Arab arts and political radicals in London this weekend
And there are cool Arab arts of all sorts in London this summer
On the Palestinian request for UN recognition
A former AIPAC lobbyist says Palestine is ‘imaginary’ and unworthy of UN recognition. Surprise
And God will give Gov. Rick Perry a dog whistle
Yesterday’s prayer rally gave us Rick Perry, sectarian leader, dooming his shot at the presidency
Samandal comic book, debut issue, 2008, Beirut, Lebanon
An eclectic mix of graphic styles and languages that captures the cultural mixed-up-ness of Beirut
A landmark moment in Turkey
The decades-long shadow play between the military and the state took a most dramatic turn last week
The wisdom of the New York Times comments section
Times readers know the debt ceiling debate is bogus, but it works on them anyway
Into the darkness of the New York Times comments section
The central challenge for a superpower: strong views, little knowledge, limitless power to intervene
Norway and the loss of innocence
It was always a myth, a very Norwegian way to boast about their own modesty
Patti Smith sends me to the Chelsea Hotel
The Chelsea, she writes, was like a doll’s house in the Twilight Zone. Indeed.
Why we will miss this grimy little bar
Mars Bar was a vestige of the East Village in the 1980s: the area cleaned up but the bar never did
Seeing the Ryan Trecartin exhibit at PS1
His tedious stories replicate like fractals in a surfeit of superficially distinct artistic choices
Moviebarcodes reveal the mood of a film at a glance
And who knew Stanley Kubrick used color the way Walt Disney did?
A German photographer captures cathode-ray decays
I can even feel the static electricity surge when an old TV was turned off
Is this really Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh?
And what was he thinking he’d gain from appearing on TV like this?
Nicholas Lemann whitewashes urban life
There’s no more innovative force than the racial intersections that occur daily in cities
What am I doing on a bench in Italy on Google Street View
I am writing in my journal about the Google car passing in front of me
Chikashi Miyamoto on bespoke suits and biking for children
Riding from London to Edinburgh to support the UK children’s charity The Place2Be