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books

It's Only Words

Narendar Pani The Hindu
In Banking on Words, Arjun Appadurai argues that the 2008 financial crisis was, in essence, a failure of language. Narendar Pani finds that argument somewhat overstated, while at the same time acknowledging this book's "path-breaking" analysis of the role language has come to play in the way markets behave and are managed.

The Rise of Computer-Aided Explanation

Michael Nielsen Quanta Magazine
Computers can translate French and prove mathematical theorems. But can they make deep conceptual insights into the way the world works?

food

Word by Word: A Linguist Reads the Menu

Kent Black Boston Globe
Stanford linguistics professor and MacArthur Fellow Dan Jurafsky links the origins and evolution of foods to history, culture, tradition and trends. Wide-ranging topics include sexual metaphors in restaurant reviews, relationship of price to the number of syllables in menu descriptions, and the language on potato chip bags...among other things.

food

Word by Word: A Linguist Reads the Menu

Kent Black Boston Globe
Stanford linguistics professor and MacArthur Fellow Dan Jurafsky links the origins and evolution of foods to history, culture, tradition and trends. Wide-ranging topics include sexual metaphors in restaurant reviews, relationship of price to the number of syllables in menu descriptions, and the language on potato chip bags...among other things.

Friday Nite Videos -- Feb 24, 2014

Portside
Michael Sam and the NFL. Language and Human Nature. Moral March on Raleigh. Are We Descended from Martians? Pete Seeger Speaks.
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