Thomas Frank is a very smart, very provocative thinker from the Far Left. (I often find myself thinking “wow, I’m pretty moderate” when I read his stuff.) With those introductory comments, I give you Thomas Frank on Ronald Reagan’s Secret Tragedy:  How ’70s and ’80s Cynicism Poisoned Democrats and America from Salon on November 16.

Thomas Edsall is another “deep think” writer. Here’s The Demise of the White Democratic Voter from the New York Times on November 11. Feeling lonely after reading this piece!

From blogger Bill Gates on November 18, here’s Online, All Students Sit in the Front Row, focusing on higher education coming out of the Phoenix. Lots of talk about innovation, and if Mr. Gates has noticed, others should take note, too. (Mr. Gates manages to never mention Arizona State University and its creative approaches to teaching. I know many ASU jokes, and praise from south of the Gila comes with a price, but we need to wake up about higher education. Frankly, ASU is walking the talk when it comes to meeting student needs.)

Zen and the Art of Cubicle Living, by Olga Khazan from The Atlantic on November 20, offers some thoughts about the perfect office for mental health. It’s a very interesting piece! While most of us face limitations great or small when it comes to work place design issues, we should never forget the fact that in most cases we spend more waking hours in our work space than we spend anywhere else.

Check out 11 Cool Jewish Foods That’d Make Your Bubbe Plotz from Sarah Spigelman Richter for Chow.com on November 14. (By the way, Bubbe is grandma, and plotzing means getting excited.) And for something lighter, Kevin Hsu provides a May 2010 report on Urasawa. Very expensive does not begin to fit, but the food looks amazing!