A Toast to South African Wine:
Place of The Year 2009
Nothing says classy like incredible acumen in wine industry knowledge. Read about one of the world’s top ten wine producers here.
November 2009
Justice Sotomayor, Perhaps “Speed Dating” Should Be Patent-Eligible After All
In light of Bilski v. Kappas Charles R. Macedo questions whether speed dating can by patented.
Net – Podictionary Word of the Day
The podictionary word of the week is “net”.
Historical Thesaurus: On Categories
Professor Christian Kay on categorization in the HTOED.
The Blue Dress
Place of the Year 2009
15 years ago Albie Sachs was appointed by Nelson Mandela to South Africa’s first Constitutional Court. Here he talks about one of the most important buildings in the post-apartheid era and the artwork that makes its visitors pause.
When the People Speak
Watch the trailer of “Europe in One Room.”
The Future is Another Country:
Place of the Year 2009
Author Peter McDonald was the first to investigate the newly opened archives of South Africa’s apartheid censorship bureaucracy in 1999. He was astounded at what he found…
Technology Reduces the Value of Old People, Warns MIT Computer Guru
Dennis Baron looks at the dilemma of being old in the internet age.
Fine and Dandy (In All Except Etymology)
Anatoly Liberman discusses the etymology of “dandy.”
Calling Out All Former Carmen Sandiego Gumshoes!
Place of the Year 2009
Take the “Place of the Year” challenge and win books! Loot, warrant, crook.
On the Playing Fields of Politics:
Place of the Year 2009
On September 22, 1981 Iris Berger joined Pete Seger and 1,000 other demonstrators to protest one of the most politically loaded events in athletic history. Here Berger looks at the influence of sports on the progression of a shared South African national identity.
The Bittersweet Beauty of South Africa:
Place of the Year 2009
Rathbone writes, “I had fallen in love with a tart, a very pretty tart, but a tart with stony heart.” Read why South Africa has been his “Place of the Year” for quite some time.
On The Disrupted Sequence of Health-Care Reform
Elvin Lim looks at the health-care reform bill that passed in the House.
The Ring of Words: From Winterfilth to Blotmath
Senior OED editor Edmund Weiner, one of the authors of The Ring of Words, on Tolkien’s language.
South Africa: Place Of The Year 2009
Oxford announces its annual “Place of the Year”!
The Fall of the Berlin Wall: 20th Anniversary
An excerpt to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.