In this extended interview, Jay Winter, the general editor of The Cambridge History of the First World War, discusses his work on the first truly transnational history of the Great War that integrates the military, the political, and the social aspects of World War I to illustrate how the war impacted upon every corner of its combatants’ […]
Read MoreMarci A. Hamilton has updated her classic constitutional law book, God vs. the Gavel, to discuss the raging debate over contraceptive care and religious freedom. In this interview, she discusses the key issues at stake in this term’s landmark Supreme Court case Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby.
Read MoreTheatre historian, Dr Eva Griffith, talks to us about her latest book 'A Jacobean Company and Its Playhouse' (2013).
Read MoreToday marks the 68th anniversary of the end of World War II, when Japan surrendered to the United States. Hatsue Shinohara, the author of US International Lawyers in the Interwar Years, discusses a forgotten crusade to abolish war, and how international law has worked to avoid major wars for the last six decades.
Read MoreHuw Bennett, author of Fighting the Mau Mau, tells us about being inspired to write the book, as well as the practical and moral dilemmas in doing so...
Read MoreIan Dowbiggin is the author of The Quest for Mental Health (2011), and here he takes a few minutes out of his work to answer our questions.
Read More“I’m strictly a journalist.” – Martin Gardner Martin Gardner had no formal mathematical training. A newspaper reporter, publicist, freelancer for Esquire, caseworker, magician, skeptic, Navy sailor, and most famously, "Mathematical Games" columnist for Scientific American, Gardner displayed a boundless energy and enthusiasm for intellectual inquiry. A tireless advocate for science, his popular books and articles painstakingly argue against the dangers of pseudoscience in all forms. On Saturday, Gardner passed away at the age of 95 in Norman, OK. TSoTP takes a look back.
Read MoreToday marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day – the birth of the modern environmental movement – and a great moment to reflect on how far we’ve come since 1970. In a year that witnessed the failed Copenhagen climate conference and steadily escalating conflicts between climate change skeptics and fervent environmental activists, it remains difficult to sort out answers amid the clamor. In USA TODAY, Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and editor of the forthcoming Smart Solutions to Climate Change (September 2010), gives his rather optimistic perspective: "Earth Day: Smile, don't shudder..." -------- Given all the talk of impending catastrophe, this may come as a surprise, but as we approach the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day, people who care about the environment actually have a lot to celebrate. Of course, that's not how the organizers of Earth Day 2010 see it. In their view (to quote a recent online call to arms), "The world is in greater peril than ever." But consider this: In virtually every developed country, the air is more breathable and the water is more drinkable than it was in 1970. In most of the First World, deforestation has turned to reforestation. Moreover, the percentage of malnutrition has been reduced, and ever-more people have access to clean water and sanitation. Apocalyptic predictions from concerned environmental activists are nothing new. Until about 10 years ago, I took it for granted that these predictions were sound. Like many of us, I believed that the world was in a terrible state that was only getting worse with each passing day. My thinking changed only when, as a university lecturer, I set out with my students to disprove what I regarded at the time as the far-fetched notion that global environmental conditions were actually improving.
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