Maurice Sendak Talks to Stephen Colbert

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak Pt. 1
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Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogVideo Archive




The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak Pt. 2
www.colbertnation.com


Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogVideo Archive

Everyone's Talking About ...

Markets. Scott Carney's book The Red Market  is one of the most interesting things I read (and blogged about) last year. It's about the international market in hair, blood, kidneys, eggs, sperm, wombs ... and children.  Carney confines himself mostly to reporting the facts about these strange markets, but you get a strong sense that he thinks there's something fundamentally wrong with them all.

What it's like to spend the whole day grading exams

Yes, those are the fires of hell.

Ethics minus religion = thin gruel?

Didn't see this until now -- "Room for Debate" at the New York Times, with Rhys Southan weighing in interestingly (as usual).

Elsewhere in vegan-world, Gary Francione has an interesting, long essay about moral realism and "new atheism".  It bothers him, as it does me, that new atheists often accept the following equation:  ETHICS minus RELIGION = THIN GRUEL.  In academic ethics, that equation is

NYT Meat Contest Winner

It's Jay Bost, here and below. 




As a vegetarian who returned to meat-eating, I find the question “Is
meat-eating ethical?” one that is in my head and heart constantly. The
reasons I became a vegetarian, then a vegan and then again a
conscientious meat-eater were all ethical. The ethical reasons of why
NOT to eat meat are obvious: animals are raised and killed in cruel
conditions; grain

Must Read

If you read Brian Leiter, you will have read the funniest review on earth this morning.  If you don't read him, today you must.  The reviewer is Nina Strohminger. The book is The Meaning of Disgust, by Colin McGinn.  She didn't like it.  As a book reviews editor I'm just plain jealous.  Why can't I get people to write reviews like this?  (By the way, what's the magazine/journal?  I can't tell

The Geography of Faith

Here's a reason to be a skeptic that holds up at first, but crumbles on reflection:  religious beliefs depend on where a person lives.  Via Jerry Coyne, here are two amusing maps:






If having a belief depends on where you live, the suspicion is that the belief is shaped by non-rational forces instead of being a consequence of the way the world is.  We shouldn't take these kinds of beliefs too