January 4, 2012: Afternoon
- Musician Youssou N'Dour announces Senegal presidential bid.
- According to Reuters, Syria has killed 132 people since the Arab League's monitors arrived last week.
- Investment banks are run by psychopaths who single-mindedly pursue self-enrichment.
- Top economists of 2011 ranked by Google search interest—Krugman, Singh, Draghi.
- Proof that Monopoly is out of date.
- Related: 2011 reviewed in Tweets.
- The Cartography and Geographic Information Society's 38th annual Best of Show award went to "a dude working in an Oregon farmhouse."
- Dramatic story of Coya Knutson's 1950s run from an abusive husband and for Congress.
- In case you feared you couldn't get enough Dave Eggers, now you can shower with Dave Eggers.
- Once books go digital, they're never done.
- Rifftrax audio adds heckling to movies you watch on DVD.
- Those who learn 11 languages or more—hyperpolyglots—"simply enjoy tasks that are drudgery to normal people."
- Comic: Sometimes puns kill.
- Secular humanism and the value of Scooby Doo.
- Interview with virtuoso bassist Edgar Meyer.
- Profile of basketball prodigy Satnam Singh Bhamara, who could become India's Yao Ming.