Articles 2024
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Rational Exuberance
Review of Pop!: Why Bubbles Are Great For The Economy by Daniel Gross
The New York Times Book Review, July 21, 2007
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Starlight and Shadow
George Hurrell's brilliantly orchestrated photographs helped define Hollywood glamour in the 1930s.
The Atlantic, July/August 2007
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Paint of View
The color of a house is a sign of owner individuality—and a test of neighborhood tolerance.
The Atlantic, June 2007
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A Small Circle of Friends
Some self-help groups save lives, and some just drift apart. What makes a personal network click?
Forbes, May 05, 2007
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Dress Sense
Why fashion deserves its place in art museums
The Atlantic, May 2007
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Mr. Charisma: Obama or Osama
Review of Charisma: The Gift of Grace, and How It Has Been Taken Away From Us, by Philip Rieff
New York Post, April 07, 2007
Democrats are "hypnotized by charisma," warns former Sen. Bill Bradley in his new book, "The New American Story." "Ever since JFK's Camelot, Democrats have been looking for a leader whose very presence would ensure the nation's primacy." -
Lofty Ambitions
Once upon a time, lofts were cheap spaces for struggling artists. Today they are phony and pricey, and that's just fine.
The Atlantic, April 2007
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Your Design Here
Are amateurs taking over? Don't panic--DIY design culture might just have something to teach us.
Print, March-April 2007
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An 18th-Century Brain in a 21st-Century Head
Cato Unbound, March 2007
As the editor of Reason, I used to be infuriated at the way the Los Angeles Times and other mainstream publications consistently capitalized Libertarian when referring to the magazine or its parent organization, the Reason Foundation. They wouldn’t capitalize liberal or conservative, republican or democrat, unless they were referring to a political party. (Most Republicans are, after all, democrats, and I’ve never met a Democrat who wasn’t a republican.) Why couldn’t they understand that Reason was not a party organ but, like its liberal and conservative counterparts, a magazine of ideas? Were the copy editors just stupid? -
The Truth About Beauty
It is the same in the eye of every beholder.
The Atlantic, March 2007
Cosmetics makers have always sold “hope in a jar”—creams and potions that promise youth, beauty, sex appeal, and even love for the women who use them. Over the last few years, the marketers at Dove have added some new-and-improved enticements. They’re now promising self-esteem and cultural transformation. Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty,” declares a press release, is “a global effort that is intended to serve as a starting point for societal change and act as a catalyst for widening the definition and discussion of beauty.” Along with its thigh-firming creams, self-tanners, and hair conditioners, Dove is peddling the crowd-pleasing notions that beauty is a media creation, that recognizing plural forms of beauty is the same as declaring every woman beautiful, and that self-esteem means ignoring imperfections.