The Nation Magazine – January 2025 Preview

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The Nation Magazine (December 17, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Code Red’ – On election night, our screens were a sea of red, suggesting that the US was more conservative than ever. But sometimes maps can be deceiving…

The Dead Hand of the Democratic Consultant Class

Breaking the grip of grifters who refuse to learn or leave won’t be easy. But it is essential to effectively opposing the coming plutocracy.

The Difference That Matters Most Isn’t Between Left and Right

But between candidates who are defenders of the system and those who are anti-system. Democrats lost because they allowed Trump to be the only voice of antiestablishment rage.

Progressives Can’t Afford to Spend the Next 4 Years Just Playing Defense

Or reflexively denouncing every Trump policy. While we mustn’t underestimate the danger he poses to our democracy, when he says he wants to end war, the left should call his bluff.

The Atlantic Magazine – January 2025 Preview

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The Atlantic Magazine (December 17, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Seamus Heaney, My Father, and Me’ by Catlin Flanagan…

Walk on Air Against Your Better Judgment

What Seamus Heaney gave me

The Crumbling Foundation of America’s Military

The U.S. failed to produce weapons and ammunition fast enough to supply Ukraine. Could it equip its own armed forces in the event of war?

Maybe Democrats Didn’t Do So Badly After All

The party’s debate about reinventing itself after the election has gotten more complicated.

Politics/Opinion: Jacobin Magazine – Winter 2025

Jacobin Magazine (December 17, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Why Bidenism Failed’….

Bye Bye Bidenism

“You and [Franklin] Roosevelt begin from two different starting points. But is there not a relation in ideas, a kinship of ideas, be-tween Moscow and Washington? In Washington I was struck by the same thing I see going on here; they are building offices, they are creating a number of state regula-tion bodies, they are organising a long-needed Civil Service. 

Neoliberalism’s Hollow Promise of Freedom

Neoliberalism often presents itself as a victory for individual autonomy. In an interview, Grace Blakeley explains the hollowness of this claim — and why the Left needs to offer its own, better vision of human freedom.

UnitedHealth’s Unchecked Growth Has Caused Widespread Misery

Despite antitrust regulators’ efforts to rein it in, UnitedHealth Group has been growing to control ever more of the health care sector. The corporation’s expanding power has meant worse care, higher prices, and a mounting human toll.

Scientific American Magazine – January 2025

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Scientific American (December 17, 2024): The latest issue features ‘The Search for Planet Nine’….

We May Be on the Brink of Finding the Real Planet Nine

If there’s a hidden world in the solar system, a new telescope should find it

Engineering Lucid Dreams Could Improve Sleep and Defuse Nightmares

Great Apes Joke Around, Suggesting Humor Is Older Than Humans

Design And Architecture: The Top Ten Books Of 2024

Best architecture and design books

Dezeen (December 17, 2024): The top 10 architecture and design books of 2024 include:

2024 top architecture books: Kiosk by David Navarro and Martyna Sobecka

Kiosk by David Navarro and Martyna Sobecka

Simply named Kiosk, this book features photos of more than 150 modernist, modular kiosks that brighten streets across central and eastern Europe.

Authors David Navarro and Martyna Sobecka aimed to draw attention to the surviving, unusual structures that were constructed in factories in the Eastern Bloc from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Find out more about Kiosk ›


100 Women: Architects in Practice by Harriet Harriss, Naomi House, Monika Parrinder and Tom Ravenscroft

100 Women: Architects in Practice by Harriet Harriss, Naomi House, Monika Parrinder and Tom Ravenscroft

Written by academics Harriet Harriss, Naomi House, Monika Parrinder and Dezeen editor Tom Ravenscroft, 100 Women: Architects in Practice showcases the work of  architects from 78 different countries.

The book contains interviews with some of the world’s best-known architects including Liz Diller, Tatiana Bilbao, Mariam Issoufou Kamara and Lina Ghotmeh, along with numerous women who have not yet received extensive global attention.

Find out more about 100 Women: Architects in Practice ›


2024 top architecture books: Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Masterpieces by Dominic Bradbury

Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Masterpieces by Dominic Bradbury

Published by Phaidon, the Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Masterpieces is an encyclopedia featuring 450 mid-century-modern buildings from all across the world.

The book not only contains many of the key buildings created by the movement’s trailblazers but also those designed by more under-represented architects.

Find out more about Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Masterpieces ›


2024 top architecture books: Humanise by Thomas Heatherwick

Humanise by Thomas Heatherwick

The book that undoubtedly drew the most attention this year was Thomas Heatherwick’s Humanise.

In the book, along with a Radio 4 series and initiative of the same name, British designer Heatherwick takes aim at “boring” buildings.

Find out more about Humanise ›


2024 top architecture books: Sacred Modernity by Jamie McGregor Smith

Sacred Modernity by Jamie McGregor Smith

Sacred Modernity aimed to showcase the “unique beauty and architectural innovation” of brutalist churches across Europe.

The book contains 139 photographs of 100 churches taken by photographer Jamie McGregor Smith over five years, along with essays by writers Jonathan Meades and Ivica Brnic.

Find out more about Sacred Modernity ›


Brutal Wales by Simon Phipps

Brutal Wales by Simon Phipps

Simon Phipps’ follow up to his Brutal North and Brutal London books, Brutal Wales highlights architecture in the brutalist style across the country.

Alongside photography of 60 buildings, the book has explanatory texts in both Welsh and English, as well as an introduction by social historian John Grindrod.

Find out more about Brutal Wales ›


Donald Judd Furniture by Judd Foundation

Donald Judd Furniture by Judd Foundation

The Donald Judd Furniture book contains photos of all the furniture pieces created by the artist for his New York and Marfa, Texas, properties that remain in production.

Along with the photos, the book contains archival sketches by Judd, newly commissioned drawings of each piece and several essays by the artist.

Find out more about Donald Judd Furniture ›


London Estates by Thaddeus Zupančič

London Estates by Thaddeus Zupančič

London Estates documents the modernist council housing built in the UK capital in the post-war period.

Described by publisher Fuel as “the most comprehensive photographic document of council housing schemes in the capital”, the book was photographed by Thaddeus Zupančič.

Find out more about London Estates ›


Made in America by Christopher Payne

Made in America by Christopher Payne

Photographer Christopher Payne’s Made in America book contains images taken over the past decade in the USA’s factories.

Payne created the book as a way of helping to preserve the legacy of industry in America, while documenting the skill of workers who are featured in the photography.

Find out more about Made in America ›


50 Design Ideas You Really Need to Know by John Jervis

50 Design Ideas You Really Need to Know by John Jervis

The latest book in the 50 ideas series, 50 Design Ideas You Really Need to Know contains essays tracking the evolution of design from the 19th century to today.

Written by John Jervis, the book aims to make a broad range of design concepts accessible to a wide audience.

Find out more about 50 Design Ideas You Really Need to Know ›

News: Russia-Ukraine War At Turning Point, Israel Continuing Isolation

Monocle Radion (December 17, 2024): As reports emerge of significant losses to North Korean troops fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, we assess whether the war between Moscow and Kyiv is at a turning point. Then: Israel’s isolationism continues as it shutters its Dublin embassy.

Plus: transport changes in London, fashion news, ‘Forbes’ magazine opens a private-members’ club and we remember India’s legendary tabla maestro Zakir Hussain.

The Wall Street Journal —-December 17, 2024—-

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Syria’s Aspiring Leader Promises Reform—in Due Time

Rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani positioned himself as a statesman who can unite Syria, in a meeting with foreign journalists in Damascus.

Why Musk Doesn’t Have Access to SpaceX’s Biggest Government Secrets

The rocket company’s executives haven’t sought a higher security clearance for its CEO to avoid questions about his drug use and contact with foreign officials. The answers might no longer matter.

Apollo CEO’s Flirtation With Politics Brings New Urgency to Succession Planning

Marc Rowan is one of the few private-equity chiefs who hasn’t clearly designated an heir apparent.