Interesting piece in TNR: Idi Amin’s path to stardom. (Although Amin’s name recognition would be waay below Mandela’s, no matter what the author says. Maybe in 1986 it’d be a fairer match, but not in 2006. He left office 27 years ago, after all.)

<cryptic>For reasons I may one day share, I’ve been particularly interested in African dictators lately.</cryptic>

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24 October | 11:52 | Leah

I applaud and encourage that interest!

27 October | 8:30 | ckstern

Although Amin’s name recognition would be waay below Mandela’s, no matter what the author says.

Crossword puzzlers might disagree.

(Well, most people who do crosswords have heard of Mandela, but you know what I mean.)

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Joshua Benton

Joshua Benton is the director of the Nieman Digital Journalism Project at Harvard University, among other things. Before that, he was a staff writer and columnist for The Dallas Morning News. (More.)