackdown on homosexuals in Russia, Micah Cohen found some encouraging signs on Americans’ attitude toward immigration, and a hospital in Philadelphia got real with local kids about gun violence. Madeleine Schwartz calculated the expense of the government’s matrimonial campaign, and Razib Khan set the record straight on mystery-paternity.

In assorted coverage, we kept readers updated on the east coast’s blizzard, which led us straight to an intentional Poseur Alert here. We smurfed a new, unsavory definition of “smurf,” McArdle pointed out that the US beat the UK to the future, and a former cabbie answered the question you always wondered after stepping inside the taxi. A.N. Devers deconstructed the literary allusions buried in the NFL Ravens, Elizabeth Lindsey Rogers commemorated the life of Elizabeth Bishop, and Luke Runyon reported on young readers enjoying the literal fruits of their learning in Colorado.

Antonio Casilli dished out some advice to the Vatican on its Twitter account, Tom Stafford rewrote your to-do list, and Angela Evancie pushed back against young poets’ achievement anxiety. Also, we compared the church coffer to the diner tip jar and Joshua Holland stuck up for the misunderstood dog breed.

Newtown resident Ross McDonald presented the letters flooding into his town hall as we caught sight of a Syrian woman and her battered child during the Face of the Day. Finally, we peered into the backyard in Essex Junction, Vermont for the VFYW and had to applaud the insane surfers in the MHB.

–B.J.

The rest of the week after the jump:

Thursday on the Dish, Andrew shamed the president for betraying his promise of a transparent, constitutional fight against al-Qaeda, and searched for a smarter approach worthy of our country. He voiced hope that Americans will once again overcome their fear of fresh immigration and observed the realization of equality in Britain’s parliament and the country at large. Elsewhere, Andrew repeated his call for a Catholic burial for King Richard and answered some barbed reader feedback dismissing the Dishhead society.

In political coverage, we clarified the necessity of the BDS debate while acknowledging the group’s extreme goals, witnessed a growing wariness of Christianism in America, and said goodbye to Dick Morris as Fox News fraudster par-excellence. Seth Baum worried that we could exacerbate global warming by trying to stop it while Carrie La Seur provided­ a new take on climate change regulations from the inner West.

Waldman ranked Election 2012 as a standard year for turnout as Alan Abramowitz took the country’s temperature for the 2014 midterms. We also imagined a world without the USPS, at least on Saturdays.  Mujib Mashal explained the Taliban’s new Freudian recruiting tactics as we brainstormed some names for Tim Geithner’s publisher, and a member of the repulsive Westboro Baptist Church left her family cult and earned an Yglesias award.

In assorted coverage, we nibbled on some snacks from NASA’s cafeteria, explored the possibility of universal robo-labor, and remembered that we live by the sun and (probably) will die by the sun. While Timothy Taylor predicted the end of the era of junk email, Michael Chabon sought the key to self-expression and we closed our ears for a spoiler on spoilers. As we bundled up for the east coast’s imminent snowfall, we served a scoop of solid blues for the MHB, caught a glimpse of desperate rage in the Face of the Day, and surveyed La Ventana, Mexico during the VFYW.

Wednesday on the Dish, Andrew pondered how much longer America will trail her fellow democracies in delivering marriage equality and insisted that only fairness and equality will solve the Boy Scouts’ problems. He kept watch on the anti-prohibition bills in Congress, logged another day of self-sabotage for the right-wing media-industrial complex, and fired back at critics of the supposed oppressive regimes of Pret A Manger and TGI Friday’s. Elsewhere, Andrew mused on the life and legend of Shakespeare’s nastiest hero and England’s most infamous monarch, talked Catholics and conscience in today’s episode of Hitch & Sully, and explored the potential of television to blend further with independent projects found online.

In home news, he placed the Dish in the sweet spot between old and new media, updated readers on the first week of our independence, and continued to broadcast reader feedback on matters from the layout to potential merchandise.

On the political beat, Bouie disputed the openness of Silicon Valley, Brooklyn College’s chair of polisci gave his take on the BDS uproar, and Shafer brainstormed who might’ve slipped the DOJ white paper to the press. We discovered how far the government traveled to outsource torture, Nate Rawlings tallied up the bill for shipping our military gear back from Afghanistan, and Evan Osnos tracked the miscarriage of justice for China’s battered women.

While Catherine Rampell tried to pinpoint what kind of worker could take a hit from increased immigration, Michael Clemens argued that any reform hinges on making immigrants easier to hire in the first place, and Laura Entis nudged at the boundaries of the 8-hour work day. Meanwhile, Yglesias proposed a congestion charge for the metropolis, , Ambers assessed Hillary as quietly poised to pounce, and libertarians in Idaho tried to assign their state some dreary reading.

In assorted coverage, Jon Brodkin debunked the rumors of the coming universal Wifi-paradise while we learned how to send a text built to self-destruct, and wondered if e-cigs will lead to e-joints. America’s young readers discovered the fruits of curiosity as we found out what it’s like to proofread a genius. Aaron Carroll reexamined what makes healthy weight loss, Eric Zorn spotted the unique pitch of the ad-free Dish, and Reid Mitenbuler reported the life of Frederic Tudor, who kept the world chill as modernity took hold. Watched the sun set in Bigfork, Minnesota for the VFYW measured climate change on the skating rink and spun a hardcore record for the MHB.

Tuesday on the Dish, Andrew challenged the president on his weak rhetoric on tax reform, sounded off on the DOJ white paper justifying extra-judicial killing, and took a closer look at what made ACT UP more than agitprop. He fumed at the Church’s ongoing sabotage of justice, vowed to stay diligent about the GOP’s schemes to skewer representative government, and sampled Washington’s reactions to the ACA’s new conciliation on contraception. Elsewhere, Andrew marked the passage of marriage equality in Britain’s House of Commons on contraception, spoke up in defense of America’s smiley service, despite Tim Noah’s objections, endorsed the e-cig counterculture.

Finally, Andrew, introduced readers to Patrick and Chris, the tireless stewards of the Dish, and took on readers’ praise and critique of the new, independent site before unveiling the transcript of an unreleased podcast with his old friend Christopher Hitchens.

In political coverage, Yglesias tried to steer us between overregulation and underregulation, Paul Campos warned of the oncoming higher-ed bubble, and Waldman honed in on the crucial steps toward gun control. Larison anticipated the GOP’s inadequate stand against Hagel’s confirmation while Mick Mulvaney struck a blow for fiscal sanity within the GOP. Corey Robin applauded the admin of Brooklyn College for hosting a BDS event, James Surowiescki spotted serious revenue in lifting the ban on sports gambling, and Fox News let Dick Morris back into the wild.

In assorted news and views, we wondered whether Netflix’s original series will incite a revolution in home entertainment, Andrew Leonard pointed out the company’s ever-expanding view into your personal tastes, and Ryan McGee requested smaller TV portions in general. Ann Friedman outlined her taxonomy of trolls, Maia Szalavitz spotted a drug for when you’ve had too much drugs, and Steve Benen caught the bright side of the Superbowl blackout.

Travis Waldron joined the mounting case against the football industry, Alyssa Rosenberg asked Alex Gibney what the Catholic Church’s crimes reveal about insulated institutions in general, and Michael Signorelli spotlighted St. Francis’s interaction with and toleration of Islam. We felt the breeze in Tucson, Arizona, watched a hitchhiker’s guide to heroism, and gawked as Gangham style leapt from the page in the MHB. Later, we dropped by a heavily-bearded Viking jamboree in the Face of the Day and followed the breadcrumbs to Sinzig, Germany in today’s VFYW contest (whose spinoff game you can now enjoy any time).

Monday on the Dish, Andrew introduced everyone to the new, ad-free site and its fresh features, and also peered into other mediums where independent voices are pushing the envelope. He contemplated the degeneration of the Catholic Church, from the guardian of innocents to protector of criminals. Elsewhere, Andrew exposed McCain’s false dichotomy between civil liberty and border security, and cut to the core meaning of his exchange with Hagel last week during the latter’s hectic hearing. After breathing a sigh of relief over Obama’s decision to veto intervention in Syria, he also explored the distinction between love and sexual desire in the case of Manti Te’o and rejoiced at the latest breakthrough for gluten-free sweets.

In political news, Michael Moynihan interviewed the filmmaker behind HBO’s Mea Maxima Culpa, Michael Lewis prepared the wrecking ball for banks that are too big to fail, and Ackerman totaled up the handful of Muslim terrorist acts in the country since 9/11. Kevin Harnett explained the generosity-factor of wealthy black families in America while Lisa Wade reported the growing androgyny of generation X and Y. We rounded up more thoughts on Ed Koch’s handling of NYC’s AIDS crisis and studied whether redistricting really changes politician’s attitudes.

On the foreign affairs beat, Stephen Walt delivered some home truth about U.S. foreign policy, we weighed the costs and benefits of the conscript army and Greenwald raised alarm over academic freedom when the subject is Israel-Palestine. Also, Richard J. Evans recalled Mussolini’s little-known ban on caffeine and Ahmadinejad shot the moon.

In assorted coverage, Kevin Stevens singled out Duke Ellington as a the jazz master par excellence, Eliza Strickland laid out one man’s plan to integrate the senses online, and Rebecca Solnit saw parallels good and bad between San Francisco’s tech boom and the Gold Rush. We checked in with the health risks of Big Football, Jennifer Hollands measured the medical value of venom, Donald Hutcherson added up the prison premium and Jacob Sullum handed back Eli Lake his e-cigarettes. Meanwhile, Mark Dery took a deeper look at the tentacled-titan of the ocean as Randall Monroe scanned our solar system for the perfect avian experience.

Finally, we gazed across Los Angeles, California in the VFYW, inspected a row of Venezuelan soldiers during the Face of the Day, and dropped a serious beat in the MHB.

–B.J.

In recognition of Rosa Parks’ 100th birthday last Monday, Gwen Ifill corrects some common misconceptions about her:

We want to believe that a timid seamstress sat down on a city bus in December, 1955 and refused to give up her seat to a white man because she was just too tired. We want to believe that she was a solitary heroine who single-handedly desegregated public transportation in Montgomery, Ala., overnight. And we want to believe that she spent the rest of her days comfortably, secure in the knowledge that her meek, nonviolent approach to injustice made all the difference. …

She was not meek. She was not used. She was as fond of Malcolm X as she was of Martin Luther King Jr. Moreover, the Montgomery bus boycott did not transform America overnight. It took 382 days and hundreds of volunteers to force change, and that was years before the March on Washington. Parks and her husband Raymond lost their jobs and would not regain economic security until they moved far away, to Detroit.

(Photo: On January 31, 2003 at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan a man points out the seat that Rosa Parks refused to give up to a white man. The bus, once-decrepit after sitting in a Montgomery field for thirty years, underwent five-months of restoration to refurbish the vehicle to the way it looked on December 1, 1955 when Parks made her defiant stand. By Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Today would be the 102nd birthday of the poet Elizabeth Bishop. Elizabeth Lindsey Rogers celebrates Bishop’s work, praising her mingling of “distance and proximity,” exemplified in “The Map”:

In this poem (as well as some others), Bishop is able to describe an entire country or continent at once.  The result is a half-real, half-imagined synthesis of the actual place and the representation of that place.  In the literal sense, the speaker of “The Map” is looking at the images the cartographer has drawn.   On the other hand, she is also touching the “real” water and land that are imaginatively contained inside the map.  It’s as if she is in an airplane, seeing the outline of the place from some incredible distance— and yet, somehow, her arm is nearly long enough to touch the physical world she describes.

I’ve been able to see this very tension played out in the works of other poets, and especially those who write about exile.  When I discovered Agha Shahid Ali, and especially his poem “I See Chile in My Rearview Mirror,” for example, I remembered the perspective I’d seen in the “The Map.”  For me, it was Bishop who first showed me the complicated scope that is possible in poetry: a hard, objective, microscopic up-closeness that somehow co-exists with seeing “the big picture” at a distance.  It’s this pull between near and far that keeps me coming back to her poems, and keeps me hard at work inside my own.

For more on Bishop, check out Alice Quinn’s edited volume of Bishop’s uncollected poems, drafts and fragments, Edgar Allen Poe & The Juke Box.

Over at Marginal Revolution, an emailer and former cab driver reveals a fascinating reason:

When I first started driving a cab, I drove the shortest route – always, I’m ethical – but people would accuse me of taking the long way because it wasn’t the way they drove. So, I learned to go their way ending up with a lot less grief and a lot more money. If you’ve ever wondered why a seeming professional cab driver will ask you how to get to your destination, this is why. Going your way means they’ll make more money and they won’t be accused of ripping you off.

Julia Ioffe reports on Russia’s “homosexual propaganda” ban, which is on its way to becoming law:

The perception of homosexuality in Russia is that it’s both a perversion of nature and a fashion import from the corrupt West: something into which a man can slip if he’s had a bit too much vodka—by all accounts a common occurrence in Russia—and as a posture one adopts to be cool. Thus, the “propaganda” ban. Homosexuality is seen as an aggressive ad campaign that, traditionalists fear, will persuade impressionable young minds that being gay not only isn’t abnormal and abhorrent, but stylish and hip. The idea that homosexuality is a natural and innate phenomenon, needless to say, has not gained traction here outside of small circles among the educated. Even there, it’s rare.

(Photo: A Russian gay rights activist stands in front of the Russian State Duma building on January 22, 2013 after being punched during a protest in Moscow. By Andrey Smirnov/AFP/Getty Images)

After moderating a tax policy discussion between four experts, Howard Gleckman delivers their less-than-optimistic conclusions:

Can the income tax fund the government we seem to want? Probably not. Will lawmakers create a revenue system that will? Not anytime soon. …

There seems to be little political will, at the moment, to make major changes in Medicare or Social  Security. At the same time, the income tax remains riddled with preferences and other subsidies. As a matter of math (as everyone used to say in the recent campaign), Congress could balance the budget in 2014 by eliminating about half the value of those tax expenditures.

The consensus on a long-term solution:

[S]omeday, the federal government will turn to some form of a consumption tax to help make up the difference. It may be a broad-based levy such as a Value-Added Tax or an energy tax. It might replace the current income tax, or might be added on to the existing system. But given political gridlock, any form of major reform is years away.

In 1967, Walter Cronkite imagined how the kitchen of 2001 would function:

McArdle compares adoption of various appliances in the US and the UK:

Data on household appliance dispersion shows dramatic differences between the US and Britain in the penetration of household conveniences.  … It took until 1938 for 50% of American households to install a refrigerator.  According to Bowden and Offer–though I confess that I find this hard to believe–Britain achieved that same feat 30 years later.