Headlines from October 15, 2012
- Six-year study of Britain’s drug laws by cops, scientists, etc., recommends decriminalization.
- Primer on the battle over whether soda actually makes us fat.
- Pumpkin is the new bacon. #opinions
- Philosopher argues for pain-free world, which may soon be possible with technology.
- People with congenital analgesia—people who, in fact, feel no pain at all—live miserably.
- Philip Hensher analyzes the handwriting of J.K. Rowling, Lady Gaga, other celebrities.
- The Biblioracle is in the house today—name your last five books, and he’ll recommend your next favorite. #tmn
- I really think the owl will do it for me today. David Sedaris on being misread.
- Every day for lunch, President Ford ate cottage cheese with steak sauce and an onion.
- To succeed, an Affleck project must be accompanied or preceded by Affleck facial hair.
- Photographic glimpse into the everyday working life of Americans 150 years ago.
- Twenty-five years ago, the great storm of 1987 killed 22 people, plus six of Sevenoaks’s seven oak trees.
- Text-message dialogue with fellow car-accident participant yields unexpected ending.
- For your afternoon break, we recommend revisiting Sarah Hepola’s series of brief crushes on perfect strangers.
- German chancellor tries unsuccessfully to feel Greeks’ pain during visit.
- America faces the doom of Venice, where elites yanked up the ladders after they’d climbed to the top.
- Round-up of nastiest Congressional races currently underway.
- Senator Arlen Specter, “a Philadelphia institution,” dies of cancer at 82.
- Must-see art shows this month in Baltimore, Chicago, Kansas City.
- I’m not in the luxury-goods business. I sell unique objects. Larry Gagosian explains how his business works.
- Narrated view of Earth at night, “when lightning storms flash like June bugs.”
- Videos of Felix Baumgartner, former Austrian paratrooper, making the highest and fastest jump in history yesterday.
- The traditional midlife crisis no longer exists; now there’s merely a dream of a latté sipped alone.
- Simple ways to hack your breadstick. #video
- An ATM card and its password is more secure than your email account if you haven’t enabled two-step verification.
- Round-up of great spy stories available on the web, including the article that became Ben Affleck’s Argo.
- To make her historical fiction vital, Hilary Mantel imagines interviewing her characters. #longreads
- Tough city streets in miniature. #photography #tmn