What should I read to be "well-read"?

[8744]

wow you are so smart!!
and witty and cool and intellectual...

I want to be a badass just like you!

You will never be a badass like me. Sorry.

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[tacojohn]

You're never, for example, going to see any story in the New York Times that gives any credence to the conservative point of view.

Bill O'Reilly and his cohorts at Fox News love to trash the New York Times for some reason and hence you'll hear this same dribble from the millions of the Fox News-watching crowd. Most of them have never even read the paper for any length of time but have developed this fixation with it for some reason. Just look at the recent story about the Bush administration's secret intelligence gathering. The WSJ and LA Times reported it on the same day but for some reason they fixated on the fact that the New York Times reported it. The NY Times editorial page isn't even that liberal any more and hasn't been for years - especially under Bill Keller. Just because Fox News or Tony Snow says it's true, doesn't make it so.

 

[8744]

Bill O'Reilly and his cohorts at Fox News love to trash the New York Times for some reason and hence you'll hear this same dribble from the millions of the Fox News-watching crowd. Most of them have never even read the paper for any length of time but have developed this fixation with it for some reason. Just look at the recent story about the Bush administration's secret intelligence gathering. The WSJ and LA Times reported it on the same day but for some reason they fixated on the fact that the New York Times reported it. The NY Times editorial page isn't even that liberal any more and hasn't been for years - especially under Bill Keller. Just because Fox News or Tony Snow says it's true, doesn't make it so.

Whoa there, Taco. The New York Times researched and broke the story and refused to "spike" it when asked by the adminstration. Additionally, it was the editorial opinion of the New York times shortly after 9/11 that the Bush adminstration had not done enough to "connect the dots" and among other things they called for the very kind of surveillance they now decry.

The New York Times and other organs of the paleo-media like CBS News are blatantly anti-Bush and anti-war. That's perfectly fine with me as the paleo-media no longer enjoy anything like the monopoly they used to when Walter Cronkite was the only source for information.

The only way you could think that the New York Time's editorial page isn't liberal to the core is if either you are to the left of the Times or you confuse opinons pieces by the occasional conservative with the editorials. Either that or your liberalism is so deeply ingrained that you don't recognize your bias.

I mean, seriously, I'm about as conservative as they come but I recognize that most of my beliefs are reasonable opinions which can be debated. It never occurs to liberals, on the other hand, that any intelligent person could disagree with their fundamental assumptions which is why the left either demonizes or denigrates dissenters. Anne Coulter is exactly right when she labels American liberalism a religion.

I betcha' I can have you foaming at the mouth just by mentioning a few key conservative ideas and people.

 

[Empress]

Whoa there, Taco. The New York Times researched and broke the story and refused to "spike" it when asked by the adminstration. Additionally, it was the editorial opinion of the New York times shortly after 9/11 that the Bush adminstration had not done enough to "connect the dots" and among other things they called for the very kind of surveillance they now decry.

The New York Times and other organs of the paleo-media like CBS News are blatantly anti-Bush and anti-war. That's perfectly fine with me as the paleo-media no longer enjoy anything like the monopoly they used to when Walter Cronkite was the only source for information.

The only way you could think that the New York Time's editorial page isn't liberal to the core is if either you are to the left of the Times or you confuse opinons pieces by the occasional conservative with the editorials. Either that or your liberalism is so deeply ingrained that you don't recognize your bias.

I mean, seriously, I'm about as conservative as they come but I recognize that most of my beliefs are reasonable opinions which can be debated. It never occurs to liberals, on the other hand, that any intelligent person could disagree with their fundamental assumptions which is why the left either demonizes or denigrates dissenters. Anne Coulter is exactly right when she labels American liberalism a religion.

I betcha' I can have you foaming at the mouth just by mentioning a few key conservative ideas and people.

Ann Coulter is a crackwhore.

NYT shouldn't have been asked to spike anything, and refusing to do so is no more bias then refusing to give your loser brother-in-law fifty bucks for more hookers.

I am more libertarian and a constitutionalist then a liberal, and your post makes me laugh so very much.

 

[Doctor~Detroit]

i'm left-of-center, but i also decry liberals that are intolerant of opposing ideas.

there is certainly a liberal bias in the nytimes and most of academia. there is certainly a conservative bias in the business world, other news sources, some academic institutions, and our current regime. so let's get over the unrealistic "everything should be objective" perspective--that one should have died in college along with any fascination with the "philosophy" of "objectivism."

bias in institutions that produce *ideas* (e.g., journalism, academia) is an important issue, as it can have an effect on what citizens believe. but i think it's far more important to be concerned with institutions whose actions have *material* consequences for citizens--such as business and government. i'm happy that there are institutions of ideas that protest (and tolerant of those that accept) the actions of business and our current regime, with its negative material consequences for the majority of americans who necessarily can't be in the upper income brackets of the zero-sum game of capitalism.

despite hyperbolic rhetoric of conservatives being under attack in the realm of ideas, liberal ideas have long been under attack in the more important realm of material well-being.

 

[8744]

Ann Coulter is a crackwhore.

See? I can have you foaming at the mouth.

 

[Empress]

See? I can have you foaming at the mouth.

Only if Ann Coulter bites me and my HMO doesn't cover the shots to keep from being infected with the virulent strain of rabies she seemed to have contracted.

I put her in the same category as Dr. Laura. Skinny, blond, slightly crazy, short on logic, crackwhores. Amusing but not really much substance.

 

[tacojohn]

The New York Times was actually one of the biggest supporters of the WMD stories as a justification for going to war - and they recieved a lot of criticism for taking the Bush Administrations word at face value and reporting it as fact. I don't think you could say at all that they were anti-war or anti-Bush for that matter.

What's frustrating for us that adhere to more traditional conservative values, like economic responsibility and keeping the government out of our private lives, is how much traditional conservative voices in the media, such as George Will and William Safire have been drowned out by idiots like Fox News and Rush Limbaugh who have completely abandonned traditional conservative values. (Ann Coulter doesn't even count. Her only goal is to be controversial and she's quite good at that.)

 

[45408]

Typical science majors may outscore us liberal arts types on the MCAT by a few points, but when it comes to talking books and whatnot, it'll be our turn.... ;-)

Well, I'm glad your motivation for being well-read is a good one.

 

[45408]

This "if you aren't with us, then you are against us" mentality has to really end...I have voted for democrats and I have voted for republicans. Most people are moderate with a slight lean towards the right or the left. Both sides get so hellbent on stuff they fail to see the people in the middle that just want compromise. It is a lot easier to scream "YES" and "NO" at each other than to sit there in the middle and scream "BE REASONABLE".....

NO KIDDING. I listen to Dems and Republicans talk on TV as if the other side hates America and wants to see it crash and burn. Why can't they stop for a second and realize that the other side is composed of human beings as well?

 

[45408]

Hee-hee.... This post is even better than your perfect Personal Statement post. I love it.

Conservatives own the presidency, congress and the supreme court. The executive, the legislative, the judicial. In other words: every branch of the U.S. government.

"Under attack"? Cry me a river. the democrats would LOVE to be so under attack.

Step onto nearly any college campus, and the conservative point of view is the one that is for idiots. The only pro-gun comments I've ever heard in class were the group discussions in which I was doing the talking.

 

[notdeadyet]

Step onto nearly any college campus, and the conservative point of view is the one that is for idiots.

I couldn't agree more. But that's the nature of the conservative view much of the time.

 

[notdeadyet]

Well, I'm glad your motivation for being well-read is a good one.

Hmmmm... not sure where you made that logic leap. Liking to read had nothing to do with medical school.

 

[Ross434]

I'll put in a vote for The Economist, as well. And bump the thread.

 

[txfisher]

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[Dr. Pepper]

From this (long and politically heated) discussion, I'm personally going to read the following:

New York Times
The New Yorker
Economist

I know it's kind of excessive, but I really do enjoy reading this kind of stuff during leisure time.

Gotta love SDN.
-Dr. P.

 

[Its_MurDAH]

From this (long and politically heated) discussion, I'm personally going to read the following:

New York Times
The New Yorker
Economist

I know it's kind of excessive, but I really do enjoy reading this kind of stuff during leisure time.

Gotta love SDN.
-Dr. P.

Good for you!

 

[beefballs]

Panda wasn't Novak an editorial writer for the NY times? Isn't david Brooks conservative? I will concede that their editorial board is left leaning but aren't the editorial page and the news department seperate?

as for books I would recommend
Fields of Fire-Webb
Atlas Shrugged-Rand
The peoples history of the supreme court-Irons
Game of thrones-George RR Martin

These are really good books that something can be taken away from-the last is a fantasy novel that is the first of a series

 

[TNATION]

For those of you suggesting subscribing to Nature, Jama, Science, etc.... I was considering getting a subscription to Science Magazine (for 100 bucks), but I realized that the library at my university already had a subscription, which allowed me to read all the articles online. They also have JAMA and Nature, and about 500 other scientific journals. I assume that this is the case at many, if not most, schools with a solid library system.


Also, as far as books that could be helpful to read, I would recommend The Coming Plague and Betrayal of Trust by Laurie Garrett. Reading books in the public health genre is a quicker way to get an overview of a lot of different medical issues.

 

[slothavenger]

For those of you suggesting subscribing to Nature, Jama, Science, etc.... I was considering getting a subscription to Science Magazine (for 100 bucks), but I realized that the library at my university already had a subscription, which allowed me to read all the articles online. They also have JAMA and Nature, and about 500 other scientific journals. I assume that this is the case at many, if not most, schools with a solid library system.


Also, as far as books that could be helpful to read, I would recommend The Coming Plague and Betrayal of Trust by Laurie Garrett. Reading books in the public health genre is a quicker way to get an overview of a lot of different medical issues.

Coupon books, obituaries, weather reports and the eyes of your family, friends, aquaintances and enemies is all you really need. Gee!
I almost forgot, last but not least is the Thank you notes you receive from the people you have helped throughout your life.

 

[silkworm]

Game of thrones-George RR Martin

These are really good books that something can be taken away from-the last is a fantasy novel that is the first of a series

Glad to see another A Song of Ice and Fire fan here.

 

[RUN TARSIER!!!]

Metaphysical Club - Louis Menand

Llike the sub-title says, it's a history of ideas in America. Since it's a Pulitzer Prize Winner, it's saying "read me, bitch!"

If you're a Berkeley kid or know people there, see if you can get your hands on a Field Study Internship reader or a IDS 130/PH 116 reader. The readers are choice compilations of articles from journals like JAMA, NEJM, etc.

 

[geno2568]

good ole' George R R Martin...one of my personal favorites

as far as being well read, I like The Atlantic....its articles are a bit opinionated, but that makes it a more interesting read.

If you want medically related stuff, just pick up a book of case studies. Not all issues in medicine are large scale and political; ethical decision making is often just as important as healthcare policy.

For fiction, read Asimov's The Foundation. It's a short read, and every science faculty worth his degree has to have at least heard of Asimov, so you will sound intelligent.

A more involved fiction book is Frank Herbet's Dune. Althoutgh its fiction, it touches on pretty much every socioeconomic issue, so you can pull examples from it no matter what topics the conversation turns to.