Letters: Islamic law, J Henry Fair and Twitter
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Kai Ryssdal: I talked to Duke University economist and professor of Islamic studies Timur Kuran on Friday about how Islamic law might be have played in to the economic problems that a lot of countries in the Middle East are dealing with. There was agreement and disagreement in our inbox.
And this, from Paul Wood of Panama City, Fla.
Paul Wood: I submit that a century of anti-capitalistic colonialism followed by a century of anti-capitalistic autocracy has more to do with it than religion.
I talked to photographer J Henry Fair about his new book last week, aerial shots of the environmental damage done by some industrial processes. The interview struck a nerve with James Nation of Roswell, Ga. His wife is using tar from last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill to make jewelry and promote awareness. About the Fair photos,Mr. Nation said this:
James Nation: It’s time that we start thinking and educating our children about total cost of products we use. I enjoy my comforts and inexpensive fuel but efforts such as these help cover the entire picture.
Finally, to my chat yesterday with Stephen Dubner about the Freakonomics of Twitter, whether one is obliged to follow those who follow you. I gave Dubner a fairly hard time about his ratio of being followed — 275,000 — to people he’s actually following himself — zero. Well, one, if you count me after yesterday’s session.
As tweets about the segment dribbled in after the show, I got mine — people noting that I only follow 32 people, almost as bad a ratio as Dubner’s. So in the spirit of turnabout’s fair play, share your thoughts with us. @mktplaceradio is the show, @kairyssdal is me. Or reach out to us in what has become the old-fashioned way.
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