This week: Revisiting the Pentagon Papers / Short walks are good for you / James Mattis: Roman hero / A memory of Baghdad / Touring Clinton country
Most of these great items come from my social media networks. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Facebook for more fascinating videos, photos, articles, essays, and criticism.
1. Lying in Politics: Reflections on The Pentagon Papers
By Hannah Arendt | The New York Review of Books | November 1971
“The quicksand of lying statements of all sorts, deceptions as well as self-deceptions, is apt to engulf any reader who wishes to probe this material, which, unhappily, he must recognize as the infrastructure of nearly a decade of United States foreign and domestic policy.”
2. Those 2-Minute Walk Breaks? They Add Up
By Gretchen Reynolds | The New York Times | March 2018
“But improving endurance is not the same thing as improving health.”
3. Women Writing the West
By Sarah Boon | LitHub | March 2018
“6 nonfiction writers you should know — from the turn of the century to today”
4. James Mattis Is an Ancient Roman Action Hero
By Robert Zaretsky | Foreign Policy | March 2018
“In dealing with President Trump, the defense secretary seems to have done his reading on Emperor Nero.”
5. Something attacked my son while he was sledding in the woods. But what?
By Mark Shanahan | The Boston Globe Magazine | March 2018
“My child went sledding alone and emerged from the trees bloody and dazed. He still can’t remember what happened.”
6. Why So Many Public Libraries Are Now Giving Out Seeds
By Katherine Davis-Young | Atlas Obscura | March 2018
“Seed-sharing programs aim to expand access to crops and educate the public, while also protecting scarce agricultural resources.”
7. Did scientists really just discover a new organ in he human body?
By Rich Haridy | New Atlas | March 2018
“Using a new microscopic technique, a team of scientists has identified a previously unknown human anatomical feature. Dubbed the interstitium, the discovery reveals that what was previously thought to be simply dense connective tissue sitting below the skin’s surface, and surrounding our organs, is actually a complex series of interconnected, fluid-filled compartments.”
8. One Morning in Baghdad
By Adam Exum | The Atlantic | March 2018
“Fifteen years after the U.S. invasion, there’s no satisfying answer to the question: What were we doing in Iraq anyway?”
9. My 72-Hour Safari in Clinton Country
By Adam Wren | Politico Magazine | March 2018
“More than a year into Trump’s presidency, the bubble has closed back over the Acela Corridor, where voters say they do not regret not voting for Trump.”
10. History of a Conversion: A Political Profile of Mario Vargas Llosa
By Felipe Restrepo Pombo | Words Without Borders | March 2018
Read Part 1 and Part 2
Tell your friends!
Stillness of Heart 