The Globalist Podcast (August 22, 2024): Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, formally accepts his Democratic vice-presidential nomination.
Also on the programme: where do India’s security alliances lie? We assess new pacts with Japan and Malaysia as Narendra Modi travels to Ukraine. Then our editors flick through Monocle magazine’s Mobility Special, released today, and look at the day’s papers. Plus, why some Southeast Asian airports are moving into the world of luxury travel.
The F.B.I. raided the homes of two prominent commentators on Russian state television channels as part of an effort to blunt attempts to influence November’s election.
A political persona forged on the prairie: self-assured but rarely self-serious; puckish when possible, stoic when necessary.
Democrats Use the Convention to Try to Define Trump as a Self-Interested Fraud
Speeches and videos seek to shrink Donald Trump in order to rise above him, as Kamala Harris and her allies work to minimize him and disengage from him.
1 Spotlight | 40,000 deaths: another grim milestone for Gaza As faltering ceasefire talks continued this week, Malak A Tantesh and Emma Graham-Harrison report on how the death toll given by Gaza’s health officials fails to tell the full story of Palestinian grief.
2 Technology | Is Threads a new safe haven for those leaving X? Elon Musk’s frequently inflammatory online remarks have left many seeking a less toxic alternative. James Ball explores whether Meta’s Instagram spin-off provides it.
3 Feature | Audrey Tang, the good hacker The activist turned hacker is used to breaking boundaries as the world’s first minister for digital affairs. Now, she tells Simon Hattenstone, she wants the world to learn how to detoxify the internet.
4 Opinion | Caution needed over Kamala Harris’s flying start The Democratic vice-president has enjoyed a spectacular launch to her presidential campaign. But, warns Jonathan Freedland, it is far too early to write off her rival Donald Trump.
5 Culture | Snogs away! The crazy world of UK dating shows There’s much to be gleaned about British culture from analysing its TV dating shows, finds Daisy Jones – and, it stands to reason, about other countries’ via theirs.
Scientific American (August 21, 2024): The September 2024 issue features ‘What Was It Like To Be A Dinosaur? – New insights into their senses, perceptions and behaviors…
New fossils and analytical tools provide unprecedented insights into dinosaur sensory perception by Amy M. Balanoff, Daniel T. Ksepka
Alone Tyrannosaurus rexsniffs the humid Cretaceous air, scenting a herd of Triceratops grazing beyond the tree line. As the predator scans the floodplain, its vision suddenly snaps into focus. A single Triceratops has broken off from the herd and wandered within striking distance. Standing motionless, the T. rex formulates a plan of attack, anticipating the precise angle at which it must intersect its target before the Triceratops can regain the safety of the herd. The afternoon silence is shattered as the predator crashes though the low branches at the edge of the forest in hot pursuit.
T. rex has hunted Triceratops in so many books, games and movies that the encounter has become a cliché. But did a scene like this one ever unfold in real life? Would T. rex identify its prey by vision or by smell? Would the Triceratops be warned by a loudly cracking branch or remain oblivious because it was unable to locate the source of the sound? Could T. rex plan its attack like a cat, or would it lash out indiscriminately like a shark?
Times Literary Supplement (August 21, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Angels at her table’ – C.K. Stead and Kirsty Gunn on Janet Frame’s singular voice; Pat Barker and Mark Haddon’s modern myths; Rethinking incarceration; How art comes about; Sleep science; Hypochondria and literary reputations….
The Globalist Podcast (August 21, 2024): Israel appears open to a US-brokered peace deal with Hamas but will the latter get on board?
Also on the programme: our US editor, Christopher Lord, checks in from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Then: a potential takeover bid by Japanese supermarket brand 7-11 from a Canadian rival, Taiwan’s major semiconductor manufacturer breaks ground in Germany and the day’s papers. Plus: the latest in the world of theatre.
Kamala Harris’s decision to support Barack Obama in a 2008 primary race dominated by Hillary Clinton was a political risk. It paid off, and the former president never forgot it.
Ethics rules barred Dr. Jeffrey E. Shuren from working on matters involving clients of his wife’s law firm. But he did not always step aside.
Biden Approved Secret Nuclear Strategy Refocusing on Chinese Threat
In a classified document approved in March, the president ordered U.S. forces to prepare for possible coordinated nuclear confrontations with Russia, China and North Korea.
Country Life Magazine (August 20, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Sensational Scotland’ – Where to buy north of the border; The legend of the Stone of Scone; Up the workers – Chatsworth’s red-sock army; Forests of the future – the trees we should plant now…
Building on history
In the first of two articles, John Goodall charts the central role played by Scone and its former abbey in the history of Scotland.
Barking up the right tree
Britain’s native trees are facing an uncertain future, but we can still act to save our magnificent woodland, argues Sir Harry Studholme
Working their red socks off
A very special band of helpers is behind the smooth staging of Chatsworth Country Fair, as volunteer Simon Reinhold reveals
O Flowers of Scotland
Penny Churchill casts her eye over three Scottish estates, one a ‘pastoral oasis’ making its first appearance on the open market
Tom Byrne’s favourite painting
The actor chooses a work that treads that fine divide between ‘life and death, night and day’.
Dive in with both feet
There’s nothing more diverse than divers. Marianne Taylor dips below the surface to examine these underwater masters
Thistle do nicely
The ‘weediest of weeds’ is loved by insects, loathed by landowners. John Wright tackles the prickly matter of Scotland’s emblem.
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell selects luxuries designed or made in Scotland
Is that a plum in your mouth?
Tom Parker Bowles finds that the best way to savour traditional British varieties is to grow them yourself
Sculpting with plants
Perennials and billowing grasses are a perfect backdrop for the sculpture at Whitburgh House in Midlothian, finds Caroline Donald