Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

This week on nybooks.com: Does Elizabeth Warren’s populism have a chance? The latest scheme for the Parthenon, wrong theories of great scientists, Obama’s deeply disappointing NSA reforms, the philosophy of blue, and the strangeness of Louis CK. THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

A New Populism? Michael Tomasky Is the Democratic Party finally soft-shoeing its way leftward, away from economic centrism and toward a populism that the party as a whole has not embraced for years or even decades?   ADVERTISEMENT   The Latest Parthenon Scheme Mary Beard There is one basic rule about the “Elgin Marble Controversy”: it is not straightforward (if it were, it would have been solved decades ago). There are bad arguments and woeful oversimplifications on both sides.   The Case for Blunders Freeman Dyson Science consists of facts and theories. Facts are supposed to be true or false. A scientist who claims to have discovered a fact that turns out to be wrong is judged harshly. Theories have an entirely different status.   ADVERTISEMENT   Can Privacy Be Saved? David Cole Two official reports on the NSA’s disclosed surveillance activities make a persuasive case that the president’s proposed reforms are radically insufficient.   Under the Spell of Yoga William Dalrymple A yoga text that dates from 1400 AD explictly promises magical powers and immortality. It is in many ways closer to the world of Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort than to the New Agey yoga of modern Western gyms.   More in the March 6 issue: Jeanine Basinger on Barbara Stanwyck Michael Ignatieff on George Kennan Francine Prose on Diane Johnson Orlando Figes on Lina Prokofiev Andrew Delbanco on Abraham Lincoln Dan Chiasson on James Wolcott Mark Danner on Dick Cheney Ian Johnson on Catholics in China Robert O. Paxton on Jews and Vichy   All Blue Michael Gorra Say it. Go ahead, stand before the mirror, look at your mouth, and say it. Blue. See how you pucker up, your lips opening with the consonants into a kiss, and then that final exhalation of vowels? Blue.   Louis CK in Double Vision Adam Thirlwell It is no easy thing, thinking about the comical. And this is especially true when thinking about Louis CK’s strange, newly released movie Tomorrow Night.