The New Criterion – April 2024 Arts/Culture Preview
Daily Archives: March 16, 2024
The New York Times Book Review – March 17, 2024
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (March 16, 2024):
22 of the Funniest Novels Since ‘Catch-22’
Because we could all use a laugh.
By Dwight Garner, Alexandra Jacobs and Jennifer Szalai
When it comes to fiction, humor is serious business. If tragedy appeals to the emotions, wit appeals to the mind. “You have to know where the funny is,” the writer Sheila Heti says, “and if you know where the funny is, you know everything.” Humor is a bulwark against complacency and conformity, mediocrity and predictability.
With all this in mind, we’ve put together a list of 22 of the funniest novels written in English since Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22” (1961). That book presented a voice that was fresh, liberated, angry and also funny — about something American novels hadn’t been funny about before: war. Set during World War II and featuring Capt. John Yossarian, a B-25 bombardier, the novel presaged, in its black humor, its outraged intelligence, its blend of tragedy and farce, and its awareness of the corrupt values that got us into Vietnam, not just Bob Dylan but the counterculture writ large.
You’re Not Being Gaslit, Says a New Book. (Or Are You?)
“On Gaslighting,” by the philosophy professor Kate Abramson, explores the psychological phenomenon behind the hashtags.
ON GASLIGHTING, by Kate Abramson
Don’t be so sensitive.
You’re overreacting.
You’re imagining things.
These are things gaslighters say, writes Kate Abramson.
As she explains in “On Gaslighting,” the term originated in the 1944 film “Gaslight,” and after entering the therapeutic lexicon of the 1980s, steadily made its way into colloquial usage.
As a society we have become adept at classifying actions within interpersonal relationships using therapy-speak. From “attachment style” to “trauma-bonding,” personal judgments have become diagnoses — without the assistance of a licensed professional: Anyone with a social media account or a jokey T-shirt can get in on the action. (In 2021, the flippant phrase “gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss” became a popular, snide social-media shorthand for a certain kind of capitalist feminism.)
The New York Times Magazine – March 17, 2024
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (March 16, 2024):
The ‘Colorblindness’ Trap: How a Civil Rights Ideal Got Hijacked
The fall of affirmative action is part of a 50-year campaign to roll back racial progress.
By Nikole Hannah
Anthony K. Wutoh, the provost of Howard University, was sitting at his desk last July when his phone rang. It was the new dean of the College of Medicine, and she was worried. She had received a letter from a conservative law group called the Liberty Justice Center. The letter warned that in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions, the school “must cease” any practices or policies that included a “racial component” and said it was notifying medical schools across the country that they must eliminate “racial discrimination” in their admissions. If Howard refused to comply, the letter threatened, the organization would sue.
What Deathbed Visions Teach Us About Living
Researchers are documenting a phenomenon that seems to help the dying, as well as those they leave behind.
By Phoebe Zerwick
Chris Kerr was 12 when he first observed a deathbed vision. His memory of that summer in 1974 is blurred, but not the sense of mystery he felt at the bedside of his dying father. Throughout Kerr’s childhood in Toronto, his father, a surgeon, was too busy to spend much time with his son, except for an annual fishing trip they took, just the two of them, to the Canadian wilderness. Gaunt and weakened by cancer at 42, his father reached for the buttons on Kerr’s shirt, fiddled with them and said something about getting ready to catch the plane to their cabin in the woods. “I knew intuitively, I knew wherever he was, must be a good place because we were going fishing,” Kerr told me.
Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London
Monocle on Saturday Podcast (March 16, 2024): Though voting has begun in Russia to elect the country’s next president, the results are unlikely to come as a surprise. However, there is resistance bubbling under the surface.
Join Georgina Godwin and Russia specialist Charles Hecker to discuss the run-up to the election. Plus: Tory donor Frank Hester’s racist comments, Boris Johnson’s unofficial talks in Venezuela and Monocle’s Fernando Augusto Pacheco interviews Lauro Andrade, founder of DW! São Paulo Design Week.
The New York Times — Saturday, March 16, 2024
Judge Rules D.A. Can Stay on Trump Georgia Case With Ex-Boyfriend Stepping Down
The highly anticipated ruling cut a middle path between removing Fani T. Willis for a conflict of interest and her full vindication.
Powerful Realtor Group Agrees to Slash Commissions to Settle Lawsuits
The National Association of Realtors will pay $418 million in damages and will amend several rules that housing experts say will drive down housing costs.
Another Gaza Aid Convoy Ends in Violence, With at Least 20 Killed
The Gaza Health Ministry accused Israel of a “targeted” attack. Israel’s military denied the accusation, blaming Palestinian gunmen for the violence.
Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – March 18, 2024
BARRON’S MAGAZINE – MARCH 18, 2024 ISSUE:
100 Top Women in Finance: Blazing New Trails in the Markets, the Economy, and Industry
Barron’s annual list of 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance honors established and emerging leaders in the field.
What’s Next for Social Security Depends On Who Wins the White House
Biden has vowed to protect the program, while Trump has floated benefit cuts. What it means for future retirees.3 min read
As Peltz Takes on Disney’s Bob Iger, Here’s a Scorecard for Their Battle
Trian Partners has secured control of more than $3 billion worth of Disney stock and is demanding two board seats.
How AI Is Sparking a Change in Power
Energy companies increasingly cite AI as a major driver of electricity demand. But the grid could hold everything back.
PayPal Stock Has Fallen Far Enough. It’s Time to Buy.
The once-highflying payments company now trades at a valuation more suitable for a midsize bank. The good news: The path to a comeback is simpler than the Street expects.
Boomers Daily 