A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

pop culture

  • Friday Links

    –Why unions are essential for the future of liberalism. –Maryland is very close to legalizing same-sex marriage. –Indiana is very close to passing a draconian, Arizona-style immigration law. –International aid groups appeal to Congress to restore funding for humanitarian aid. –A slideshow and discussion on the question “Is meat green?” –How much would a government Read more

  • Friday links

    –Augustinian and Pelagian software. –A John Polkinghorne lecture on science and religion. –Batman as plutocrat. –Korn and Limp Bizkit: the soundtrack to nihilism. –Martha Nussbaum on John Stuart Mill: between Bentham and Aristotle. –The disconnect between the science and economics of climate change. –Peter Berger, who describes himself as a political conservative and a theological Read more

  • Friday links

    –Do extraterrestrials have original sin? –Brandon on Sam Harris’s argument for a science of morality –How to build a progressive tea party –Fox News thinks there’s only one English translation of the Bible –This critique of Mad Men from the New York Review of Books scores some points –A video (in two parts) featuring the Read more

  • For Gen-Xers only

    I’ve really been enjoying the AV Club’s series “Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation?” It looks at the rise (and fall) of 90s alternative rock. The most recent installment on Kurt Cobain’s suicide and its aftermath is particularly good. (And I agree that Soundgarden is underrated!) Read more

  • Friday links

    – The new(ish) blog Women in Theology has been quite active lately, with recent posts on John Milbank and Stanley Hauerwas garnering a lot of discussion. – Scu at Critical Animal writes on books that have changed the way he thinks. And here’s the post that inspired his post. – Jeremy recently had a good Read more

  • Friday links

    – Jim Henley on the high road and the low road – The July issue of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics focuses on poverty and development – How easy would it be to fix Social Security? – The Twilight series: not just bad, but morally toxic – Who you callin’ a pescatarian? – Marvin writes Read more

  • Literalists, progresives, and Lost

    I like this, from Newsweek: Lost‘s viewers fall into two categories, those who adhere to reason and those who follow their faith. The Lost literalists believe that the show is infallible, that it’s not only an engrossing, entertaining television show, it’s holy writ–divinely inspired, all-knowingly conceived, and absolutely inerrant. In other words, the show’s many, Read more

  • Quote of the day

    Comes from Matt Yglesias: Personally, I consider myself someone who enjoys nostalgia. But this article (via Alyssa Rosenberg) about the boom in twentysomething nostalgia mostly reminded me of bad times via the phrase “three of the biggest bands of the period — Blink-182, Limp Bizkit and Creed — have each reunited for summer tours.” What Read more

  • Michael Jackson, RIP

    Maybe people who are a bit younger only remember Michael Jackson as the weirdo, quasi-hermit he later became. But at the peak of his popularity (I was, I think, in third grade when Thriller came out) he was about the most exciting thing on the planet. Anyway, MJ skeptics, go watch. p.s. Andrew Sullivan has Read more

  • Department of making me feel old

    Twenty-five years of “Purple Rain.” Ulp! Not that long ago, my wife and I re-watched the movie, and I can’t say it holds up quite as well as the album, though there are some memorable moments (I’ve always been taken with Morris Day’s performance as Prince’s unscrupulous rival). Read more