James Fallows | Atlantic | 9 February 2012 Monumental retrospective of US president's first term. Should we think of him as the "chess master", able to think 10 moves ahead of his opponents? Or as a mere pawn? Fallows considers in this 12,000-word essay Comments Russell Shorto | NYT | 13 February 2012 A glimpse into harsh reality of life in Greece, where half of all under 25s are now out of work. And yet despite economic turmoil "somehow everyday life rumbles on, in a collective trance, shot through with gallows humor" Comments Tom Clynes | Pop Science | 14 February 2012 "Someone like him comes along maybe once in a generation. He's not just smart; he's cool, articulate. I think he may be the most amazing kid I've ever met." Indeed. For at the tender age of 14, Taylor Wilson achieved nuclear fusion Comments Ian Stewart | New Scientist | 13 February 2012 Some equations are simply more important than others. Here's a reminder of seven, that enabled many of the technologies we now rely on: The wave equation, Maxwell's four equations, the Fourier transform and Schrödinger's equation Comments Andrew Haldane | LRB | 16 February 2012 Masterful essay on history of equity, leverage, risk-taking incentives in the banking system. From 19th century to present day. "In evolutionary terms, we have had survival not of the fittest but the fattest." It's time for change Comments Algis Valiunas | Claremont Institute | 10 February 2012 Fine, detailed evaluation of troubled life, and works of David Foster Wallace. "With the benefit of time, it will be recognised that Wallace had less in common with Eggers and Franzen than he did with Dostoevsky and Joyce" Comments Hans Ulrich Obrist & Adam Curtis | e-flux | 11 February 2012 Absorbing interview with BBC documentary maker. "If you had to reduce what I do, I look at how ideas have consequences, not necessarily what the promoters of them intended." Fascinating on power, individualism, populism Comments Sam Kashner | Vanity Fair | 14 February 2012 Rare interview with movie star Sophia Loren. Still irresistible at the age of 77. "Head her in the direction of a camera, set her Etruscan eyes dancing, and Sophia is one of the most magnificent women in the world" Comments | 
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