Just because I worry you may not have enough to do on the weekend.

A nice little piece on irony that touches on a number of themes.  One thing it doesn't really touch on, though it cites Augustine, is any distinctively religious irony--like Kierkegaard's, or Reinhold Niebuhr's. Still, useful to think with, and through (to the cited works).

I want to find this more annoying than I do, but even I gotta admit the idea of "intuitional religion" is kind of genius.  And the whole piece does give some historical background, which is helpful (though I still wonder, "to what end?"):   

A book review of two collections on the state of US Intellectual History, which also doubles as a fun reflection on the state of US Intellectual History, which also triples as a tour of some interesting suggestions of how to think about US Intellectual history. 

Interesting survey on globalization: "For the first time since 2007, the shares of trade, capital, information, and people flows crossing national borders all increased significantly."  Furthermore, "Most people believe the world is more globalized than it really is, and such misperceptions exacerbate fears of globalization. In fact, the vast majority of flows that could take place either within or between countries are domestic rather than international. "  These "people" whom they polled are not just the populace; they did a special analysis of managers' beliefs, assuming that managers would be a bit more well informed.  They don't seem to be particularly well-informed, however.  This suggests that people think the world is already much more globalized than it in fact currently is---which could generate both complacency in some, and panic in others.