Wes Phillips

Here's something counter-intuitive, despite the fact that cooking shows seem to be ubiquitous on the higher numbered channels, Americans' cooking skill have atrophied to the point that recipes now avoid once common terms like "dredge," "fold," and "cream." God forbid you should use my old fudge-making nemesis, "Cook until the soft-ball stage."

The link is to The Guardian Unlimited's podcast of Stephen Fry and Christopher Hitchens debating blasphemy. You might think you don't have time to listen to a 78 minute argument? Well, think again—this you've got to hear.

The Independent interviews Jared Diamond, author of Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. The good news? We may not be doomed. The bad news: Yet, that is.

Michael Chabon's rant about the imposition of predetermined boundaries and contours, of a formulary of play—and why Sid in Toy Story wasn't necessarily a Norman Bates in the making.

I have a soft spot for this show, but what really impresses me about this article on the long-running series is that the Sci-Fi network stuck with the show and worked to get viewers versed in its backstory and mythos, instead of just moving it to different time-slots each week like the "real" networks do.

McSweeney's again—and all too believable.

Bwah ha ha haaa! The mad professor is still the perennial favorite.