WSJ on the best noise-cancelling headphones. The winner? Bose QuietComfort 45. (I bought these in April.) “Bose’s QuietComfort 45 headphones sounded stellar, especially when listening to music. They offer what audiophiles call a deep soundscape, with instruments and voices sounding like there’s a natural separation between them, rather than all being crowded together. The highs are crisp, the bass isn’t overwhelming and lyrics are clear. Bose offers equalization (EQ) adjustments through its companion smartphone app so you can adjust the bass, treble and mid-ranges. We were equally impressed with these headphones’ active noise cancellation. They made subway sounds practically disappear, and in an office setting, coworkers talking on the phone 20 feet away went silent.”
T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan: “There are two ways of looking at the Constitution over the last 75 years. The uncritical way is to say that it has worked well. The critical way is to say it has been amended 105 times, so how can you say it has worked well? As always, the answer lies in the middle. It has worked well in at least two ways: the preservation of rights and the functioning of our institutions. But it hasn’t worked well at all in at least 105 ways because it has been amended that many times. In contrast, the US Constitution has been amended only 33 times in 227 years. The Australian Constitution has been amended eight times in 116 years. The Irish Constitution has been amended 33 times in about seventy-five years. The French Constitution has been amended 30 times in fifty-six years, but most of these are about their colonies.”
Amit Varma: “What is a friendship, what makes people friends? I was sitting the other day with a friend of mine, who comes over about once a year, and he said that to him, friendship meant that you could sit with someone for a long time, and neither of you felt the need to say anything. You were both, in that time, comfortable in your own skins – and comfortable in that shared space. Another quality of friendship that I value is that you can be yourself with a friend. There are no filters – and this should apply for both people. I realised that with some friends, we could just say what we wanted to each other, no offence taken, no hidden narratives. But with others, I had the sense that they held back, that they weighed their words and actions, that they thought things about you that they wouldn’t actually say to you. And sometimes, they wouldn’t even assume goodwill, which is the cardinal rule of every conversation or relationship with me – that you assume the other person means well, unless you have concrete reason not to.”
