Quotes Uncovered: How Lies Travel
I’m back to inviting readers to submit quotations whose origins they want me to try to trace, using my book, The Yale Book of Quotations, and my more recent research.
Smashley asked:
Read More »I heard recently that the quote, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes,” usually attributed to Mark Twain, is not actually by him. Which is delightfully ironic, if true.
The Answer to Yesterday’s Freakonomics Contest: Where Have All the Hitchhikers Gone?
The contest question was pretty simple:
Read More »I was in California the other day and saw someone doing something that I haven’t seen done in a good while. I used to do it myself quite a bit, when I was in college, largely out of necessity. What was it?
Yankees-Red Sox: Boston Rough Start Good News for Wall Street?
Should we all be Yankees fans? The S&P has averaged a double-digit annual gain every year following a Yankees’ championship. Not bad considering they’re won 27. Read More »
FREAK-est Links
- The Boston Globe profiles market-design man Al Roth.
- Why we use food coloring.
- Autism treatments that work — and don’t.
and 
. If you haven’t seen it yet, the movie features Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, and was made by a dream team of documentary directors. Paste Magazine named it one of the 