Martin Schneider writes:

On this quiet, chilly Friday, just a few percolating thrums over at newyorker.com before Super Bowl weekend (in which, as far as I can tell, nobody is interested):

* The remarkable "Remembering Updike" blog continues with Tobias Wolff. The sentiments of so many celebrated writers, in genuine thrall to Updike—it leaves me awestruck.

* Evan Osnos argues that Obama had better get his keister to China, stat.

* Inspired by a new book of photographs, Eliza Honey becomes a "trash detective."

Meanwhile, on the new (!) politics podcast, rechristened "The Political Scene," Dorothy Wickenden, James Surowiecki, and Steve Coll discuss the stimulus package, the bank bailout, and the deteriorating situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan.