Are political attack ads such a bad thing? John G. Geer, author of In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns, doesn’t necessarily think so. He maintains that they often enrich, rather than corrode, the political process. And now his publisher has assembled The Attack Ad Hall of Fame.

In response to China’s vigorous crackdown on Tibet (see this photojournalism account), a group of experts were convened to discuss Tibet and its future.

This week, UC Berkeley professor Paul Duguid squared off in a debate with provocateur Andrew Keen (author of the flimsy bestseller, The Cult of Amateur). At issue here is the question: “Is the Web 2.0 a Threat to Our Culture?” How did the well-attended debate go? Have a listen here and see photos here.

Below we have an outtake from one of the earliest rock mockumentaries, which paved the way for the venerable This is Spinal Tap.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the futurist and science fiction writer most well known for his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, has passed away. (You can read his obit here.) Below, we have posted a video recorded last December for his 90th birthday. Touching in many ways, the video offers a good reminder of how much our world changed during his 90 years.

This bit of audio (MP3 – Feed – Web Site) lucidly explains what happened at Bear Stearns, and why the Fed acted as it did. It’s worth a good listen if you’ve been trying to piece together the logic. The audio comes from the News Hour with Jim Lehrer.
[Update: I’d also recommend this piece from the New York Times.

Here’s what you get when Google engineers put their heads together with astronomers from large observatories: With Google Sky, “you can search for planets, listen to Earth & Sky podcasts, watch some beautiful Hubble telescope images, or explore historical maps of the sky from the comfort of your browser.

A merry, musical St.

Put together by the American Book Review, this list (which comes in PDF format) serves up some of the great last lines from modern literature. Ranking number six on the list is a passage that I happened to read just yesterday: “Yes,” I said. “Isn’t it pretty to think so?” –Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926).

Below, we have gathered together some of the most intelligent video collections on YouTube. A great place to find culturally enriching video…
General

@GoogleTalks

Google has lots of famous visitors speaking at its headquarters, and they’re all recorded and neatly presented here.