Friday on the Dish, Andrew answered readers’ questions on his guilt over the consequences of the Iraq War, before letting them ask both Rod Dreher and Josh Fox anything. Elsewhere, we rounded up analysis of the poor jobs report, continued to watch the Senate evolve on equality and considered Mark Sanford’s scandal and its aftermath. Dominic Tierney picked apart the right’s hypocrisy on deadly weapons, Bouie expected slow, gradual progress on gun control, and the NRCC pulled a Buzzfeed.
In other political coverage, we kept an eye open on Hamas and met America’s number one jihadi while Bill Gardner uncovered a morbid map of the country. We exchanged with readers over fracking and its effect on emissions, remained skeptical on the significance of hydrogen technology, and weighed the costs and benefits of the soda ban.
Later we contrasted novels with their TV adaptations, spotlighted the work of poet Robert Bly, and asked if we should strike the set of Romeo and Juliet. David Hilfiker blogged through the fog of brain damage, Jimmy Stamp pieced together the history of the chess set and readers added more to the thread on modest weddings. Jeff Robbins stuck up for Yahoo’s no-work-from-home policy and Rebecca Shuman urged English majors to abandon hope, all ye who enter grad school.
We also nibbled on Whole Foods fast food, questioned stretching, and discovered an unknown sparrow by Berlin’s Unknown Soldier in the Face of the Day. Finally, we stopped by Lyon, France in the VFYW, observed two visions of Normandy in Cool Ad Watch and played another level of Billy Graham’s Bible Blaster for the MHB.
–B.J.
The rest of the week after the jump:
Thursday on the Dish, Andrew answered readers on why he changed his mind on Iraq, Harry Enten found support for immigration reform at critical mass, and Pew measured escalating support for post legalization. Felix supplied a fairly grim reason to sweat the bitcoin boom, Iraq asked Obama to pass the drones, and we checked in on the Gitmo hunger strike. We also surveyed the coming inter-activist skirmishes over fracking, discovered another cholera scandal rocking the UN, and Shafer yearned for a new vocabulary for North Korea coverage.
Elsewhere, we continued to argue libertarianism vs. Christianism, questioned the efficacy of the presidential pulpit, Harry Levine described the appeal of stop-and-frisk from a cop’s perspective, and Cowen factored alcohol into the pursuit of gun control. Brian Merchant found out how much Republicans like renewable energy, we considered cutting back on the GOP’s traveling debate roadshow in 2016. Readers spoke up about the low budget weddings, disapproved of UPenn’s no-smokers policy, and doubted any connection between the tactics of the NRA and Black Panthers.
In assorted coverage, we paid respects to the late, great Roger Ebert, let readers ask Josh Fox anything, and remembered Bruce Springsteen’s intense relationship with the Big Man. We read the brochure for pot’s Nappa Valley, flagged some major Sully bait, and heard readers sound off on the limits of graphic war imagery.
Later, Oppenheimer explored the limits of his parenting skills, Richard Nieva spotlighted the share-economy and its discontents, and we considered the status of Pixar films in light of the Nemo-sequel. We met a member of the US chemical battalion in the Face of the Day, made it through the MHB bit-by-bit and took a breath in North Galiano Island, British Columbia for the VFYW.
Wednesday on the Dish, readers asked Andrew where federalism begins and ends, Nick Beaudrot kicked off a discussion on blogging as a way of life and Matt Sitman looked at Pope Francis as a Jesuit. Suderman caught up with the hiccups in Obamacare, Weigel measured lack of interest in the sequester and Pareene wondered if we’ve seen the last of the Clinton hacks. We discussed the economic reasons of the “decline” of marriage, checked in on the demise of the Euro, and Adam Alter noticed a connection between a hurricane’s name and how much we give for relief.
We caught Americans running drugs on the Mexican border, kept considering the plight of the snitch, and welcomed terrorism back to the silver screen. We pondered the significance of teacher cheating, asked if we’re hardwired for language and toured a lonely, lonely shopping center. Elsewhere, we updated readers on the Dish experiment, unearthed the very first Face of the Day, and readers sounded off on the restaurant EZ pass. Kate Crawford differentiated data and truth, Calvin Trillin extolled the joys of the floating editor, while Zoe carried on the marriage-surname discussion (and announced some exciting news).
Later, Moynihan cringed at his Wikipedia entry, we eyeballed how many of our fellow citizens go for UFOs and trutherism, and readers shared their experience of sensual sneezes. We reckoned with the power of Wagner and revisited Ware’s broken leg as Evan Selinger opened a drawer of old thank you notes. Andy Greenwald said a good word for bulk watching Game of Thrones while Woodman defended the misuse “literally.”
Finally, we looked out on London for the VFYW, spotted tiny tourists beneath a big Face of the Day, took a somber look back at Fraggle Rock for the MHB.
Tuesday on the Dish, Andrew expressed his disbelief on the advances of the gay rights movement while readers vented over yesterday’s guest post from Mr. Rick Astley. Ed Kilgore doubted that the GOP’s libertarians will threaten its Christianists, Frum raised his eyebrow at a Hillary victory, and we sized up the new Democratic coalition. Bernstein encouraged one Supreme Court Justice to step downa and Judis spotlighted the problems with America’s trickledown recovery. On the foreign beat, Graeme Wood took a hyperinflation vacation in Iran, Larison rebuked Jackson Diehl on the legacy of Iraq, and David Bosco warned of a new African intervention for the UN.
In assorted coverage, readers kept up the debate on taking husbands’ names, Oppenheimer demanded conservatives stay consistent on the “decline” of marriage, Dylan Matthews measured the exponential rise of Senatorial support for equality. A reader gave a personal account of narcoanalysis, we measured the benefits of early marriage, and found out that Google is against sponsored content (Vice, not so much). Tahir Hemphill pieced together an almanac of rap and Megan Garber paid respects to the word “whom,’ and Jordan Weissman analyzed Amazon’s buyout of Goodreads. We also looked out from a whale’s eyes and checked in on Ware while Mark Graham did a global survey of Wikipedia editors.
Later, we tested the limits of working out of the office, Steve Mann showed us his proto-proto Google Glass, and we tracked how dull food gets tasty. Ian Crouch muted the blaring Inception trailer music and we detected evidence of the class structure in reality TV. We met some of the activists in Uruguay’s marriage equality movement in the Face of the Day, sat in awe of another beatboxer for the MHB before visiting Tirana, Albania in today’s VFYW contest and Shannon, Ireland in the regular VFYW.
Monday on the Dish, Andrew signed off for vacation, but not before leaving a new ‘Ask Anything’ video. Meanwhile, we sized up the stakes in the Korean peninsula, Ackerman suggested we ditch the term ‘WMD,’ and Matt Taibbi described the difficulty of knocking down bad laws. We checked in on the chances of a GOP resurgence and the state of immigration reform, explained why the government won’t help us with our taxes and discovered that shale gas won’t hold up progress on renewable energy. Rob Walker told the story of a man forced to rat on criminals, readers continued the delicate thread on “gay rape” and kept up the appraisal of our public defenders.
Elsewhere, Noah Berlatsky stuck up for pricey weddings while we continued the threads on prenups and taking on a husband’s name. Readers pushed further on Justice Roberts’ possible blind spot on the definition of marriage, others defended the idea of political ‘evolution’ on the question, and the World Values survey tracked the progress of gay rights worldwide.
In more assorted coverage, Christopher Jobson came across found art in the age of Google, we witnessed the new found relevance of fanboys, learned some sneezes come from being hot and bothered. Also, we we questioned the authenticity of the Harlem Shake meme and later found the original version of “reality” entertainment was as staged as it is now.
Later, we browsed some dictator kitsch as Dirk Brockmann followed cash around the country and readers responded to Tomasky’s call for a more efficient restaurant check. We agonized over Kevin Ware’s compound fracture, watched cola cans score medical supplies, and asked whether Adderall will become a commonplace energy fix. Touchscreens were put to the test in the MHB, before we remembered that bunnies can be scary in the Face of the Day and spent a moment in Chengdu, China for the VFYW.
Last weekend on the Dish, Andrew praised the radical Christianity of Pope Francis, told us about his inspiring trip to West Point to speak to the military academy’s gay-straight alliance, and announced he was taking a breather.
We also provided our usual eclectic mix of religious, books, and culture coverage. Fittingly, we emphasized matters of faith, doubt, and philosophy, with Marilynne Robinson musing on the Resurrection, Paul F.M. Zahl making the religious case against drones, Karen Armstrong urging us to believe in a grown-up God, and Thomas Holgrave considered the complex traditionalism of young Christians. Julia Kaganskiy profiled programmers exploring the similarities between scripture and code, Alice Bolin recalled the benefits of reading like a child, Helen Rittlemeyer plumbed the parallel lives of DFW and Coleridge, and Francis Gino explained how what we wear impacts the likelihood of our cheating.
In literary and arts coverage, David Biespiel pondered the ways we live in the wake of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl, the publication of Willa Cather’s letters defied her dying wish, and Edward Jay Epstein remembered Nabokov’s Dirty Lit. Ben Schrank described why he’s drawn to writing female characters, Danny Nowell re-read Walker Percy, and Harold Augenbraum profiled Proust’s young love. Avi Steinberg detailed why teaching creative writing in prison is so important, Barry Hannah proffered the reasons for writing, Maria Bustillos penned a love letter to editors, and Julia Fierro contemplated the challenge of novelists writing about sex. Stephen Marche was disappointed by the Kindle’s lack of development, Kate Hakala mourned the decline of steaminess on the big screen, James Parker put The Real Housewives franchise under the microscope, and Patrick Radden Kaffe was fascinated by the brainstorming sessions for Raiders of the Lost Ark. Read Saturdays poem here and Sunday’s here.
In assorted news and views, coughing in a quiet music hall meant more than you think, Roy Peter Clark downplayed claims of a plagiarism pandemic, Tomasky grew tired of waiting for his restaurant checks, and wine declined in France. Dinosaur sex proved to be complicated, Barry Schwartz continued the conversation about marriage and love, and Alison Gash chronicled how same-sex adoption victories were won. Cool Ad watch here, MHBs here and here, FOTDs here and here, VFYWs here and here, and the latest window contest here.
–B.J. & M.S.
The Dish 