The illusions of choice: With so many consumer choices in America--a typical grocery store stocks some 30,000 distinct items--why are Americans so unhappy? Author Barry Schwartz looks into it in his book The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less: "As a culture, we are enamored of freedom, self-determination, and variety, and we are reluctant to give up any of our options. But clinging tenaciously to all the choices available to us contributes to bad decisions, to anxiety, stress, and dissatisfaction - even to clinical depression."

Colonoscopies for book titles: At my day job, we rely on the trusty colon--the punctuation, I mean--to separate a catchy title from a meaty, explanatory subtitle. The Chronicle of Higher Education weighs in on the matter, asking whether this convention has become a cliche...

(Both links via Arts & Letters Daily.)