People working to get themselves out of poverty. Sam from the financial times. Thanks very much. You were talking earlier about the u. S. As a bright spot, among advanced economies. The story of the president ial campaign has not been that American Voters feel this has been a bright spot recovery. Is there a risk the administration is feeling out of touch with public mood about the u. S. Economy at the moment or are we overestimating just how negative people feel about the economy . First of all, i dont know, you know i look at evidence from the measures that economists look at about how people feel about the economy are the Consumer Sentiment index and the Consumer Confidence index from the Conference Board and the university of michigan. When you look at measures like that, you see that confidence has been consistently rising since the recession. And last year reached levels we hadnt seen in over a decade. So i see a number of ways in which people are positive both about their situat
I worked hard to keep the conversation because obviously there is a lot of seriousness and also the human side, not just me, but what i saw you learned as i traveled around the world. Next, from this years baltimore book festival, a Panel Discussion on the future of the maryland city. The baltimore book festival is presented by Stephen Janis and the art of [inaudible] Film Commission especially that agency and please note after you enjoyed the presentation, volunteers are on hand and they are happy to accept donations and thank you for helping to keep the baltimore book festival free. We have an incredible panel assembled and i will start with introductions. D. Watkins, living and dial dying while latin america. A columnist and his work has been published in the new york times, huffington post, the guardian and other magazines. He holds a masters in education from john hopkins university. He is a College Professor and has also been a recipient of numerous awards including a beanie fell
Called the brain worm which infects ants and an infected ant has its behavior change. The brain worm burrows into the brain of the ant ant and make solution in the brain of the ant just like a physiologist might make a lesion in the brain of an ant and causes the ants to instead of going down into the ground in the heat of the day the ant goes up grass stems to the top where it shouldnt be in the middle of the day and there it becomes vulnerable to being eaten by a sheep which is exactly what the brain worm wants because the brain worms next host after the ant is a sheep. There are lots and lots of examples of parasites manipulating their hosts for their own advantage. I want to regard every one of those changes in the host behavior as an extended phenotype. Finally, a parasite doesnt actually have to live inside its host. Cuckoos and the american equivalent of cuckoos parasitize other birds by laying eggs in the other birds nest in the cuckoo hatches out and i talk about cuckoos, euro
Tonight. Next summer Harvard Universitys himelfarb two, author of trade author of the sense of style, discusses how to improve the quality of our writing. Professor pinker says while texting and the internet are putting for developing bad writing habits, writing well has always been a difficult task. The event was held at barnes noble booksellers in new york city. It is just over an hour. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to barnes noble. I am pleased to welcome tonights guest, professor Steven Pinker from the department of psychology at harvard here to introduce his new book, the sense of style the sense of style on trade the sense of style the thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century. It has garnered multiple accolades among them he was being named foreignpolicy list of 100 global thinkers in times the hundred most influential people in the world today. Please join me in welcoming Steven Pinker and the sense of style. Thank you. Why is so much writing so back .
All become an inside game. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer the powerful take more power, wall street rocks and rolls. And even when theyre caught lying and cheating and stealing and running our entire economy with a ponzi scheme thats so big even Bernie Madoff wouldnt have the spine to try it, nobody goes to jail. Everybody gets a pass, nothing changes, and the business of politics as usual goes on. They give speeches. They know arent true. They sign bills they dont read. And when the law blows up in their faces they give themselves another pass. And the media, theyre in on the con, the gravy train. Today, you ask americans, theyll tell you they dont trust the media. Where can you find anyone who Still Believes the media . Folks, Brian Williams isnt the exception. Hes exactly what theyve taught us to expect from them. Its not journalism anymore, its entertainment. Its celebrity, its agendas and its money. And all too often now, a lie is an acceptable way of communicating. We c