Politics & Ideas: The Critic Magazine – July 2023 Issue

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The Critic Magazine (July 2023 Issue) – The new issue features The errors of escalation; The end of German stability?; Brahms: sublime genius on a major scale, and more…

The errors of escalation

The errors of escalation

What does it mean and why is it so dangerous?

Paul Winter

A fresh face for an old friend

The National Portrait Galley’s renovation doesn’t disappoint, bringing light and space to tell the story of the nation

Helen Barrett

Opinion: Sticky Inflation Issues, Building Ukraine 2.0, A New King Of Beers

‘Editor’s Picks’ Podcast (June 12, 2023) A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist including the trouble with sticky inflation, the challenge of building Ukraine 2.0 and why Modelo Especial is the new king of beers.

Investors must prepare for sustained higher inflation

A melting ice cream imprinted with a dollar bill

The costs of taming price rises could prove too unpalatable for central banks

The trouble is that the inflation monster has not truly been tamed. Britain’s problem is the most acute. There, wages and “core” prices, which exclude energy and food, are rising by around 7%, year on year. 

Building Ukraine 2.0

For Russia’s war to fail, Ukraine must emerge prosperous, democratic and secure

Ukraine’s nation-builders face formidable obstacles. The greatest is that, while Mr Putin is in power, this war is unlikely to end with a solid peace treaty. The two sides may talk—if only to avoid being seen as war-crazy. 

The new king of beers is a Mexican-American success story

Move over, Bud Light. Heed the power of the Hispanic market

The king is dead. ¡Viva el rey! That is the cheer ringing through drinking dens this summer as Bud Light, America’s self-styled “king of beers” for 22 years, is dethroned by Modelo Especial, a Mexican brew.

Ashmolean Museum Views: The ‘Tang Dynasty Camel’

Ashmolean Museum (June 26, 2023): This short film by Carina Hanslik shares an insight into the incredible story behind an ancient ceramic camel.

The object that inspired this animation, a ceramic camel dating back to the Tang Dynasty (AD 618–907), helps us to tell the story of Paul Jacobsthal, a Jewish professor of Archaeology at the University of Marburg in the 1930s, who was forced to leave Germany.

CAMEL TOMB FIGURE

A spiritual object intended to protect the dead from evil 

Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford | EA2012.189

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Listen to the story of Jewish professor Paul Jacobsthal, and how he escaped the Nazis with his Tang Dynasty camel.

Cinematic Travel: ‘Five Elements Of Mauritania’ In Northwestern Africa

Timelab Pro Films (June 26, 2023) – Mauritania revealed itself to us like a symphony of nature’s elements. When we experienced the raw power of the earth, the gentle touch of the wind, the captivating dance of fire, and soothing embrace of water, it felt like there was an invisible force, a fifth element, giving meaning to everything that surrounded us.

Among the calm sand dunes, we met people who found their peace amidst the shifting sands, while others, along the shore, were braving the ocean. And in between, the wondrous Eye of the Sahara stood as a silent witness.

Like a celestial watching over the ever-changing life amid the timeless dunes, quietly keeping the secrets of the past. Immersed in the nature of Mauritania, we felt wonder and connection to the timeless history.

Author of the project: Andrew Efimov

Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to the north and northwest, Algeria to the northeast, Mali to the east and southeast, and Senegal to the southwest.

Reviews: ‘Green Cuisine’ At Knystaforsen In Sweden

MICHELIN Guide Films (June 26, 2023) – The MICHELIN Guide’s video series Green Star in Action is dedicated to the Green MICHELIN Star restaurants run by chefs who are committed to sustainable gastronomy.

In this episode, we meet Nicolai Tram and Eva H. Tram who take us to their restaurant, which is actually their home. Here the restaurant Knystaforsen, awarded a MICHELIN Green Star and 1 Star in the Guide of Nordic countries 2023, is a sawmill located near the river and woodland, offering something quite unique.

Chef Tram cooks over an open fire using ingredients he can get our hands on from the wild nature around him: rivers, lakes, woods, and local producers. At Knystaforsen, nature is at every turn.

Learn more about 1 Star and Green Star Restaurant Knystaforsen:

#MICHELINGreenStar #MICHELINGuideNORDIC #MICHELINStar23

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – July 3, 2023

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The New Yorker – July 3, 2023 issue: For Independence Day, the artist Kadir Nelson chose to portray a young woman who, though she may be standing in the midst of the festivities, is anchored in her own private world.

The Divine Comedy of Roman Emperors’ Last Words

A statue of a man atop a walking eagle.

In the end, godlike aspirations often met with all too human final moments.

By Mary Beard

One of the funniest works of Roman literature to survive—and the only one that has ever made me laugh out loud—is a skit, written by the philosopher Seneca, about the Emperor Claudius’ adventures on his way to Mt. Olympus after his death. Titled “Apocolocyntosis Divi Claudii” (“The ‘Pumpkinification’ of the Deified Claudius”), it recounts how the Roman Senate declared that the dead Emperor was now a god, complete with his own temple, priests, and official rites of worship. The deification of emperors was fairly standard practice at the time, and the spoof claimed to lift the lid on what really happened during the process.

How Plastics Are Poisoning Us

An outline of a woman made out of plastic beads and trash

They both release and attract toxic chemicals, and appear everywhere from human placentas to chasms thirty-six thousand feet beneath the sea. Will we ever be rid of them?

By Elizabeth Kolbert

Wildlife Views: Audubon Photography Awards 2023

Grand Prize Winner

Grand Prize: Liron Gertsman

Rock Pigeon. Photo: Liron Gertsman/Audubon Photography Awards

Category: Professional
Species: Rock Pigeon
Location: White Rock, British Columbia, Canada

Professional Winner

Professional Award Winner: Shane Kalyn

Species: Atlantic Puffin
Location: Westman Islands, Iceland

Amateur Winner

Amateur Award Winner: Karen Blackwood

Species: Chinstrap Penguin
Location: Cierva Cove, Antarctica

READ MORE

News: Uncertain Fates For Putin & Prigozhin, Big Win For Mitsotakis In Greece

The Globalist Podcast, Monday, June 26, 2023: Putin & Prigozhin Questions Mount In Russia; Greece Elections Empower Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and more.

The New York Times – Monday, June 26, 2023

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Revolt Raises Searing Question: Could Putin Lose Power?

Members of Wagner group preparing to pull out from the headquarters of the Southern Military District to return to their base in Rostov-on-Don late on Saturday.

Russians with ties to the Kremlin expressed relief that the mercenary leader’s mutiny did not spark a civil war. But they agreed that Vladimir Putin had come off looking weak in a way that could be lasting.

One Big Winner of Kremlin-Wagner Clash? The Dictator Next Door.

A photo released by Russian state media showed President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus and President Vladimir V. Putin in Sochi, Russia, earlier this month.

The strongman leader of Belarus, a dependable ally of Vladimir Putin’s, may see a chance to rebrand himself as a statesman.

As Legal Fees Mount, Trump Steers Donations Into PAC That Has Covered Them

A previously unnoticed change in Donald Trump’s online fund-raising appeals allows him to divert a sizable chunk of his 2024 contributions to a group that has spent millions to cover his legal fees.

He Was Handcuffed and Hospitalized. Now He’s on Track for Housing.

A contentious New York City policy to send more mentally ill homeless people to hospitals has helped some move into permanent homes.