The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Search results for “james baldwin”

Galileo on Why We Read and How Books Give Us Superhuman Powers
Galileo on Why We Read and How Books Give Us Superhuman Powers

“What sublimity of mind was his who dreamed of finding means to communicate his deepest thoughts to any other person, though distant by mighty intervals of place and time!”

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The Best of Brain Pickings 2015
The Best of Brain Pickings 2015

The paradoxical psychology of why we fall in love, what maturity really means, how our emotions affect our immune system, the transformative power of solitude, and a year’s worth more.

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A Cultural History of Santa: Margaret Mead’s Fictional Interview with the Jolly Gift-Giver Celebrating Generosity and the Universal Spirit of Giving
A Cultural History of Santa: Margaret Mead’s Fictional Interview with the Jolly Gift-Giver Celebrating Generosity and the Universal Spirit of Giving

“Giving is itself a kind of thank offering.”

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The Best Science Books of 2015
The Best Science Books of 2015

From Earth’s largest-hearted creature to the interconnectedness of the universe, by way of Einstein and artificial intelligence.

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Margaret Mead’s Beautiful Letter of Advice to Her Younger Sister on Starting a Family in an Uncertain World
Margaret Mead’s Beautiful Letter of Advice to Her Younger Sister on Starting a Family in an Uncertain World

In praise of “living more intensely and doing better work” whatever life may throw your way.

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Elevating Resolutions for the New Year Inspired by Some of Humanity’s Greatest Minds
Elevating Resolutions for the New Year Inspired by Some of Humanity’s Greatest Minds

Cultivate honorable relationships, resist absentminded busyness, tell the world how to treat you, embrace enoughness, and more.

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A Nonbeliever’s Case for the Bible: How a Secular Reading of Scripture Enlarges Our Experience of Beauty, Morality, and Transcendence
A Nonbeliever’s Case for the Bible: How a Secular Reading of Scripture Enlarges Our Experience of Beauty, Morality, and Transcendence

From Blake to Bach, why the ancient text long stripped of fact remains essential to our grasp of poetic truth.

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The 15 Best Books of 2015
The 15 Best Books of 2015

Rewarding reflections on time, love, loss, courage, creativity, and other transformations of the heart.

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The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate That Changed Our Understanding of Time
The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate That Changed Our Understanding of Time

How the debris of a landmark disagreement became the foundation of our present ideas about the fabric of existence.

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Charles M. Schulz, Civil Rights, and the Previously Unseen Art of Peanuts
Charles M. Schulz, Civil Rights, and the Previously Unseen Art of Peanuts

“My husband and I keep pertinent Peanuts cartoons on desks and bulletin boards as guards against pomposity.”

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