“Of course, since Descartes and the 17th Century there have been other French philosophers and many of them have turned their attention to the processes of human thought but the Cartesian legacy is still very important in the French intellectual tradition. In a Cartesian society, everything is ordered according to clear, precise, mathematical, scientific principles, […]
Quotes
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
How Russia Began Using Poison in Assassinations
“The idea of poisoning — radioactive or otherwise — is not new to Russian intelligence. According to former Russian intelligence officer Boris Volodarsky, now a historian and one-time associate of Litvinenko, the Russians have a history of substance assassination going back nearly a century. It was Lenin who ordered the establishment of their first laboratory, known simply as the […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
How Oil Money From Texas Fuels Hollywood
“The story begins in the 1930s, with Glenn McCarthy striking oil in Beaumont. McCarthy—who was the inspiration for the Jett Rink character in Edna Ferber’s Giant—used his millions to bankroll the 1949 drama ‘The Green Promise’, starring Natalie Wood and Walter Brennan. The movie was almost immediately forgotten, but McCarthy established a much-repeated role: the […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
How Bloomberg Stayed Involved with His Company While Still Being Mayor
“Officially the company was Doctoroff’s to run. Mike agreed with a city ethics board that he’d have no involvement in Bloomberg’s day-to-day operations, limiting his input to major decisions that ‘significantly’ affect his ownership stake. ‘I’ve recused myself from anything to do with the company,’ Mike said at a press conference in November. “In truth, […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Tupac Shakur and the Origins of Thug Life
“My mother was a woman, a black woman, a single mother raising two kids on her own. She was dark-skinned, had short hair, got no love from nobody except for a group called the Black Panthers. “I don’t consider myself to be straight militant. I’m a thug, and my definition of thug comes from half […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
What ‘Forever’ Means to a Teenager
At Rookie, Tavi Gevinson describes what it’s like to be between the ages of 13 and 17. Read more stories from Rookie.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Complicated Relationship Between a Reporter and a Source
In the Tampa Bay Times, Leonora LaPeter Anton examines the suicide of one of her sources, a woman named Gretchen Molannen who was suffering from an embarrassing genital arousal disorder. Was there anything Anton could have done to prevent the death?
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How To Get Your Own False Confession
“If you decide the suspect is lying, you leave the room and wait for five minutes. Then you return with an official-looking folder. ‘I have in this folder the results of our investigation,’ you say. You remain standing to establish your dominance. ‘After reviewing our results, we have no doubt that you committed the crime. […]
Posted inNonfiction, Podcasts, Quotes
The Missing Stories of Slavery
“There are many more narratives to tell about slavery. It’s such a rich subject. It’s like the Civil War, it’s like the Second World War. … I’m happy that they want to [remake Roots] but I think there’s much more—we’ve heard that story already, we don’t have to rehash it. There’s not been a film […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
A Question for Storytellers
“I want a good story, but I want it to be told for a reason. Is affirmation that the storyteller exists a good enough reason for the story to be told? Sometimes. Some stories aren’t told as often as others. I’m not saying there is a hierarchy of suitable topics for essays. Not everything should […]