Sunday Notes
April DeConick,"Gospel Truth," NYT, 1 December. DeConick argues against the National Geographic's team of scholars, including UNC's Bart Ehrman and Princeton's Elaine Pagels, that in the 3rd century Coptic text, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot, Judas is a demon. DeConick's case is more fully stated in her book, The Thirteenth Apostle: What the Gospel of Judas Really Says.
Heather McDougal,"Semaphor as Information Network," Cabinet of Wonders, 25 November, recalls the semaphor towers of Napoleonic France's optical telegraphic network. Hat tip to Rob McDougall.
Edward Rothstein,"Return of a Long-Dormant Island of Grace," NYT, 1 December, features the rebirth of the Eldridge Street Synagogue on NYC's lower east side as the Museum at Eldridge Street.
Giles Foden,"The Moral Agent," Guardian, 1 December, revisits the work of Joseph Conrad on the 150th anniversary of his birth.
What Brian McMahon,"War-opoly: How History's Most Popular Board Game Helped Defend The Free World," mental_floss, 29 November, reports on isn't exactly a Get Out of Jail Free card, but still ... Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan.
Leslie Campbell,"Audacious Undertaking," Literary Review of Canada, November, reviews Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism with an attack on its central thesis. Hat tip to Taylor Owen.