Haggling For Hot Dogs: Where Tom Chiarella of Esquire decides to try and negotiate the price of everything he wants for 3 months.
posted by reenum on Dec 18, 2009 - 60 comments

Adnan Khashoggi was one of the high society news makers in the 80's, considered by some to be on Donald Trump's level. While things have gone alright for the Donald, Khashoggi hasn't done as well... [more inside]
posted by reenum on Dec 14, 2009 - 19 comments

Back in 2004, the Chicago Tribune published an investigative series about the state of Islam after 9/11. [more inside]
posted by reenum on Oct 19, 2009 - 4 comments

Breastfeeding in Mongolia The author describes the ubiquity of breastfeeding and breast milk in Mongolia, and her experience over a three-year period of breastfeeding her infant in Mongolia and in the West.
posted by five fresh fish on Oct 15, 2009 - 84 comments

The newspaper industry is facing challenges, and what might be done to ramify the situation Newspapers have been an institution for over a hundred years, but are now under threat of being undermined by the Internet and other sources. This article gives a decent background of the current crisis faced by the industry and how the industry might respond to the threats the printed paper faces.
posted by reenum on Sep 23, 2009 - 38 comments

Few things in history are as compelling as the duel. Refined and barbaric at the same time, this practice has had a checkered history. The rules of dueling were codified by the Irish in 1777 in the Code Duello (summarized here), which was codified at Clonmel Summer Assizes in 1777. As evidenced by these documents, dueling was in practice prior to the Irish rules being drafted. The procedure and philosophy behind duels is illustrated in this article. Dueling gained some traction in America in the 19th century, culminating in the famous Burr-Hamilton affair. There are many more resources to find out more here. For a list of famous duels, you can check out this list. Lest you think men were the only ones dueling, here are a few short anecdotes of women dueling. Reportedly, dueling is still legal in Paraguay, as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
posted by reenum on Sep 15, 2009 - 17 comments

Dominick Dunne died yesterday at the age of 83. was well known for his chronicling of the follies and crimes of the rich. You can read some of his pieces from Vanity Fair here.
posted by reenum on Aug 27, 2009 - 26 comments

Are the ties that bind gay men to straight women beginning to fray?
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Aug 18, 2009 - 99 comments

Kevin Smith on patronizing a strip club [more inside]
posted by reenum on Aug 8, 2009 - 158 comments

Tyler Cowen on why it's OK to pay for sex [more inside]
posted by reenum on Jul 22, 2009 - 111 comments

"To you, my friends, whose identity in these pages is veiled in fictional disguise, it is but fitting that I dedicate this book." Old school etiquette from the inimitable Emily Post and others. [more inside]
posted by lalex on Jul 16, 2009 - 12 comments

NRW 1946—2006. Short articles chronicling North Rhine-Westphalia. The site has one rather large shortcoming though, the video clips cannot be accessed (only available on VHS within the State!).
posted by tellurian on May 12, 2009 - 10 comments

Explore the History of the Ancient Greek World from the Neolithic to the Classical Period. Covering important topics, such as Art and Architecture, Mythology, Wars, Culture and Society, Poetry, Olympics, History Periods, Philosophy, Playwrights, Kings and Rulers of Ancient Greece.
posted by netbros on Feb 21, 2009 - 3 comments

The Tibet Album: British photography in Central Tibet 1920 - 1950 [previously] via The Best of The Asian Studies WWW Monitor [more inside]
posted by tellurian on Nov 10, 2008 - 15 comments

The Role of Inconvenience in Designing Social Systems (slyt via robowhiz) [more inside]
posted by kliuless on Sep 19, 2008 - 26 comments

Goth. You just can't kill it.
posted by plexi on Sep 18, 2008 - 87 comments

"Political content aside, the discussion provided a lovely example of how a term from literary theory has established itself in American political discourse." via Language Log

"We may expect the following. Language will be carefully crafted. Advertisements will focus on personal narratives. The campaign will employ “attack” advertisements that emotionally sway voters. Policy will be sketchy with vague descriptions that emotionally satisfy Americans while offering scant details. The emphasis will be on creating narratives that resonate with the values, beliefs, and identities of prospective voters."
– Literary Gulag, on Lakoff, Nunberg, Westen, and the narrative of the 2008 presidential election. [more inside]
posted by iamkimiam on Sep 9, 2008 - 26 comments

Why do New Yorkers seem rude? A quirky and interesting article about the culture of New Yorkers.
posted by SeizeTheDay on May 20, 2008 - 163 comments

The Most Civilized Country. Fascinating article challenging conventional notions of how best to have a society. [more inside]
posted by five fresh fish on May 17, 2008 - 78 comments

Lazy-Ass Nation. "Somewhere along the way, we fell in love with the dream of the effort-free existence."
posted by amyms on Sep 19, 2007 - 41 comments

Wendy Shalit keeps it genteel. The author of A Return to Modesty recently put out a new book, entitled Girls Gone Mild, "Shalit reveals how the media, one’s peers, and even parents can undermine girls’ quests for their authentic selves, details the problems of sex without intimacy, and explains what it means to break from the herd mentality and choose integrity over popularity." Audio: Shalit on the Diane Rehm Show
posted by psmealey on Jul 3, 2007 - 148 comments

Jurgen Habermas and the Public Sphere. Habermas' conception of the public sphere has become increasingly interesting to scholars of internet theory. Any thoughts on what role MeFi plays in creating a public? What about issues of accessibility, autonomy, and quality? Could Mefi be the realization of Habermas' public sphere?
posted by TheRoach on Dec 20, 2005 - 25 comments

New York City rage.
posted by Tlogmer on Nov 29, 2005 - 26 comments

National Geographic has a special issue on Africa out this month. There's also their Africa resource site.
posted by Gyan on Sep 21, 2005 - 17 comments

The web is California, writ large. This is about to change.
posted by Tlogmer on Jun 8, 2005 - 54 comments

From cells to bells, 10 things the Chinese do far better than we do Ah, those clever Chinese. First they invent gunpowder and a few other essentials of modern civilization. Now they're gunning their economic engines. Yet who would have thought that, after a millennium of poverty, they'd already do so many things better than we? In fact, compiling a Top 10 list of what China does better than Canada isn't easy. There are so many items. To whittle it down, let's assume it's unfair to count anything related to cheap labour. So we won't include the wonderfully thorough mop-ups of supermarket spills: The staff don't plunk down those yellow you-can't-sue-us caution signs. They actually fan the floor with a broken sheet of Styrofoam until it is dry. Nor will we mention the exquisite, free head-and-shoulder massages that come with every shampoo and haircut....
posted by Postroad on Nov 23, 2004 - 72 comments

Fused space. Exploring the impact mediascapes - the mobile phone and wireless networks - will have on the ways we inhabit localities.
posted by yoga on Sep 15, 2004 - 0 comments

Anatomy of a Refugee Camp. A Flash presentation of how refugee camps are set up, and very educational for those of us in the world lucky enough to have never seen one. [via airgid.com, the designer's website]
posted by jb on May 23, 2004 - 4 comments

A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization.
posted by hama7 on Jan 31, 2004 - 8 comments

Just How Influential Is America? Mark Rice-Oxley, writing in the Christian Science Monitor, argues that, 2000 years from now, Disney will probably be more remembered than Plato. Really? [More inside. Via Arts & Letters Daily.]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Jan 16, 2004 - 33 comments

Looking over this list of corruption levels by country, it is evident that there is some correlation between corruption and quality of life. But which is cause and which is effect? And since these numbers are only relative, are things getting better overall, or worse? How corrupt is your country?
posted by eas98 on Oct 8, 2003 - 11 comments

Beginnings at the Library of Congress. The origins of the Universe, humanity and society as viewed by different cultural and religious traditions; and their attempts to explain it all.
The Talk.Origins Archive presents a more scientific view of physical and biological beginnings.
posted by plep on May 3, 2003 - 6 comments

The faboo world of New York high society revealed! Bizbash.com reviews the "cheapie centerpieces" at the Lord of the Rings DVD party, the hot-pink truffles at Ivana's disco bash and the stilletto-shaped Manolo Blahnik cookies at the 'Sex and the City' premiere. NFL ice sculptures, Scrabble serving trays and bone-shaped doggie breath mints in silver bowls are among the delights. Those hand-tied veggie crepe bundles at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards sure do look de-lish. Be sure to check the cocktail menu at the venture capitalists' "Back to Reality" bash - held at McDonalds - and the "funky registration area" at last January's World Economic Forum. [more tackiness inside]
posted by mediareport on Oct 31, 2002 - 5 comments

Polygyny vs. polyandry. Are we mildly polygynous? Rebecca considers the evidence. Although some feel polygyny is a divine right, wouldn't polyandry be the solution to overpopulation?
posted by sheauga on May 29, 2002 - 35 comments

Rejection reduces IQ "To live in society, people have to have an inner mechanism that regulates their behaviour. Rejection defeats the purpose of this, and people become impulsive and self-destructive. You have to use self-control to analyse a problem in an IQ test, for example - and instead, you behave impulsively"
posted by zeoslap on Mar 17, 2002 - 21 comments

The Rise and Fall of the Geeks - Three years ago, they had the power to change the world, make a more than decent living and bask on highbrow success - perhaps a justified retribution after many years of world disdain and incomprehension to the geek community. It didn't last... and the article sheds some lights on the probable reasons.
posted by betobeto on Jun 25, 2001 - 34 comments