Politics & Current Affairs — September 15, 2009

Big Think Sits Down with Ann Fudge

We’re rolling out two videos today from our interview with Ann Fudge, former CEO and Chairman of Young and Rubicam Brands, a marketing and communications firm. At the time, Fudge was one of the highest ranking African American female executives. In these videos, she pontificates on what needs to happen for education reform to work, and the uncertain future of democracy. Fudge worries that as a country, “we are losing civility and openness.” What do you think?

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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