Austin Allen
Recent Activity
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I’ve read nothing more heartwarming recently than the excerpts from young Obama’s love letters in the new Vanity Fair. The glow they exude has nothing to do with romance and everything to do with nostalgia. They’re so post-collegiate, they almost reek of ramen. Full of curiosity and self-absorption ... Read More
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The copyright on Mein Kampf, Hitler’s infamous 700-page anti-Semitic rant, is scheduled to expire in 2015. Fearing an onslaught of neo-Nazi editions, the Bavarian state has decided to reprint the book in Germany for the first time since World War II, in a scholarly version they hope will be viewed ... Read More
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With bookstores vanishing, the Pulitzer committee skimping on Pulitzers, and the Amazon dragon twining its bright yellow coils around every publisher on Earth, the book industry finds itself in dire peril. But lo! What figure rides over the horizon? Is it...could it be... St. George? Yes ... Read More
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It’s a wonderful oddity—I hesitate to say “coincidence”—that the best erotic poem in literary history should appear smack dab in the middle of the Bible. The Song of Songs (known also as the Song of Solomon or Canticle of Canticles) is an ancient Hebrew text of uncertain date; some scholars trace ... Read More
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Google's "augmented reality" glasses are upon us, complete with stylish company codename ("Project Glass") and Orwellian rhetorical judo: "People I have spoken with [i.e., Google employees] who have have seen Project Glass said there is a misconception that the glasses will interfere with people ... Read More
About Austin Allen
Austin Allen is a teaching fellow and MFA candidate in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University, as well as a former editor at Big Think. He lives in Baltimore and can be reached at austin [at] bigthink [dot] com.