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An MSG Convert Visits the High Church of Umami

Helen Rosner The New Yorker
Ajinomoto produces umami at its panda-themed headquarters
Monosodium glutamate is a compound molecule in which glutamate is the amino acid responsible for the mysterious deepening of flavor. Its once-vilified reputation has been ascribed to illogic, superstition and even racism.

Grand Scheme

Jason Pramas DigBoston
Mass legislature helps, harms workers in “deal” with labor and business lobbies

The Pact for Mexico after Five Years: How Has It Fared?

Mark Weisbrot, Lara Merling, Rebecca Watts, and Jake Johnston CEPR
Five years after "Pact for Mexico", Mexico's economy is mired in a trap of low investment and low growth and imperiled by liberalization of financial markets making it vulnerable to rate increases by the US Fed and global financial turbulence.

What Did Ancient Whales Look Like?

Nick Pyenson Science Friday
Author and curator Nick Pyenson describes the similarities and differences between humans and our distant mammalian relatives.

The Rich Stalwarts of Liberal Democracy and the Mask They Wear

Pankaj Mishra London Review of Books
The Obama Administration’s UN Ambassador Samantha Power, with Henry Kissinger.
Pankaj Mishra reviews two books on the liberal democratic response to the rule of Trump. While one author aims to beat the right-wing populists at their own game, the other seeks to reinstate socialism as an “ethical ideal and political objective.”