Technology & Innovation — October 20, 2009

A Visit From the ‘Method Actor’ of Biographers

Historian Robert Lacey is known for getting very serious about his subjects, immersing himself in the culture and personalities of the people and places he studies. He just released up the follow-up to his 1980’s classic on Saudi Arabia, The Kingdom; it’s calledInside the Kingdom. Lacey lived in Saudi Arabia for 3 1/2 years to research the book, and still resides there. During his Big Think interview he painted a vivid picture of a culture managing wealth, modernity, and an extremely powerful religious conservatism that mandates “singles” and “families” counters and veiled booths even at the local McDonald’s.

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.

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7 min

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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.

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