OUPblog

Nine reasons I love John Williams [playlist]

By Tim Greiving
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Built on trust: the rigorous review process behind Oxford Law Pro’s Content [infographic]
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Prague: a playlist from the heart of Europe

By Cynthia Paces
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Bob Woodward and the Perils of Anonymous Sources

In the afterglow of Watergate, Washington journalists’ ever-growing reliance on anonymous sources left both reporters and editors vulnerable to manipulation. As editor of the Post’s Metro section, Bob Woodward failed to challenge a promising young reporter who submitted a sensational article on an eight-year-old drug addict, based entirely on anonymous sources. After Janet Cooke won the Pulitzer Prize for “Jimmy’s World” in 1981, an internal investigation exposed the story as fictitious. The Cooke incident derailed Woodward’s rise within the Post’s management and resulted in his nebulous position as assistant managing editor.

Schooling America: Assimilation

Patricia Graham provides historical context to today’s battles over public education.

Rosa Parks and Judicial Review

by James C. Cobb I was alternatively puzzled and amused by the torrent of praise showered on Rosa Parks, one of the most celebrated social activists of the twentieth century, by many of the same folks who are quick to condemn other activists who allegedly operate from a lofty court bench rather than a lowly […]

A Traditional American Thanksgiving

Andrew Smith, culinary guru and editor of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, asks “Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?” and investigates the history and culinary traditions of this most American of holidays. With detours to the creation of the turducken and other culinary oddities.

November 22, 1963

“If President John F. Kennedy had lived, he would not have sent combat troops to Vietnam and America’s longest war would never have occurred,” say Kennedy apologists. The assassination, they insist, had killed more than the president; it was responsible for the death of a generation—of more than 58,000 Americans, along with untold numbers of […]

The Undercover Economist is selling Freakonomics

Tim Harford is selling his signed copy of Freakonomics on Ebay with the proceeds to go to Steven Levitt’s favorite charity, Smile Train. The story behind the auction, which is supported by Levitt, comes from an interview Harford did with Levitt in the spring. The current bid is $500, click here to get in on […]

Rosa Parks, Brown and Civil Rights

James Cobb wrote in The New Republic online yesterday that this may be a watershed moment in the Civil Rights movement. He tries to unwind the knot surrounding the confluence of the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Ed. decision last year, the passing of Rosa Parks and the nomination of Samuel Alito […]

2005 Cave Canem Poetry Prize

Galleycat reports today that Constance Quarterman Bridges won the 2005 Cave Canem Poetry Prize for Lions Don’t Eat Us. Everyone at OUP offers her our hearty congratulations! The following poem by Ms. Bridges was published in The Oxford Anthology of African-American Poetry edited by Arnold Rampersad. Gordian Knot “Great-grandfather Fray was a white man. He […]

“Leaves of Grass” – 150 Years Later

In The New York Times today, Michael Frank reviews the New York Public Library exhibit “I Am With You” commemorating the 150th anniversary of Leaves of Grass. Frank writes: Drawing on the library’s extensive holdings, Mr. Gewirtz [the exhibition curator] has put on display at least one copy of every authorized American edition of “Leaves,” […]

Hurricanes & the ‘Butterfly Effect’

Kerry Emanuel, author of Divine Wind, spoke to the Miami Herald over the weekend and discussed one of the more promising ideas for pushing potentially devastating storms back out to sea. The most promising [idea] is from [atmospheric researcher] Ross Hoffman. His idea is based on the ”butterfly effect” — introducing a perturbation — a […]

“An army of liberty and freedom”

Uber-blogger Andrew Sullivan quoted David Hackett Fischer today in a post on “alleged mistreatment of detainees” by U.S. forces in Iraq. Sullivan writes in response to two stories that came out today; one, about abuses at an Iraqi ministry, the other, a story on alleged abuses by U.S. Army soldiers that has resulted in a […]

Harvey Cushing in NYROB

It was Harvey Cushing who, while still in his early thirties, introduced the notion of routinely monitoring the blood pressure during operations, something that had never been done before. This innovation was presented at about the same time that he undertook the difficult treatment of tic douloureux-a debilitating form of facial neuralgia-by the exquisitely delicate maneuver of removing the mass of nerve tissue at the very edge of the brain, called the Gasserian ganglion, through which the agonizing pain passed.

The Future of the Brain

The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT will host a powerhouse symposium on December 1 which it is calling “The Future of the Brain.” The event will be moderated by Ira Flatow of NPR’s Science Friday, who has had a number of Oxford authors on his show of late, and even though the […]

Jeffrey Rosen: It Ain’t Broke

Thanks to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Jeffrey Rosen’s review of recent books that address our confirmation process for SCOTUS nominees – “a messy combination of politics, ideology, and merit” – is now available to OUPblog readers. LINK Here are the first few paragraphs: In the wake of Harriet E. Miers’s withdrawal of her nomination […]

Friday is Harford Day

It wouldn’t be a proper Friday without an update on the activities of The Undercover Economist. On Wednesday, Harford spoke with Robin Young on the NPR show Here & Now. You’ll have to listen to learn Harford’s advice on how to pay less than $3.10 for a latte at Starbucks. I was outraged when I […]

The Broken Congress

Thoman E. Mann, writing in today’s New York Times opinion page, applauds the defeat of “Election Reform” ballot initiatives in Ohio and California on Tuesday. Both initiatives “would have required a round of redistricting in the middle of this decade” and, Mann claims, “any initiative requiring mid-decade redistricting smells like a power grab by the […]