Big Think Blog

If Carrie Bradshaw remains single through the end of the Sex and the City movie, which opens today nationwide, the sequel may have to be about politics - and not the personal kind. One quarter of the U.S. electorate is comprised of unhitched gals who are shaping up to be the soccer moms of this election season, according to Lion Calandra of the New York Daily News editorial board. This crowd of “Misses” is gunning for change and supporting Democratic candidates in high numbers. As Carrie’s quest for the perfect pair of Manolos attests, the economy is a big issue for solo women, since there’s nobody to pick up the slack if they get the pink slip.

Former senator from Alaska Mike Gravel has faith in this, and all of America’s constituencies, to make the right choice for president. Gravel, who campaigned for the Democratic nomination in 2006 and was once a Libertarian, prior to retiring from politics, is a rabid democrat, with a little “d.” “The people are smarter than their leaders,” he says. See what else Gravel says about the electoral process. It will inspire you to be a part of it.

Noticing an emptier wallet after recent trips to Kroger? How about Whole Foods? Was that gallon of organic milk accidentally marked $8.00? How about the eggs, bread, and rice? Though commodities may be provoking double takes and a rewriting of the family budget, they only reflect the rising production and transport costs afflicting food markets across the globe. In other countries, the commodity crunch is starker. In Cairo, meat is an afterthought, and people have been killed waiting in bread lines.

Russians now fret more about basic staples than they do about terrorism. Still the government insists Muscovites can be fed affordably. One young journalist is taking the party line to task by trying to live at the official food subsistence threshold of 2,181 rubles and 70 kopecks (about 96 USD). With inflation at 5.3%, she is not doing well.

Historically, the US has been inured to artificially low food prices due to industrial agriculture dominating the market and enforcing price caps. Nutritionist and former head of NYU’s Steinhardt School of Nutrition, Marion Nestle, talks to Big Think about how globalization has changed the way we eat.

The U.S. State Department has withdrawn seven Fulbright grants awarded to Palestinian students currently residing in Gaza. According to an article in the International Herald Tribune, the justification for the withdrawal is a concern that “if students were forced to remain in Gaza the grant might go to waste.”

This decision has sparked outrage among both Palestinian and Israeli proponents of educational freedom and mobility. One of the Fulbright grantees lamented, “If we are talking about peace and mutual understanding, it means investing in people who will later contribute to Palestinian society… Israel talks about a Palestinian state. But who will build that state if we can get no training?”

During a hearing on Wednesday, Rabbi Michael Melchior, chairman of Israel’s Education Committee in Parliament, spoke out about the injustice of limiting the mobility of Palestinian students. “This could be interpreted as collective punishment,” he noted. “This policy is not in keeping with international standards or with the moral standards of Jews, who have been subjected to the deprivation of higher education in the past. Even in war, there are rules.”

When Big Think spoke to Lawrence Summers, an economist and former President of Harvard University, he emphasized the importance of promoting opportunity for more people around the globe. Whether technological, educational, or material, Summers believes that greater access to opportunity is the key to global progress and peace.

As the world continues to globalize, the delicate game of negotiating trade agreements will confront policy makers in states around the world. Already, the United States has seen the political dance the Democratic presidential candidates have conducted, campaigning on a promise to “renegotiate” NAFTA should they be elected. Some of the experts we’ve talked to are skeptical that the Clinton and Obama really would act on said campaign promises. Here, leaders in both the Republican and Democratic party tell us why they think NAFTA was a good thing. John McCain, starts:





Gov. Bill Richardson also seems to think it was a strong idea:





And fmr. Senator George Mitchell, majority leader when it was passed, still has faith:

Scott McClellan, the second of four press secretaries to the Bush White House, has apparently shocked the nation and angered his former employers by releasing a book that details the propaganda used to manipulate the American public into supporting the invasion of Iraq.


Are we really all that surprised?


Walter Lippmann, an influential political commentator and presidential advisor, pointed out the flaws of journalism as a source of public information way back in the 1920’s. His explanation that journalists use stereotypes and archetypes to communicate complicated issues as simply as possible to the widest-possible audience should hardly fluster us. And he was referring to radio and print media, sources far more detailed than TV soundbites and blog posts.


This hardly exonerates the Bush White House, but perhaps indicates that the press ought to take more responsibility for American involvement in Iraq.


Big Think asks Peter Beinhart of The New Republic to speak to the failure of the American media to question the decision to go into Iraq.





Lee Hamilton, the Vice-Chair of the 9/11 Commission and a former Congressman, points out that the going to war is probably the hardest decision any government has to face. Yet he admonishes the Bush administration for not providing the resources necessary to back up its “extraordinary goals” in Iraq.





The McClellan book may represent the initial drops of what may be a flood of finger-pointing as the underbelly of the Bush Administration comes under ever-closer scrutiny.

According to Michelle Malkin, yes. Why you may be asking? Because Rachel Ray wore a scarf that looks like a kaffiyeh in her most recent Dunkin Donuts ad. In response to complaints from Malkin and others, Dunkin Donuts has decided to pull the spot and issue an apology. Could this be another sign that the Clash of Civilizations Truly Exists? No, says every expert Big Think has talked to. But it may show, as Christina pointed out yesterday on this blog, that Americans are grossly out of touch with their Arab brothers and sisters. On the other hand, author, professor and Middle East expert Vali Nasr believes that we may know more about each other than one would think. Given today’s most recent cultural spat, do you agree with Nasr’s outlook?

In one of his more decisive moves since becoming governor of New York, David A. Paterson issued a directive on May 14th indicating that New York state agencies would provide gay married couples with the same rights that are afforded to straight couples.While gay marriages are still not performed in New York, the state will recognize unions performed in places such as Massachusetts, California, and Canada.


Many see the governor’s directive as a crucial step towards equality. Others believe Paterson continues to skirt the real issue—the legalization of gay marriage in New York.


Big Think spoke to a variety of experts about the legacy of the civil rights movement, how it is interpreted among members of the gay community today, and how it will continue to play out in the future of American politics.


Kenji Yoshino, Professor at Law Yale School, discusses the importance of framing gay rights in the context of universal rights. He emphasizes that “the liberty claim” is much more powerful than arguments rooted in minority status. He notes: “In the civil rights realm, my big project is really to try to move away from group-based identity projects to universal liberty projects… It’s not about special rights; it’s about equal rights. It’s about a liberty that all of us hold.”





David Hauslaib, Editor of Jossip, argues that while the concept of civil rights seems ‘outdated,’ it is still very much alive in the debate over the issue of gay marriage.


“I have a personal issue with the idea that some people can ‘tolerate’ homosexuality… I think right now the goal needs to be to promote this as a normalized sort of behavior.”





Neil Giuliano, President of GLAAD, expresses optimism about the fight for equal rights in the coming years, noting that all the major presidential candidates have established strong ties to the gay community.

Despite rising food prices in the U.S. and throughout the world, Americans’ obsession with all things culinary continues to grow. The newest gastronomical trend? Miracle fruit—a berry that has inspired a series of “flavor-tripping” parties throughout the greater New York metro area. The berry, which is native to West Africa, “rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so, rendering lemons as sweet as candy.” Thrill-seeking foodies delight at the fruit’s ability to transform familiar foods into entirely new experiences of flavor and texture.


While miracle fruit may not show up on traditional menus anytime soon, Manhattan’s culinary innovators continue to create miracles of a different sort. David Chang, chef and owner of Manhattan’s Momofuku restaurants, discusses the importance of “building upon flavor profiles” to create powerful dishes using the simplest of ingredients.





Dan Barber, who emphasizes the farm-to-table concept at his restaurants, Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, discusses the joy of re-discovering a traditional strain of corn.

European pop music has long been subject to the disapproval of wiser-than-thou music fans and critics. From the synth doodlings of O-Zone to the outré cheesiness of Scandinavia’s Aqua to the ever popular techno, house, and chill-out, the “eurotrash” label has been applied and reapplied for decades. Showcasing the continent’s star-power, there is the Eurovision Song ContestOriginally conceived by the European Broadcasting Union as Le Grand-Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne, it was first held in 1956 in lakeside Lugano. Invited states nominate one up-and-coming artist to perform an unreleased song as the national entry in the contest. After heated semi-finals and finals, a winner is voted on. More than just a Superbowl of radio-friendly pop, Eurovision is one of the oldest pan-European cultural phenomena garnering 600 million viewers in a good year and providing ripe possibilities for tourism revenue in the host country. Politics makes a showing too. This year’s host, Serbia, rolled out the red carpet in Belgrade hoping to shed their bad boy of the Balkans reputation post Kosovar secession, and it was even speculated that Ukrainian artist Ani Lorak, who secured second place with her performance of Shady Ladylost the grand prize to Russia when former Soviet states pooled their votes for that country’s entrant, Dima Bilan. Long-time presenter Terry Wogan was so upset by the bloc voting he wondered whether he should resign his position.The polyglot cultural watchdogs at Cafe Babellamented the whole “poison cocktail” of Eurovision as a broadcaster-dictated, folklore manic distortion of what’s really playing on the continent.


Curious about what separates the one-hit wonders from the real stars, we turned to two musicians who have made it to the big time. John Legend starts with his take on whose music will be iconic. Certain character traits, he notes, are key.





The conversation continues with world-crusading star, Moby, giving his advice to young musicians and telling them to keep an open mind when it comes to others’ art.

With Barack Obama’s Democratic nomination almost inevitable, will Hillary Clinton go down in history as the manlier candidate? “A lot of weaker people would have given up by now,” said West Virginian Marcia Slavin as she stood in the rain on Mother’s Day to see her heroine battle against all electoral odds. Clinton has been cultivating her reputation as a fighter, famously vowing to “obliterate” Iran if it attacked Israel with atomic weapons. And for years, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been using the term “testicle lockbox.” to describe her style.

Harvard political theorist Harvey Mansfield describes manliness as “confidence in the face of risk” and notes that while both men and women possess this trait, men are more likely to seek out risk. Manliness has a dark side, he points out, as demonstrated in President Bush’s sometimes blind determination, which can often devolve into stubbornness.

If how someone plays the game is more important than the end result—especially when it comes to character—then Clinton may be priming herself for the next round, wherever that may be. After all, according to Mansfield, “Women have a courage of endurance; they live longer than men do and maybe there’s reason for that.” Here’s what else professor Mansfield has to say about the differences between men and women.