The Latest from Big Think

The loudest voices are the insurgents, Farnaz Fassihi says.

Farnaz Fassihi tells the story of the Baghdad email update that made its way around the world.

A high-speed car chase with Farnaz Fassihi

Farnaz Fassihi says Pearl’s death marked a turning point in security policy for the WSJ.

Farnaz Fassihi takes us from fixer to translator to journalist.

It’s democracy but a sectarian democracy Farnaz Fassihi says.

Farnaz Fassihi on following the quotidian.

Farnaz Fassihi describes a few of the challenges facing reporters on the ground.

Farnas Fassihi chose people who represented post-war Iraq.

Farnaz Fassihi says being from Iran helps with approaching Iraqis.

Getting offered $500 million for a company that doesn’t even have a revenue stream would seem like a pretty good deal especially in a bad economy. But it wasn’t good […]

Both middle class students wishing to forego the life-ruining nature of college loans and wealthier students who find they are suddenly unable to afford neither the Ivies nor private colleges […]

"The Cult of Celebrity is supported by an aggressive brainwash machine promoting the wrong heroes in the face of our stressed infrastructure. For example, in a film about a brilliant mathematician, we are trained to believe that the actor is the proper icon. Or in the case of a beautiful song about human rights, we are conditioned to venerate the performer. The net result: shortages of great mathematicians, shortages of social activists, but no lack of entertainment celebrities posing as gods."

"The concept of a 'billionaire philanthropist' is an oxymoron. If somebody has amassed a billion dollars, that person likely did so by overcharging for products/services through monopolistic power in the marketplace. It would be much more impressive to see the 'billionaire philanthropist' drastically cut prices for the benefit of mankind rather than merely handing over 10%-20% of personal net worth for purposes of obtaining a tax break."

"There is a strange illusion of freedom in this plutocracy masquerading as a democracy. Yes, we have the freedom to be obscene, wear the latest Halloween costume, and behave rudely. But we remain slaves to a system that will imprison us if we don't pay our taxes, compels us to buy essentials from monopolies, and will seize our house if we fail to make the mortgage. Just because you can say 'f-ck' in public does not change the fact you remain a slave to the dollar bill."

Americans first heard about the “march toward socialism” as the financial crisis reached a fever pitch last fall. Since then, the rhetoric on socialism’s return has grown central to political […]

Just when you thought poetry was dead, Newser today cites a Telegraph story showing that email and social networking is catalyzing a resurgence in that oldest of literary art forms. […]

The Berkeley professor charts the moral decline of a nation.

Dacher Keltner on how to sync your emotions.

A Berkeley happiness guru on the downturn’s upside.