The Null Device

2010/8/5

The Rap Guide To Human Nature is a hip-hop album about evolutionary psychology by a Canadian "rap troubador" named Baba Brinkman. It's not a joke: the beats are sharp, and Brinkman rhymes with the speed and dexterity of an accomplished rapper, deftly laying out the theories and controversies of evolutionary psychology, from kin selection to the biological roots of religious and political belief, twin studies to alternative models of human nature, and of course to areas such as sexual competition and social status where hip-hop culture and evolutionary psychology intersect. Note that, as expected from rap, the lyrics are probably not suitable for children.

(via Mind Hacks) awesome biology culture evolutionary psychology hip-hop psychology religion science sex 1

BBC Radio 4 has a series featuring former teenaged rock musician turned New Labour home secretary Alan Johnson reminiscing about the rock career he never had; in the most recent episode, he interviews Amelia Fletcher, frontwoman of a number of indiepop bands from Tallulah Gosh onward and Chief Economist at the Office of Fair Trading (which came under his portfolio when he was in government), about combining music, a day job and parenthood, and how the international pop underground worked before the internet. (The stream is available for four more days only, and may or may not be available outside of the UK; apologies if it's not.)

amelia fletcher indiepop new labour sarah records 0

What happened to the North Korean football team after they displeased the God-Emperor by failing to bring home the World Cup? It seems that they have gotten off lightly, merely being reprimanded for six hours for "failing in the ideological struggle". The team captain, in particular, escaped being sent to a labour camp, getting away with merely being forced to become a builder and stripped of his party membership.

football north korea totalitarianism 0