Politics & Current Affairs — August 21, 2010

The Future of the GOP?

The governor of Indiana is ‘a likeable wonk’, says The Economist. This is one reason he might run for President. The other is that the GOP’s current prospective candidates are ‘nauseating’.

bigthinkeditor

The governor of Indiana is ‘a likeable wonk’, says The Economist. This is one reason he might run for President. The other is that the GOP’s current prospective candidates are ‘nauseating’. But governor Mitch Daniels is busy running his state at the moment: “Indiana itself is in trouble. In June the unemployment rate was 10.1%, above the national average. At the county fair, near a display of homemade dresses and wrapped presents (apparently a category at fairs these days), a woman fretted to me about cuts to state schools. Revenues continue to drop. Next year Mr Daniels will have to make more painful cuts.”

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

Technology & Innovation

The Future of Search

“When people search [the Internet], they aren’t just looking for nouns or information; they are looking for action.” A venture capitalist says search engines are changing for the better.