ehm1212

Marisa Meltzer considers Tumblr: In 2007, journalist Gideon Lewis-Kraus wrote a piece for Harper’s magazine about the future of information archiving. “The promise of the Internet-as-Alexandria is more than the rolling plenitude of information,” he wrote. “It’s the ability of individuals to choreograph that information in idiosyncratic ways, the hope that individuals might feel invited […]

Gabriel Arana on sexual orientation and the college admissions process: Every year, thousands of high school students spend months focused on the art of self presentation. They cram for standardized tests, pen soul-baring essays, and join clubs to beef up their resumés. College applications force students into the daunting task of reducing their lives and […]

Matthew Yglesias on the recent Rahm drama: Barack Obama‘s presidential campaign had few leaks and little infighting, earning it the reputation of “no drama.” The same spirit has mostly carried through into Obama’s governing phase — we’ve heard very little about whatever fights have occurred inside the White House. But that’s changed lately, most notably […]

Tim Fernholz explains why the latest shenanigans in the Senate may actually get us closer to filibuster reform: You can tell that Jim Bunning likes the attention. He always has, from his time as a Hall of Fame pitcher (this must be mentioned in any article about the man) to his absurdist campaigns, where he […]

Adam Serwer explains how the “Gitmo Nine” meme spread from the pages of National Review to the halls of Congress: The “Gitmo Nine” aren’t terrorists. They weren’t captured fighting for the Taliban. They’ve made no attempts to kill Americans. They haven’t declared war on the United States, nor have they joined any group that has. […]

Adam Serwer explains why some young Western Muslims find al-Qaeda’s narrative so appealing: Americans were rattled out of their holiday routine last year when they learned that a 23-year-old Nigerian citizen named Umar Abdulmutallab snuck a bomb in his underwear onto an Amsterdam flight bound for Detroit. Thankfully, Abdulmutallab proved to be a hapless terrorist […]

Paul Waldman asks why Democrats are seriously considering tort reform: When it became clear that Republicans were going to have to offer their own ideas on health care, if for no other reason than to show they are more than the Party of No, they put on their thinking caps and came up with four. […]

Suzy Khimm and Tim Fernholz lay out eight meaningful things Obama could do right now — without getting caught in congressional gridlock: In the first year of his presidency, Barack Obama had two ways to make significant progress toward the platform for which Americans voted. One avenue involved cross-partisan legislative negotiations; the other involved a […]

Mark Schmitt looks at how the Citizens United ruling may bring a new day in the effort to separate economic inequality from democracy: In a poll released in early February, 56 percent of voters said they had paid some or a great deal of attention to the Supreme Court’s Jan. 21 decision in the case […]

Nathan Schneider reviews 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: What is it like to be a New Atheist — one of those irascible preachers of reason, those “militant” purveyors of populist non-belief like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens? Most people don’t bother to ask, because they think they already know. Either it’s a depraved […]