Politics & Current Affairs — July 3, 2010

Interview With Ayaan Hirsi Ali

The New Statesman interviews the Kenyan native and friend of Western conservatives who warns that Islam gets a free pass while carrying a dangerous blend of oppressive ideas.

bigthinkeditor

The New Statesman interviews the Kenyan native and friend of Western conservatives who warns that Islam gets a free pass while carrying a dangerous blend of oppressive ideas. “You defend free speech, yet you’re under guard because you criticise Islam publicly. How do you deal with this contradiction?” asks The New Statesman. “I’m willing to face the continuous stream of threats. It’s not the same as my freedoms being taken away. If I’d gone with the man my father chose, I wouldn’t be living the way I want to,” says Hirsi Ali.

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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