Guest Thinkers — April 14, 2010

What’s Life Like Without Sex?

Ever wonder what it’s like to lead a life of chastity? Jesuit priest and author James Martin explains. “I find people can be freer with me. When I become close friends with somebody they’re not wondering, is he becoming friends because of sex? On a practical level it makes you a lot more mobile.” To Martin, celibacy has nothing to do with the abuse scandals in the Catholic Church–those have to do with the church’s culture of secrecy.

Martin touches on everything from his recent feud with Glenn Beck over the concept of social justice, to what it’s like to appear in Stephen Colbert’s hot seat. He also talks about the prevalence of anti-Catholicism in entertainment today.

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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