October 25, 2011: Afternoon
- Rick Perry doubles down on birtherism, catering to majority of likely GOP primary-goers.
- U.S. fears terrorism in Africa.
- France to aid Kenya's intervention into Somalia.
- Advertising is evil.
- Favorite long-term data sets: prize-winning fishing catches; dates of Japanese festivals; continuous plankton collection.
- Ian Frazier discovers no one in Siberia plays Tic Tac Toe.
- If society were fair, a new Helen DeWitt novel would receive Franzen/Eugenides-level ululation.
- How the potato changed the world.
- Time editors pick the 100 greatest English-language songs since 1923.
- Books for designers, coders, writers.
- Words like "gas giant" and "robotics" don't come from science, but from science fiction.
- History littered with abandoned punctuation, like the 16th-century sign denoting snark.
- History and controversy of Daylight Savings Time explained.
- After international fight between museums and collectors, famed goddess statue returns to Italy.
- Hey, kids, get off my microlawn!