Brainiac
A slave demands his back wages
Recent highlights from the Ideas blog, including a letter from an emancipated slave to his former master, a lego man in space, and why we think we’re so awesome.
The Heads of the State for The Boston Globe
Can censorship help heal Rwanda?
Just eighteen years after genocide, this tiny East African nation is an international success story. Just don’t mention ethnic groups or criticize the government.By Peter S. Canellos
Uncommon Knowledge
Liberals love bunnies, conservatives hate maggots
Surprising insights from the social sciences, including a look at the emotions behind different political beliefs, how female role models erase gender gaps, and more.
“For American enthusiasts of the Kagame regime, the Ingabire case points to a dilemma: Rwanda’s remarkable reconciliation and success have gone hand in hand with severely curtailed freedom of speech.”
Peter Canellos, on free expression in Rwanda
Inside
Brainiac
Brainiac
Are shipwrecks romantic or cheesy?
Where did that idea about “women and children first” come from, anyway? George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Rudyard Kipling weigh in.
The Word
The Word
A pahticulah way of talking
Hundreds of years ago, Massachusetts was already assembling Puritan language rules and Native American and foreign influences into a distinctively American speech pattern.
Uncommon Knowledge
Uncommon Knowledge
Pot: the beer of teenagers
Studies on the Fair Trade diet, buying the better brawler, pot as a substitute for alcohol, letting yesterday’s economic news affect today’s markets, and how better technology can lead to greater risk-taking.
Books
BOOK REVIEW
‘Heft’ by Liz Moore
The novel follows an obese ex-professor and his unrequited tie to a former student.
Opinion
“When you hire someone, you make nine enemies and one ingrate.’’
John Moffitt, chief secretary for former Mass. governor William Weld
