Culture & Religion — May 23, 2010

The Bilbao Effect

Can investment in the arts be justified as a solution to the economic crisis? No, writes Prospect Magazine, and the illusion that it can or should devalues the arts’ role in society.

bigthinkeditor

Can investment in the arts be justified as a solution to the economic crisis? No, writes Prospect Magazine, and the illusion that it can or should devalues the arts’ role in society. “The arts are certainly crucial to the cultural health and prestige of a successful city, region or nation. But to expect an arts centre or festival to be the primary trigger of regeneration has been the fallacy of a generation.”

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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