Author Archives: Timothy Burke

One-A-Day: John Lewis Gaddis, The Cold War: A New History

Posted on January 9, 2008 by Timothy Burke

My next project, if I can put it together, is going to focus on Africa as a whole during the Cold War. So I’ve been diving into the general historiography of the Cold War as much as I can manage … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 12 Comments

One-a-Day: Bjorn Lomborg, Cool It

Posted on January 4, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I really want to like Lomborg’s work more than I do. I’m completely open to and interested in an argument that a smart cost-benefit analysis of conventional environmentalist policy recommendations suggests that money is best spent on completely different kinds … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 2 Comments

No

Posted on January 4, 2008 by Timothy Burke

This post makes me feel as sad as anything I’ve read in years.

Posted in Blogging | Comments Off on No

Competency as a Cultural Value

Posted on January 4, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Earlier this week on NPR, I heard a man-on-the-street segment about the current election cycle featuring three Southern women, two Texans, one a former New Orleans resident who left after Katrina. The first woman is an assistant manager in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 9 Comments

One-A-Day: A Crack in the Edge of the World

Posted on January 3, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Simon Winchester’s non-fiction is the equivalent of really good popular or genre fiction, it seems to me. Kind of the Stephen King of non-fiction writing. Eminently readable, a clean and accessible style, a good choice of subjects. The Professor and … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 3 Comments

The Same Game

Posted on January 3, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Raph Koster has an interesting post covering many of the major game releases of 2007. The gist of his argument, as I see it, is that underneath their graphics and storytelling, games like God of War 2, Bioshock, Mass Effect, … Continue reading →

Posted in Games and Gaming | 8 Comments

One-A-Day: The Traveller

Posted on January 2, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I’m going to try very hard to post a least a short commentary on books I’ve read once a day, or close to it, in part to get me away from repetitious entries on a narrow range of issues. Not … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | Comments Off on One-A-Day: The Traveller

Prisoner’s Dilemma, Ethnic-Conflict Style

Posted on January 2, 2008 by Timothy Burke

On various listservs, African Studies scholars are buzzing with irritation about coverage of the political turmoil in Kenya following the election. (I’m continuing the Hate-the-NY-Times Week.) I think they’re right to complain in this case, for several reasons. Jeffrey Gettleman’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 2 Comments

Nominations of Better Columnists

Posted on January 2, 2008 by Timothy Burke

As an extension of my last post, let me start the nominations for online writers that you feel like could serve as better columnists for the New York Times than most of the current group. Basic things to consider: reasonably … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging | 14 Comments

Viral Disgust

Posted on January 2, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I have almost the same reaction to two utterly separate kinds of mainstream media decisions over the last two weeks: both decisions drive me to the brink of ending my consumption of that media. The first is the New York … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Popular Culture | 5 Comments