Arts & Literature, Books, Newspapers, Previews, Reviews

The New York Times Book Review – November 19, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (November 19, 2023): This week’s issue features Fuchsia Dunlop’s seductive new exploration of Chinese cuisine, “Invitation to a Banquet”; Michael Lewis Tells His Own Story of Sam Bankman-Fried; He Carried the Bags (and the Secrets) for the Beatles – A new biography resuscitates the colorful, tragic life of Mal Evans: roadie, confidant, procurer, cowbell player…

A History of Chinese Food, and a Sensory Feast

A photograph of assorted dim sum, including green steamed dumplings, rice rolls, shumai and other items.

Fuchsia Dunlop’s “Invitation to a Banquet” is a cultural investigation of an impossibly broad and often misunderstood cuisine.

By Dwight Garner

INVITATION TO A BANQUET: The Story of Chinese Food, by Fuchsia Dunlop

“A really good cookbook,” Jan Morris wrote, “is intellectually more adventurous than the Kama Sutra.” Fuchsia Dunlop’s masterly new book, “Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food,” is not a cookbook per se. But it has an earthiness that calls to mind Morris’s comment.

AUDIOBOOKS

Listen to a Wellness-Culture Satire That Delves a Few Levels Deeper

In Jessie Gaynor’s debut novel, “The Glow,” read by Gabra Zackman, a P.R. rep immerses herself in the woo-woo world of a cultlike “spiritual retreat,” and its enigmatic leader.

Art, Arts & Literature, Documentaries, Exhibitions, Museums, Videos

Art Views: The Secrets Of Botticelli’s Drawings

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Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (November 17, 2023) – Bringing a new perspective on the beloved Renaissance artist, “Botticelli: Rhythm of the Line” reveals the central role that drawing played in Sandro Botticelli’s art and practice. This short documentary takes viewers through the streets of Florence, where the artist lived and worked, to the Uffizi galleries, home of Botticelli’s most striking masterpieces.

The story is told by Furio Rinaldi, curator of drawings and prints at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Jonathan K. Nelson, art historian at Syracuse University in Florence, and Cecilia Frosinini, art historian at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence. These voices speak in chorus to give us an original narrative that illuminates Botticelli’s life, process, and legacy.

Learn more about the exhibition: https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/bot…

Botticelli Drawings is the first exhibition ever dedicated to the drawings of Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli (ca. 1445 – 1510). Exploring the foundational role drawing played in Botticelli’s work, the exhibition traces his artistic journey, from studying under maestro Fra Filippo Lippi (c. 1406 – 1469) to leading his own workshop in Florence. Featuring rarely seen and newly attributed works, the exhibition provides insight into the design practice of an artist whose name is synonymous with the Italian Renaissance.

Botticelli’s drawings offer an intimate look into the making of some of his most memorable masterpieces, including Adoration of the Magi (c. 1500), which will be reunited with its preparatory drawing, surviving only in fragments. From Botticelli’s earliest recorded drawings through expressive designs for his final painting, the works on display reveal the artist’s experimental drawing techniques, quest for ideal beauty, and command of the line.

Botticelli Drawings is on view from November 19, 2023 – February 11, 2024.

Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

The New York Times Magazine – Nov 19, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (November 17, 2023): The latest issue features How David Zaslav blew up Hollywood – The inside story of a novice movie mogul in an age of disruption, discontent and disaster ; Russell Brand’s Alternate Reality – The British entertainer built an army of fans with his conspiracy-minded podcast. Now, amid sex-assault claims against him, they’ve become his whole world; Sofia Coppola’s Subversive Search for Truth in ‘Priscilla’ – Hollywood is addicted to mythologizing biopics. ‘‘Priscilla’’ offers something different…

How David Zaslav Blew Up Hollywood

A merger put him in the driver’s seat at Warner Brothers, one of the industry’s biggest studios. It has been a wild ride.

By Jonathan Mahler, James B. Stewart and Benjamin Mullin

It was April 2022, and David Zaslav had just closed the deal of a lifetime. From the helm of his relatively small and unglamorous cable company, Discovery, he had taken control of a sprawling entertainment conglomerate that included perhaps the most storied movie studio on the planet, Warner Brothers. The longtime New Yorker had always loved movies, and against the advice of several media peers, he had moved to Hollywood and taken over Jack Warner’s historic office, hauling the old mogul’s desk out of storage and topping it off with an old-time handset telephone. So far things were going great. He had met all the stars and players, was widely feted as the next in line to save the eternally struggling industry and was well into the process of renovating a landmark house in Beverly Hills.

Sofia Coppola’s Subversive Search for Truth in ‘Priscilla’

Hollywood is addicted to mythologizing biopics. ‘‘Priscilla’’ offers something different.

By Rafaela Bassili

As with much of her other work, the opening of Sofia Coppola’s latest film, “Priscilla,” is all about textures. A pair of manicured feet sink into a shag carpet; a fingernail is carefully polished in red; we see the back of a prodigious black bouffant, then the dexterous painting of a dramatic cat eye with black liner. Priscilla Presley (Cailee Spaeny) paces around Graceland relentlessly. There’s nothing for her to do, and too much for her to process.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos, Views

Architecture: Six Square House In The Hamptons, NY

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The Local Project (November 17, 2023) – When an architect designs a breathtaking home connected to nature, the results can be mesmerising. Six Square House by Young Projects is one such example, and this house tour, which takes viewers inside and documents how an architect designs a breathtaking home, captures the contemporary home and surrounding landscape in all its glory.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Breathtaking Home 00:55 – A Rural Hamptons Location 01:48 – A Family and Landscape Centred Brief 02:24 – The Organisation of The Home 03:25 – Experiencing The Landscape Surrounding the Home 05:03 – The Exterior Material Palette 05:47 – A Neutral and Art Focused Interior 06:37 – The Brazilian Furniture Design 07:00 – Proud Moments

Nestled deep into the large property, this house is defined by half a dozen cubes, which tesselate from a centre point, resulting in a dynamic piece of architecture set amid a lush garden. As architect Bryan Young says, “the gabled modules are arranged to align roof ridges and create continuity from one module to the next.” The contemporary form is connected to nature in a myriad of ways – the cubic volumes feature openings, which act as conduits to the garden; apertures from within frame the landscape; and the internal courtyard captured in the house tour features a garden bed beneath a timber pavilion.

It is holistic and intentional – the type of effect achieved when an architect designs a breathtaking home. The house tour takes viewers inside where the interiors are bright and connected to nature. The living area unfurls to the east and the kitchen sits to the west along the home’s central spine. Up above, the lines of the hybrid roofscape can be traced across the ceiling. Lofty and bright, the sense of openness is unexpected in comparison to the strict, geometric exterior. Bryan speaks to this, saying, “if each of the six volumes can be read as autonomous elements from the outside, from the inside, you begin to realise that in fact they’re conjoined in a very interesting way.”

Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Previews, Science, Society, Technology

Previews: New Humanist Magazine – Winter 2023

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NEW HUMANIST MAGAZINE – WINTER 2023 ISSUE: The new issue features Pavan Amara on the new technologies revolutionising reproduction, Gabriele Di Donfrancesco on Europe’s battle over “family values” and Rachael Lennon on a decade of same-sex marriage, and a new column from Shaparak Khorsandi…

News, Podcasts, Politics, Stories

News: Disinformation In The Middle East, Germany-Israel Politics & Relations

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The Globalist Podcast (November 17, 2023) – Uncovering disinformation from the Middle East. Plus: how Germany’s past affects its interactions with Israel today, the latest from the Balkans and how theatres capture the zeitgeist.

News, Newspapers, Views

The New York Times — Friday, November 17, 2023

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Santos Won’t Seek Re-election After House Panel Finds Evidence of Crimes

Representative George Santos made the announcement after the release of a damning report by the House Ethics Committee, which found evidence he had broken federal law.

The findings, which were referred to prosecutors, are likely to prompt another attempt to expel the embattled congressman from the House.

Pressure Mounts as Israel Combs Through Gaza Hospital for Hamas’s Presence

Al-Shifa Hospital, in northern Gaza, is the enclave’s largest hospital complex.

The Israeli military said troops had uncovered a Hamas tunnel shaft underneath the Al-Shifa Hospital complex, as well as a vehicle on the hospital grounds packed with weapons.