Foreign Policy unveils its list of The Top 100 Public Intellectuals (based on certain criteria) and asks readers to vote for their own top 5 (you can also write-in a candidate).
I voted for:
Umberto Eco (I first encountered him when I was 14 and picked up a copy of “The Name of the Rose” that someone left on the bus; another novel of his I enjoyed was “Foucault’s Pendulum” though it’s his essays I enjoy the most, for example his essay on computer operating systems, and his collected works, like “How to Travel with a Salmon: And Other Essays”; but also, “On Ugliness” is a marvelous demonstration on what his profession’s all about).
Anne Applebaum (I’ve read “Gulag: A History” and follow her articles on Slate).
Ian Baruma (I’ve read “The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan”, and “Inventing Japan: 1853-1964″, and most recently, “Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance”)
i view Appleabaum and Baruma as of a piece: their reflections on authoritarian uses of power, are, well, powerful, indeed.
Malcolm Gladwell (who hasn’t read “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”? Or at least heard the phrase used ad nauseam?)
Jeffrey Sachs (you know, “The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time”)
Voting closes on May 15!
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