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+13 +1
Urban commons have radical potential – it's not just about community gardens
A rise in commonly owned spaces and services hopes to reclaim the city for the public good, providing a participatory alternative to exclusive urban development. But how can it be upscaled from local garden projects?
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+15 +1
How Contraception Transformed the American Family
A Supreme Court decision fifty years ago raised women’s incomes and expanded opportunities for their children.
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+19 +2
In 2015, Do Americans Still Believe in Racial Integration?
Federal government money is used to build housing that further segregates black and white Americans. Many don't think that's a problem.
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+8 +1
These are the happiest photos in the world
It might seem frivolous to share photos of cute pets, or photobombing animals, but there is scientific evidence from psychological research that viewing certain pictures can combat stress and make us happier. So why are photos able to evoke our emotions so readily?
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+13 +1
A Sleep Researcher’s Attempt to Build a Bank for Dreams
For many people, listening to just one person describe their dreams is a nightmare. But for G. William Domhoff, it’s a calling; as a dream researcher, he listens to them professionally. But even a dream doctor has his limits...
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+11 +2
The Kids Are Coming Apart
All young people make mistakes, some more serious, and some less so, than John, our fictional example. But the results of those experiences are vastly different for youths in different classes, according to Robert Putnam and Charles Murray, two sociologists who spoke about opportunity in America at an event at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington on Monday.
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+17 +5
Dehumanisation is a human universal
You don’t have to be a monster or a madman to dehumanise others. You just have to be an ordinary human being. By David Livingstone Smith. (2014)
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+8 +1
In social networks, group boundaries promote the spread of ideas, study finds
Social networks affect every aspect of our lives, from the jobs we get and the technologies we adopt to the partners we choose and the healthiness of our lifestyles. But where do they come from?
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+16 +2
Is There Really No Smart Writing on Women’s Fashion?
Reading Women in Clothes, the sprawling collection edited by Heidi Julavits, Sheila Heti, and Leanne Shapton, is like spending Saturday afternoon at Nordstrom Rack. Massive, chaotic, and noisy, both are messy in a way that could be inadvertent but could be purposeful: is this disarray a sign of how much they have to offer, or a commercial tactic to make their goods seem limitless?
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+15 +1
ISIS and the Lonely Young American
The conversations between a young woman in rural Washington State and a British man with ties to radical Islam may provide clues about how ISIS recruits new members around the world.
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+14 +2
Deliberative democracy and the age of social media
“But something important has changed since the 1990s when a lot of discussions of deliberative democracy took place. This is the workings of social media -- blogs, comments, Twitter discussions, Facebook communities. Here we have millions of people interacting with each other and debating issues -- but we don't seem to have a surge of better or more informed thinking about the hard issues...”
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+10 +2
The Social-Network Illusion That Tricks Your Mind | MIT Technology Review
Network scientists have discovered how social networks can create the illusion that something is common when it is actually rare.
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+16 +2
What's the Best Way to Understand the World?
Farah Pandith cites Jane Goodall as a figure who helped her learn how to reach the truth. "I recall thinking about the concept of knowledge and understanding. What was the difference between knowledge and understanding? We learn and think we understand. But what if we don’t really?"
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+64 +11
School shootings, mass killings are 'contagious,' study finds
Mass killings and school shootings spread contagiously, a new study found, where one killing or shooting increases the chances that others will occur within about two weeks.
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+22 +4
Screen Addiction Is Taking a Toll on Children
Excessive use of computer games among young people in China appears to be taking an alarming turn and may have particular relevance for American parents whose children spend many hours a day focused on electronic screens. The documentary “Web Junkie,” to be shown next Monday on PBS, highlights the tragic effects on teenagers who become hooked on video games, playing for dozens of hours at a time often without breaks to eat...
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+129 +2
The Reddit Blackout Isn’t About One Fired Employee. It’s About a Dysfunctional Relationship at Reddit’s Core.
“Reddit is revolting,” read the headlines. “No kidding,” came the response. Indeed, Reddit experienced a seismic rebellion this past weekend, but the reasons behind the brief shutdown of large portions of the site are a lot more complicated—and uglier—than you would think. Contrary to most news reports, Reddit’s volunteer moderators...
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+12 +6
Goffman on close encounters
“Goffman’s central concern in this book is how ordinary social interactions develop. How do the participants shape their contributions in such a way as to lead to a satisfactory exchange? The ideas of ‘line’ and ‘face’ are the central concepts in this volume...” By Daniel Little.
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+7 +2
Awful Real Name Policy Ensnares Trans Woman Who Worked to Make Facebook Inclusive
When we were young and the Internet was too, many of my friends treated it as a laboratory, experimenting with identity. In chat rooms and on message boards they would offer new names, claim different genders, and pretend to be older than they were. This was the early Web’s utopian...
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+17 +3
To see the legacy of slavery, look at present-day school systems
One of the many striking aspects of slavery was denial of education to slaves. How is this history reflected in today's school system?
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+12 +2
For Homeless Families, Quick Exit From Shelters Is Only A Temporary Fix
The rapid rehousing program provides the homeless with short-term rental assistance. But many recipients ultimately face the same problems as those who stay in shelters, a new government study finds.
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