Happy Birthday to illustrator Arthur Rackham, born today in 1867. 


Recent links of interest:

Clash of Civilizations: Islam and the West (video)
Free speech triumphant! Ayaan Hirsi Ali delivered her Yale lecture with aplomb.

A Theory for Tattoos
From the body as physique to the body as text. And not just any text, but one demanding translation and critique. 

Re: Memorial to Waste
"Dwight Eisenhower and Frank Gehry do not go together. Not at all. Not even a little bit."  Gehry's buildings are a monument to Gehry and no one else. 

Boswell's Postcards From a Hanging
Believing death to be both "wondrous" and "alarming," Boswell sought to experience it via public executions. What would Dr. Johnson say?

The 2014 MacArthur Fellows: "Genius" Grant Awardees
There are seven artists, writers, and musicians among this year's "genius" grant awardees. I'll assume my own letter just got lost in the mail. 

From our pages:

The Minister of Paradox
The complicated, often conflicted, life of Alexander Herzen. 

A Message from the Editors

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