Politics & Current Affairs — May 13, 2010

Hiding Fannie and Freddie

“The government’s current policy to leave a great deal of its liabilities off-balance sheet makes the U.S.’s current debt levels look a lot more favorable than they really are,” writes Daniel Indiviglio. “Future entitlement costs, for example, are already accrued, but remain included as unfunded liabilities, so aren’t taken into account when the government talks about its debt.”

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.

Up Next

Culture & Religion

Tea Party Feminists?

The tea party movement has become “an insta-network for ambitious women,” writes Hanna Rosin. “Some would surprise you with their straightforward feminist rage.”