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Still, Levitt and Dubner do tackle one legitimately controversial topic, one that I think could benefit from a somewhat contrarian perspective: geoengineering, or using technology to directly cool the earth to compensate for man-made climate change. The authors visit Nathan Myhrvold, the brilliant former chief technology officer of Microsoft and co-founder of Intellectual Ventures, a private think tank. Myhrvold and his staff have the idea to build a giant "garden hose to the sky" that would pump liquefied sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. Scientists know that increasing SO2 in the air deflects sunlight, which cools down the earth...
Ultimately, that is the right way to use geoengineering and to approach climate change. While geoengineering shouldn't be ignored, Levitt and Dubner's biggest mistake in their examination of the topic lay in being seduced by a clever-sounding, cheap and contrarian shortcut. Climate change, however, is one issue for which the conventional wisdom still works, even though it's costly - and even though conventional wisdom won't sell 3 million books...
Students praised the panel for its approach to the controversial issue. “They were sensitive to the fact that people use humor to relieve the anxiety surrounding the topic,” said Ross P. Ford...
Once you pick a story topic, what's your reporting process like? It differs. I'm interested in placing things in a larger context and in making lateral connections. A lot of my process is informed by the notion that two mildly good stories put together sometimes equal one really good story. (Read Malcolm Gladwell's TIME...
...jails last year, the most of any country. "At the opening of the fair, the Chinese officials spoke of literature flourishing but did not say a word about writers in jail, about censorship or prohibitions," Dai told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). Dai, however, had plenty to say on the topic, in interviews and at fair-related events. By reacting so vitriolically to her presence - China's former ambassador to Germany Mei Zhaorong said, "We didn't come for a lesson on democracy" - China ensured that the uglier elements of its treatment of journalists and authors would be a focus...