Books: The Top Ten Best Reviews – July 2023

Wall Street Journal Books & Art (July 26, 2023) – A wild rowboat race across the Atlantic, the overlooked triumphs of the 20th president, notes on life behind home plate and more. A selection of July’s most noteworthy books, as discussed by The Wall Street Journal’s reviewers.

After the Funeral and Other Stories

By Tessa Hadley Knopf

Moments of “intense insight and recognition” animate a dozen new stories from a master of the form. Review by Sam Sacks.

Read the review


Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the ’70s

By Alan Paul St. Martin’s

Even after the loss of two of their founding members, the Georgia-based band created a country-blues sound that captivated audiences. Review by Gavin Edwards.

Read the review


Completely Mad: Tom McClean, John Fairfax, and the Epic Race to Row Solo Across the Atlantic

By James R. Hansen Pegasus

Tom McClean faced frostbite, nonstop gales and waves that looked like skyscrapers. A 15-foot shark followed him for days. He named it Bluey. Review by Bill Heavey.

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The Controversialist: Arguments with Everyone, Left Right and Center

By Martin Peretz Wicked Son

The pugnacious editor and publisher looks back on his career putting the New Republic at the center of a generation’s political conversation. Review by Tunku Varadarajan.

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Credible: The Power of Expert Leaders

By Amanda Goodall | PublicAffairs

Should a doctor run a hospital? An engineer a tech company? Workers seem to value a boss with skill and knowledge in the core business. Review by David A. Price.

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End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration

By Peter Turchin Penguin Press

The widening wealth gap in the U.S. has been fueled by elite overproduction—a combination that, to some, can only signal an imminent state breakdown. Review by Dominic Green.

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The Man Who Organized Nature: The Life of Linnaeus

By Gunnar Broberg Princeton

The Swedish naturalist Linnaeus bestowed an orderly taxonomy on the natural world, but his love of animals and plants was quirky and personal. Review by Christoph Irmscher.

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The People’s Justice: Clarence Thomas and the Constitutional Stories That Define Him

By Amul Thapar Regnery Gateway

A federal judge argues that when we follow the arguments of Supreme Court Justice Thomas in applying the Constitution, the weak and the powerless stand to benefit the most. Review by David J. Garrow.

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President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier

By C.W. Goodyear Simon & Schuster

James Garfield’s ambitious career—from janitor to Union general, then from Congress to the presidency—was cut short by an assassin. Review by Richard Norton Smith.

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News: Africa Leaders Shun Russia Summit, Cambodia PM Resigns, World Cup

The Globalist Podcast, Thursday, July 27, 2023: The Russia-Africa summit begins in St Petersburg. Also, Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, announces his resignation and the country’s first new leader since 1985.

Plus, a check-in from the Women’s World Cup and a flick through the day’s papers.

The New York Times — Thursday, July 27, 2023

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Fed Raises Rates After a Pause and Leaves Door Open to More

Federal Reserve officials lifted borrowing costs by a quarter-point after pausing in June. Rates could rise more, but the central bank is not ready to commit.

Judge Puts Hunter Biden’s Plea Deal on Hold, Questioning Its Details

Under the proposed deal, Hunter Biden would have pleaded guilty to two tax misdemeanors and averted prosecution on a gun charge by enrolling in a two-year diversion program for nonviolent offenders.

Judge Maryellen Noreika sent the two sides back to try to work out modifications that would address her legal and constitutional concerns and salvage the basic contours of the agreement.

Gov. Abbott’s Policing of Texas Border Pushes Limits of State Power

The governor brought in razor wire, floating barriers and state troopers to deter unauthorized migration. The federal government mounted its first legal pushback this week.

Giuliani Concedes He Made False Statements About Georgia Election Workers

Rudolph W. Giuliani said he still had “legal defenses” in a case brought by two election workers who said he had defamed them as he asserted that the 2020 election was marred by fraud.

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – July 27, 2023

Volume 619 Issue 7971

nature Magazine -July 27, 2023 issue: HADAR (heat-assisted detection and ranging) combines thermal physics and infrared imaging with machine learning to discern an object in pitch darkness as though it  is illuminated by broad daylight.

ChatGPT is a black box: how AI research can break it open

Despite their wide use, large language models are still mysterious. Revealing their true nature is urgent and important.

A lethal fungal infection gets a hand from the body’s own defences

Bloodstream infections by a common fungus are less deadly in mice engineered to have lower levels of a protein secreted by immune cells.

Nature: Filming Birdlife In America’s Arctic Wetlands

Cornell Lab of Ornithology (July 26, 2023) – The tundra wetlands in the heart of America’s Arctic, centered in the NPR-A around Teshekpuk Lake, are among the most extensive in the circumpolar Arctic and contain some of the highest recorded densities of breeding shorebirds in this vast area.

Millions of birds from all over the world flock to these wetlands every year to nest and raise their young. Come along with Cornell Lab’s Gerrit Vyn as he joins a team to capture image of the region’s birdlife.

America’s Arctic is one of North America’s last great wilderness areas, a critical habitat for migratory birds from around the world, and a treasure to be protected for future generations.

#AmericasArctic

Iceland Travel: Top Sites Along The Golden Circle

DW Travel (July 26, 2023) – DW’s Diana Piñeros travels along the country’s most scenic route, the Golden Circle. Diana will explore highlights on this circular sightseeing route such as the Gullfoss waterfall, the Thingvellir National Park, where two tectonic plates meet, and the legendary Blue Lagoon.

Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:28 Roadtripping the Golden Circle – what you need to know 01:12 Gullfoss waterfall 03:19 Haukadalur valley with the Strokkur geysir 04:39 Þingvellir National Park 05:52 Silfra reef 06:10 Blue Lagoon

FILM REVIEWS: THE ‘100 BEST MOVIES OF THE PAST 10 DECADES’ (TIME MAGAZINE)

TIME Magazine (July 26, 2023) – TIME’s Stephanie Zacharek on the top films from the 1920s through the 2010s.

2010s

2000s

Read more

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – July 28, 2023

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The Guardian Weekly (July 28, 2023) – Has Vox’s far-right bubble popped? The gridlocked reign in Spain. Plus: Goodbye to Britain’s fish and chips?

Pedro Sánchez rules out return to polls after Spanish vote delivers hung parliament

Workers use harnesses and a suspended platform in Madrid to remove a large electoral banner showing the face of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of Spain's conservative People's party

Socialist leader assures party ‘democracy can find a formula for government’ as left and right blocs try to form viable coalitions

The Spanish Socialist leader, Pedro Sánchez, has ruled out a return to the polls following Sunday’s inconclusive snap general election, insisting a new government can be formed after his ruling coalition was narrowly beaten by the opposition conservative People’s party (PP).

A funeral for fish and chips: why are Britain’s chippies disappearing?

Fish and chips at the Anstruther Fish Bar in the East Neuk of Fife in Scotland.

Plenty of people will tell you the East Neuk of Fife in Scotland is the best place in the world to eat fish and chips. So what happens when its chippies – and chippies across the UK – start to close?

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – July 28, 2023

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Times Literary Supplement (July 28, 2023): War diaries – Marci Shore on Ukrainian accounts from the front line; Richard Russo reconstructed; Boris and other bounders; Family secrets and lies; and more…

The New York Review Of Books – August 17, 2023

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The New York Review of Books (August 17, 2023) – American Carnage – Jeffrey Toobin’s book about Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing; The Sadistic Brats of ‘Succession’; Rats in Paris!; Colin Grant’s Unsparing Family Portrait; Resurrecting the Porter Sisters; The True Fables of Agota Kristof, and more…

American Carnage

Jeffrey Toobin’s book about Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing traces the path from Ronald Reagan’s antigovernment ideology to today’s radicalized right.

By Sean Wilentz

Ronald Reagan’s pronouncement, in his first inaugural address in 1981, that “government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem” marked a signal moment in what has become the most successful political counterrevolution in modern American history.