Guest Thinkers — December 21, 2010

Washington DC

Both members of the Waq al-waq team were in Washington today for different events, both of which came off well or so I have been told. But somehow we managed to find time for a leadership summit on the sidelines of our various commitments and I can tell you that we have many wonderful things in store for you in the future.

Just kidding, we actually spent out entire conversation talking about Nabokov’s Laura – what you think we only talk about Yemen when we get together? Well mostly we do, well, that and the Iron Cross.

But both of us do appreciate all the nice comments from our readers over the past couple of days.

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

▸

7 min

—

with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

Up Next

Guest Thinkers

More Guantanamo

Ginny Hill has written a couple of articles over the past few days on Yemen and Guantanamo and al-Qaeda and failed states. The first is at Open Democracy and provides […]