Today 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.
The Dish 