Guest Thinkers — December 21, 2010

New AQAP Audio

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is roughly three weeks late with issue 11 of Sada al–Malahim, and while there has been little word on the delay, the group has released a new audio tape by ‘Adal al-‘Abab, which I’m listening to at the moment. Al-‘Abab is a member of the group’s Shari’a council.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

The Well

When do humans become conscious — in the womb or after birth?

Neuroscience is beginning to provide clues about the emergence of human consciousness.

The Past

How democracy got its strange and turbulent start in ancient Athens

Some of the weirdest characters in Greek mythology were Athenian kings.

A man walks through the snow listening to music on his headphones.

High Culture

Grammy winner explains why Adele is right – album tracks should not be shuffled

Just as storylines make sense only when you have the context of the beginning and the end, listeners need to understand the impetus for why the album was even made.

Sanaa Notebook: al-Qaeda and Electricity

On Tuesday, October 2 the lights in Sanaa went out.* The power cut in the Yemeni capital wasn’t particularly surprising. Yemen has been suffering rolling blackouts for years; a problem […]

Frontline: al-Qaeda in Yemen

Last night Frontline aired the film al-Qaeda in Yemen, which was reported by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad who writes for the Guardian and who, along with Declan Walsh when he was at […]

Up Next

Guest Thinkers

Tuesday Papers (Fighting in Iraq)

News Yemen has a piece that reports at least one of the 16 al-Qaeda suspects currently on trial spent time fighting in Iraq. There are summaries of the news in […]