Seventy years ago, in 1940, a popular science magazine published a short article that set in motion one of the trendiest intellectual fads of the 20th century.

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www.esquire.com

Why did humans evolve the capacity to imagine alternatives to reality? Was story-telling in prehistoric times like the peacock’s tail, of no direct practical use but a good way of attracting a mate?

Commentaries are opinion pieces contributed by readers and newsmakers. VTDigger strives to publish a variety of views from a broad range of Vermonters. Commentaries give voice to community members and

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What Is It About 20-Somethings? Credit... ROW 1 , left to right: Annie Ling, Jen Davis, Latoya Ruby Frazier, Elizabeth Weinberg. ROW 2: Dru Donovan (1,2,4); Marvin Orellana (3). ROW 3: David Wright, L

US House of Representatives/Wikimedia Commons Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the n

Soldiers return from Iraq On Tuesday, President Barack Obama will make a speech about Iraq. With 50,000 troops still in the country “in an advisory capacity,” he can’t declare victory, so he will inst

In a rare interview with a Western reporter in Iran, the President denied repressing the opposition. “Everyone is free,” he said. Illustration by Barry Blitt Early this summer, while walking in the Al

Strange days are upon the residents of many a suburban cul-de-sac. Once-tidy yards have become overgrown, as the houses they front have gone vacant. Signs of physical and social disorder are spreading

The cuts lowered tax rates across the board on income, dividends and capital gains; eventually eliminated the estate tax; further lowered burdens on married couples, parents and the working poor; and

If you've ever seen a criminal standing before a firing squad and felt jealous of all the attention he was receiving, then you would have loved writing for Conan O'Brien. There was a ritual at rehears

Aug 31st, 2010 This post makes use of terminology from the ancient black art of GTD (Getting Things Done). If you are unfamiliar with this nefarious practice, good for you. I urge you to stop reading now. If self-abuse is your thing, you can learn more about GTD and its creator here . Recently,…

Chris Hall writes about Georgia Tech football at Barrel of Rum . Follow him on Twitter here . To say that Tech struggled defensively last year would be a slight understatement. Yes, we won an ACC Cham

My father always told me that the day we stop learning is the day we die. I wrote this as a sort of preparation for my 35th birthday last week. Some of these are poignant, others are simply trite; I a

The American Prospect was founded 20 years ago, giving it a birth date that coincides nicely with the end of post-Cold War American foreign policy. "It is a conceit of new publications that their appearance coincides with an historic change," wrote Paul Starr in the magazine's debut issue, "by good…

A modern tale of heartbreak and video games.

Over 62 million mortgages are now held in the name of MERS, an electronic recording system devised by and for the convenience of the mortgage industry. A California bankruptcy court, following landmar

E-readers are everywhere, even at my local library. But what about the trees? You told us about reading the newspaper online vs. getting the print edition, so now tell us about e-books. Does reading o

August 3, 2010 Read the follow up article written August 21, 2013 Ethan Marcotte’s article Responsive Web Design has caught the imagination of web developers. Several subsequent articles have touted the CSS media query feature as a way to build mobile-optimized web sites. Even I’m guilty of…

www.boston.com

“This is just one of those days when you want to throw up your hands and say, ‘What in the world are we doing?’ ” Senator Claire McCaskill, the Missouri Democrat, said. “It’s unconscionable,” Carl Lev

Living Rooms explores the past, present and future of domestic life. Amy Casey, Courtesy of Zg Gallery, Chicago “Dangling” My husband and I spent a year looking for our first home. Every Sunday, we’d

Mail to Print page Submit a letter: Email us letters@nybooks.com Reviewed: The Promise: President Obama, Year One by Jonathan Alter Simon and Schuster, 458 pp., $28.00 Pete Souza/Corbis Barack Obama m

Conservative talk-show host Dennis Prager writes that liberals hate conservatives, but not vice versa: Every one of us on the right has seen this hatred. I am not referring to leftist bloggers or to a

During project-based work, every freelancer, agency, or internal department has “the kickoff meeting.” In theory, this meeting should have all the energy, excitement, and potential of the opening salv

Technological advances have often presented new threats to privacy. In 1890, in perhaps the most famous article on privacy ever written, Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis complained that because of new technology — like the Kodak camera and the tabloid press — “gossip is no longer the resource of the…

(and a couple things about you, me, and a metaphorical horse) Yes. Long. Again. Deal. Thanks. 1. Instapaper’s Story I’ve got to be one of the most voracious users of Marco Arment ’s Instapaper site/bo

Researchers discover a surprising threat to democracy: our brains.

It was fame that killed Robert O’Donnell, killed him as surely as that shotgun blast he fired into his brain on a dark, dusty, West Texas road, miles and years away from the thing that made him famous in the first place.